Internet protocols

The complex communications infrastructure of the Internet consists of its hardware mechanism and a system of software layers that control various aspects of the building. While the hardware can often be used to support other software system, it is the design and the rigorous standardization procedure of the software building that characterizes the Internet.

The responsibility for the architectural design of the Internet software systems has been delegate to the Internet Engineering Task Force. The IETF conduct standard-setting work groups open to any person, about the various aspects of Internet building. Resulting discussions and final standards are available in Request for Comments, freely obtainable on the IETF web site.

The principal methods of network that enable the Internet are restricted in a series of RFCs that constitute the Internet Standards. These standards explain a system known as the Internet Protocol Suite. This is a model architecture that divides methods into a layered scheme of protocols. The layers correspond to the setting or scope in which their services operate. At the top is the space of the software application, e.g., a web browser request, and just below it is the Transport Layer which connects applications on different hosts via the network. The underlying network consists of two layers: the Internet Layer which enable computers to connect to one-another via intermediate network and thus is the layer that establish internetworking and the Internet, and lastly, at the bottom, is a software layer that provide connectivity between hosts on the same local link, e.g., a local area network or a dial-up link. This model is also known as the TCP/IP model of network. While other models have been urbanized, such as the Open Systems Interconnection model, they are not like-minded in the details of description, nor completion.