CAP

Information Technology
Syllabus Focus: Unit 1 Module 2 Content 17
Specific Objective 17: discuss internet standards.
Content: Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP); Transfer Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) in
terms of specifications, guidelines, software and tools.

HTTP (Hypertext Transfer

Protocol)
HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is the set of rules for transferring files, such as
text, graphic images, sound, video, and other multimedia files, on the World Wide
Web. As soon as a web user opens their web browser, the user is indirectly making
use of HTTP. HTTP is an application protocol that runs on top of the TCP/IP suite of
protocols (the foundation protocols for the Internet). The latest version of HTTP
is HTTP/2, which was published in May 2015. It is an alternative to its
predecessor, HTTP 1.1, but does not it make obsolete.

How HTTP works

As the Hypertext part of the name implies, HTTP concepts include the idea that files
can contain references to other files whose selection will prompt additional transfer
requests. In addition to the Web page files it can serve, any Web server machine
contains an HTTP daemon, a program that is designed to wait for HTTP requests and
handle them when they arrive. A web browser is an HTTP client, sending requests to
server machines. When the browser user enters file requests by either "opening" a web
file (typing in a URL) or clicking on a hypertext link, the browser builds an HTTP
request and sends it to the Internet Protocol address (IP address) indicated by the
URL. The HTTP daemon in the destination server machine receives the request and
sends back the requested file or files associated with the request. As a note, a web
page often consists of more than one file.
MEGAN WILCOX
How HTTP works
To expand on this example, a user wants to visit TechTarget.com. The user types in
the Web address, and the computer sends a "GET" request to a server that hosts that
address. That GET request is sent using HTTP and it is telling the TechTarget server
that the user is looking for the HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) code used to
structure and give the login page its look and feel. The text of that login page is
included in the HTML response, but other parts of the page, particularly its images
and videos, are requested by separate HTTP requests and responses. The more
requests that must be made -- for example, to call a page that has numerous images --
the longer it will take the server to respond to those requests and for the user's system
to load the page.

When these requests and responses are being sent, they use TCP/IP to reduce and
transport information in small packets of binary sequences of ones and zeros. These
packets are physically sent through electric wires, fiber optic cables and wireless
networks.

Types of Status Codes

In response to HTTP requests, servers often issue response codes, indicating the
request is being processed, that there was an error in the request or that the request is
being redirected. Common response codes include:
 200 OK. This means that the request, such as GET or POST, worked and is
being acted upon.
 300 Moved Permanently. This response code means that the URL of the
requested resource has been changed permanently.
 401 Unauthorized. The client -- the user making the request of the server -- has
not been authenticated.
 403 Forbidden. The client's identity is known but has not been given access
authorization.
 404 Not Found. This is the most frequent and most recognized error code. It
means that the URL is nor recognized or the resource at the location does not exist.
 500 Internal Server Error. The server has encountered a situation it doesn't
know how to handle.

Retrieved from: https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/HTTP-Hypertext-Transfer-

Protocol#:~:text=HTTP%20(Hypertext%20Transfer%20Protocol)%20is,indirectly%20making
%20use%20of%20HTTP., on August 11, 2020

TCP/IP
Internet protocols

TCP/IP, in full Transmission Control Protocol/Internet

Protocol, standard Internet communications protocols that
allow digital computers to communicate over long distances. The
Internet is a packet-switched network, in which information is broken
down into small packets, sent individually over many different routes
at the same time, and then reassembled at the receiving end. TCP is
the component that collects and reassembles the packets of data, while
IP is responsible for making sure the packets are sent to the right
destination. TCP/IP was developed in the 1970s and adopted as
the protocol standard for ARPANET (the predecessor to the Internet)
in 1983.
Taken from: https://www.britannica.com/technology/TCP-IP, on August 11, 2020

Additional readings:
 https://www.pluralsight.com/blog/it-ops/top-10-tcp-ip-tools
 https://microchipdeveloper.com/tcpip:tcp-ip-five-layer-model
 https://microchipdeveloper.com/tcpip:network-analysis-tools-and-websites
 https://www.softwaretestinghelp.com/software-development-tools/