When assessing networking protocols, we should pay attention to at least:

  • Simplicity of implementation
  • Resource use (e.g. how much bandwidth is used compared to the actual amount of transferred information)
  • Offline tolerance (Does it depend on constant connectivity? How well does it work in a local network that has no world connectivity?)
  • Decentralization (How well does it tolerate small servers/peers that are not always online? Does the design encourage large centralized servers?)

Some protocols:

  • WWW
  • Offline-tolerant messaging protocols
    • Email
    • Usenet
    • Fidonet
  • Offline-intolerant messaging protocols
    • IRC
    • XMPP
    • ActivityPub
  • Peer-to-peer
    • BitTorrent
    • IPFS
  • Encryption
    • SSL
  • Remote access
    • ssh
    • mosh
    • VNC
    • X11
  • Wired device-to-device communication
    • USB
    • RS232
    • Hayes command set
  • Character terminal connections
    • ANSI X3.64
    • RTTY
  • Packet networking
    • Ethernet
    • IP
  • Wireless networking
    • Wi-Fi
    • GSM and its successors (xG)
    • AX.25