---
tags: [networks]
created: Saturday, August 03, 2024
---

# Network protocols

Protocols are agreed standards specifying and governing communication between
nodes on a [network](Network_fundamentals.md).

Network protocols are typically _layered_. The implmentation of a network layer
is a _stack_.

Stacks enshrine encapsulation: not every layer has to be directly concerned with
every other layer. Only adjacent layers that interface with each other need to
be in contact.

A prime example of a layered network stack is the
[internet_protocol_suite](Internet_fundamentals.md).
