Vol. I · No. 46A field guide to the wireSat, 10 Oct 2026
Browse · Learn · See the whole stack

The whole stack,one protocol at a time.

From the frame on the wire to the token in a login. A working field guide to the 48 protocols that carry the modern internet — what each one does, where it sits, and how they fit together.

Start browsingSee the stack
48
protocols, filed & cross-linked
11
protocol categories
1
page from the wire to a login
What this is

Most references teach one protocol at a time, in isolation. Networks don't work that way — a single web request rides five protocols stacked on each other. This atlas shows both: each protocol on its own, and how it clips into everything above and below it.

Organised by purpose. Eleven protocol categories, from link and routing to web, security, authentication, and operations.
Shown in context. Every entry names the protocols it rides on and the ones it works with.
Built to poke at. The Bench lets you pull any protocol out and read it in the open.

The stack, at a glance

A single HTTPS request, read top to bottom — each layer wraps the one above it.
Layer 4 — what you asked for
Application
HTTPDNSSMTPSSH
Layer 3 — the conversation
Transport
TCPUDPQUIC
Layer 2 — the address
Internet
IPv4IPv6ICMP
Layer 1 — the wire
Link
EthernetARP802.1Q
Runs across every layer
Security
TLS, IPsec, SSH — wrap traffic at whichever layer needs it.
Identity & Auth
OAuth, SAML, Kerberos — prove who is on the line.
Time & Mgmt
NTP, SNMP, Syslog — keep the fleet in sync and observed.

Eleven protocol categories

Every protocol is filed under one of these.

The Link

4

On the wire — framing and local addressing.

EthernetARP802.1Q

The Internet Layer

6

Addressing and best-effort delivery across networks.

IPv4IPv6ICMP

Routing

4

How routers learn and choose the path.

OSPFBGPRIP

Transport

4

End-to-end delivery between two processes.

TCPUDPQUIC

Naming & Config

3

Finding names and joining a network.

DNSDHCPmDNS

Web & Transfer

7

The request/response protocols of the web.

HTTPHTTP/3gRPC

Mail

3

Moving and reading electronic mail.

SMTPIMAPPOP3

Real-time & Media

3

Live voice, video and the sessions that carry them.

RTPSIPWebRTC

Security

5

Encrypting and authenticating what crosses the wire.

TLSIPsecSSH

Identity & Auth

6

Proving who a user or a device is.

OAuthSAMLLDAP

Time & Management

3

Clocks, metrics and logs for the fleet.

NTPSNMPSyslog

Start here

The load-bearing protocols — the ones worth knowing cold.
Transport
TCPTransmission Control

The reliable, ordered byte stream nearly everything is built on.

Web & Transfer
HTTPHyperText Transfer

Methods, headers, status codes — the request/response of the web.

Naming & Config
DNSDomain Name System

Turns names people read into the addresses machines route to.

Security
TLSTransport Layer Security

Encrypts a stream and proves the server is who it claims.

Routing
BGPBorder Gateway

The path-vector protocol that stitches the whole internet together.

Transport
QUICUDP-Based Secure Transport

Reliable, multiplexed, encrypted streams — the transport under HTTP/3.

The interactive bench

Drag or click any protocol onto the table and read it in the open.

Pull a chip out of the tray and the bench lays it flat: its job, its port or number, the stack it rides in, and the protocols it works with — each one clickable to jump across.

Open the full Bench →
Transport
TCPTransmission Control

A reliable, ordered byte stream: handshake, sequence numbers, acknowledgements, retransmission.

Works with
UDPTLSIPv4

Read the network the way it actually runs.

Forty-eight protocols, eleven categories, one page. Start anywhere.

Explore all protocolsOpen the TCP Lab