Mastering Python Networking

Network protocol suites

In the early days of computer networking, the protocols were proprietary and closely controlled by the company who designed the connection method. If you are using Novell's IPX/SPX protocol in your hosts, you will not able to communicate with Apple's AppleTalk hosts and vice versa. These proprietary protocol suites generally have analogous layers to the OSI reference model and follow the client-server communication method. They generally work great in Local Area Networks (LAN) that are closed without the need to communicate with the outside world. When the traffic do need to move beyond local LAN, typically an internetwork device, such as a router, is used to translate from one protocol to another such as between AppleTalk ...