Protocol Lab
Network Foundations: The physical and logical layers that make networking possible. Addressing, framing, and routing at Layers 2-3 — before any transport protocol gets involved.
Ethernet: The wired foundation of local networks — framing, addressing, and switching at Layer 2.
802.11: Wireless local networking — Ethernet without the cable, plus encryption and airtime management.
ARP: Translates IP addresses to MAC addresses — the bridge between Layer 3 and Layer 2.
IPv4: The addressing system of the internet — every packet gets a source and destination IP.
IPv6: The next-generation internet addressing system — 128-bit addresses, simplified headers, and no more NAT.
BGP: The routing protocol of the internet — how autonomous systems find paths to each other.
ICMP: The diagnostic protocol behind ping and traceroute — how the network reports errors.
Transport: The foundation of network communication. These protocols handle how raw data moves reliably (or quickly) between two points on a network.
TCP: Guarantees ordered, reliable delivery of data between applications.
UDP: Fire-and-forget delivery — fast but with no guarantees.
QUIC: UDP-based transport with built-in encryption and multiplexing — the future of the web.
SCTP: Multi-streaming, multi-homing transport — TCP's more capable but less popular cousin.
MPTCP: TCP that uses multiple network paths simultaneously — WiFi and cellular at the same time.
Web / API: The protocols that power the web. From loading pages to real-time chat, these define how applications talk to servers and each other.
HTTP/1.1: The original language of the web — one request at a time, in plain text.
HTTP/2: Multiplexed, binary HTTP — many requests flying over one connection simultaneously.
HTTP/3: HTTP over QUIC — faster connections, no head-of-line blocking, built-in encryption.
WS: Full-duplex, persistent connection — server and client talk freely in real time.
gRPC: High-performance RPC framework using Protocol Buffers over HTTP/2.
GraphQL: Ask for exactly the data you need — no more, no less. A query language for APIs.
SSE: One-way real-time streaming from server to browser over plain HTTP.
REST: An architectural style for web APIs — not a protocol, but the dominant pattern for HTTP services.
MCP: A universal interface that lets AI applications discover and use tools, data, and prompts from any server.
A2A: An open protocol that lets AI agents discover each other, delegate tasks, and collaborate — even across different frameworks and vendors.
JSON-RPC: A minimal RPC protocol encoded in JSON — call a method by name, get a result back. Nothing more.
SOAP: XML-based messaging for enterprise web services — structured envelopes, strict schemas, and built-in error handling.
Async / IoT: Message-oriented protocols designed for decoupled, asynchronous communication. Essential for IoT devices, microservices, and event-driven architectures.
MQTT: Lightweight publish/subscribe messaging — the lingua franca of IoT.
AMQP: Enterprise message queuing with routing, persistence, and guaranteed delivery.
CoAP: HTTP for tiny devices — REST semantics over UDP for constrained IoT.
STOMP: A dead-simple text protocol for message brokers — the HTTP of messaging.
XMPP: The open, XML-based messaging protocol born as Jabber — federated chat before it was cool.
Kafka: The distributed event streaming wire protocol — LinkedIn's answer to real-time data at massive scale.
Real-Time A/V: Protocols optimized for streaming audio and video in real-time. They prioritize low latency over perfect delivery — a dropped frame beats a frozen screen.
WebRTC: Peer-to-peer audio, video, and data — directly between browsers, no plugins needed.
RTP: The standard way to deliver audio and video packets in real-time over UDP.
SIP: The "dialing" protocol for VoIP — establishes, modifies, and tears down calls.
HLS: Apple's adaptive streaming protocol — video delivered as small HTTP file downloads.
RTMP: The Flash-era streaming protocol that refused to die — still the king of live stream ingest.
SDP: The universal format for describing multimedia sessions — the matchmaker behind every WebRTC and VoIP call.
DASH: The open standard for adaptive video streaming — MPEG-DASH powers Netflix, YouTube, and the open web.
Utilities / Security: The invisible infrastructure. DNS translates names to addresses, TLS encrypts everything, and NTP keeps the world synchronized.
TLS: Encrypts everything between client and server — the lock icon in your browser.
SSH: Encrypted remote access — how developers securely connect to servers.
DNS: The internet's phone book — translates domain names to IP addresses.
DHCP: Automatically assigns IP addresses — plug in and you're on the network.
NTP: Keeps every device on Earth synchronized to the same clock.
SMTP: The protocol that delivers email across the internet — store and forward, hop by hop.
FTP: One of the oldest internet protocols — built for transferring files between machines.
IMAP: Access and manage email on the server — read, search, and organize without downloading.
OAuth: Delegated authorization for the modern web — let apps access your data without sharing your password.