HTTP
What is HTTP?
HTTP stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. It's a stateless, application-layer protocol for
communicating between distributed systems, and is the foundation of the modern web.
An HTTP session is a sequence of network request-response transactions. An HTTP client
initiates a request by establishing a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connection to a
particular port on a server (typically port 80, occasionally port 8080; see List of TCP and
UDP port numbers). An HTTP server listening on that port waits for a client's request
message. Upon receiving the request, the server sends back a status line, such as
"HTTP/1.1 200 OK", and a message of its own. The body of this message is typically the
requested resource, although an error message or other information may also be returned.
Resources: [Link]
What is HTTPS?
Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is an extension of the Hypertext Transfer
Protocol (HTTP) for secure communication over a computer network, and is widely used on
the Internet.[1]
[2]In HTTPS, the communication protocol is encrypted using Transport Layer
Security (TLS), or, formerly, its predecessor, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). The protocol is
therefore also often referred to as HTTP over TLS,[3] or HTTP over SSL.
The principal motivation for HTTPS is authentication of the accessed website and protection
of the privacy and integrity of the exchanged data while in transit. It protects against
man-in-the-middle attacks. The bidirectional encryption of communications between a client
and server protects against eavesdropping and tampering of the communication.[4] In
practice, this provides a reasonable assurance that one is communicating without
interference by attackers with the website that one intended to communicate with, as
opposed to an impostor.
Resources: [Link]
HTTP Headers
HTTP headers are the name or value pairs that are displayed in the request and response
messages of message headers for Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). Usually, the header
name and the value are separated by a single colon. HTTP headers are an integral part of
HTTP requests and responses. In simpler terms, HTTP headers are the code that transfers
data between a Web server and a browser. HTTP headers are mainly intended for the
communication between the server and client in both directions.
HTTP Headers can carry information like the user session (cookies), browser requesting the
website...
HTTP Ports
Port numbers are sometimes seen in web or other uniform resource locators (URLs). By
default, HTTP uses port 80 and HTTPS uses port 443, but a URL like
[Link] specifies that the web browser connects instead to port
8080 of the HTTP server.
An example for the use of ports is the Internet mail system. A server used for sending and
receiving email generally needs two services. The first service is used to transport email to
and from other servers. This is accomplished with the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP).
The SMTP service application usually listens on TCP port 25 for incoming requests. The
second service is usually either the Post Office Protocol (POP) or the Internet Message
Access Protocol (IMAP) which is used by e-mail client applications on users' personal
computers to fetch email messages from the server. The POP service listens on TCP port
number 110. Both services may be running on the same host computer, in which case the
port number distinguishes the service that was requested by a remote computer, be it a
user's computer or another mail server.
While the listening port number of a server is well defined (IANA calls these the well-known
ports), the client's port number is often chosen from the dynamic port range (see below). In
some applications, the clients and the server each use specific port numbers assigned by
the IANA. A good example of this is DHCP in which the client always uses UDP port 68 and
the server always uses UDP port 67.
Resources: [Link]
IP Address
An IP address, or simply an "IP," is a unique address that identifies a device on the
Internet or a local network. It allows a system to be recognized by other systems
connected via the Internet protocol. There are two primary types of IP address
formats used today — IPv4 and IPv6.
DNS
The Domain Name System (DNS) is the phonebook of the Internet. Humans access
information online through domain names, like [Link] or [Link]. Web browsers
interact through Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. DNS translates domain names to IP
addresses so browsers can load Internet resources.
DNS also translate IP addresses to domain names. There are no restrictions on the number
of IPs associated to a DNS record (domain name) nor restriction on the number of domain
names associated to a single IP.
