Journal Entry #10 Posted by mlane006 on April 28, 2021April 28, 2021 In the age of cyber technology and data transfer, it is essential that the networks in which the data traverses and the technology that communicates on them, are especially secure. The more and more users that gain access to a network, require that more precautions are taken to secure that network. For this reason, engineers have been tasked with making networks safer for usage. As the demand for communication routes continue to increase at an exponential rate, engineers put together the infrastructure to ensure the secure transfer of data and adequate transmission speeds for user functionality. Protocols are the first step in which network engineers have taken to secure networks. Various protocols have been developed to provide a basis for proper conduct of network usage. The protocols address a series of topics to allow for desired tasks to be accomplished. Some common criteria to meet when developing a protocol is reliability, communication, security, and network management. When determining whether a protocol is reliable, one must determine whether all components of a message will reach a destination intact. Network engineers can opt to make a protocol reliable or not depending on what the protocol is being used for. For instance, when a client device wants to check if a host device is “live”, they will do so with a quick ping message. The protocol for this process is not reliable, for ping messages are so small and easy to generate that if no response was received another ping message will be sent almost immediately until the request times out. In other cases where a message is large and the interpretation of the message depends on the completeness of delivery, that message would be sent using a reliable protocol to ensure that all packets made it to their destination. In terms of communication, protocols are developed from the standpoint of the efficiency of end-to-end communication. Like the reliability of a protocol, communication is focused on ensuring that all packets are sent out by the sender and all packets are received by the recipient in an orderly and coherent fashion. Network engineers design protocols with communication in mind to allow for sessions to maintain a connection for a set timeframe. As far as security is concern, it’s the crux of an entire network. It is at the forefront as well as the underlying focus for all developmental stages of a network. Network engineers strive to ensure that a protocol provides a minimum level of security to ensure the protection of the data being transmitted. Network management focuses on the cohesivity of the different components of a network. This is comprised of users, client/host devices, and ground level hardware. Once the protocol is developed, the final stages of providing the structural infrastructure is done. This allows for everything to communicate and interact across the network.