Network Protocol & Port No

Network protocols are essential rules and standards that govern data exchange across networks, ensuring devices and systems can communicate effectively. Here is a comprehensive list of common network protocols, categorized based on their function or layer in the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) model:

1. Application Layer Protocols (Layer 7)

  • HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol): Used for web page communication.
  • HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure): Secure version of HTTP, using SSL/TLS encryption.
  • FTP (File Transfer Protocol): Used for transferring files between systems.
  • SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol): Secure version of FTP, typically over SSH.
  • SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol): Used for sending emails.
  • POP3 (Post Office Protocol 3): Used for retrieving emails from a mail server.
  • IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol): Another protocol for retrieving emails, but more feature-rich than POP3.
  • DNS (Domain Name System): Resolves domain names into IP addresses.
  • DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol): Automatically assigns IP addresses to devices on a network.
  • SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol): Used for network management and monitoring.
  • TELNET: Used for remote terminal access, though now often replaced by SSH.
  • SSH (Secure Shell): Secure remote login protocol.
  • LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol): Used for directory services, such as accessing LDAP databases.
  • NTP (Network Time Protocol): Synchronizes clocks across devices on a network.
  • RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol): Used to access a remote computer desktop.
  • XMPP (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol): Used for instant messaging and presence information.
  • TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol): A simple file transfer protocol, typically used for bootstrapping.

2. Transport Layer Protocols (Layer 4)

  • TCP (Transmission Control Protocol): A reliable, connection-oriented protocol for transmitting data.
  • UDP (User Datagram Protocol): A connectionless protocol used for faster, less reliable communication.
  • SCTP (Stream Control Transmission Protocol): A transport layer protocol that provides reliable message delivery with multi-homing and multi-streaming support.

3. Network Layer Protocols (Layer 3)

  • IP (Internet Protocol): Defines addressing and routing for packets between devices.
    • IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4): The most commonly used version of IP, using 32-bit addresses.
    • IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6): The newer version of IP, using 128-bit addresses.
  • ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol): Used for error messages and network diagnostics (e.g., Ping).
  • ARP (Address Resolution Protocol): Resolves IP addresses to MAC addresses.
  • RARP (Reverse Address Resolution Protocol): Resolves MAC addresses to IP addresses (rarely used today).
  • IGMP (Internet Group Management Protocol): Manages multicast group memberships.

4. Data Link Layer Protocols (Layer 2)

  • Ethernet: A widely used LAN protocol for wired networking.
  • Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11): Wireless networking protocol.
  • PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol): Used for direct connections between two nodes (e.g., dial-up, DSL).
  • Frame Relay: A WAN protocol used for connecting devices in a network.
  • HDLC (High-Level Data Link Control): A bit-oriented protocol used in point-to-point communication.
  • MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching): A data-carrying mechanism that routes traffic based on labels.

5. Physical Layer Protocols (Layer 1)

  • DSL (Digital Subscriber Line): High-speed internet connection over telephone lines.
  • Ethernet (IEEE 802.3): Defines physical cables (e.g., twisted pair cables) for Ethernet communication.
  • Fiber Optic (e.g., SFP, TOSA/ROSA): Used in high-speed optical networks.
  • Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11): Defines radio frequencies for wireless communication.

6. Security Protocols

  • SSL/TLS (Secure Sockets Layer / Transport Layer Security): Encryption protocols used to secure communications.
  • IPsec (Internet Protocol Security): A suite of protocols used for securing IP communication through encryption and authentication.
  • VPN (Virtual Private Network): Protocols like PPTP, L2TP, and OpenVPN used for secure communication over public networks.
  • Kerberos: A network authentication protocol that provides secure, single sign-on access to services.

7. Routing Protocols

  • RIP (Routing Information Protocol): An old and simple distance-vector routing protocol.
  • OSPF (Open Shortest Path First): A link-state routing protocol used in large networks.
  • BGP (Border Gateway Protocol): A path-vector protocol used for routing between different autonomous systems (inter-domain routing).
  • EIGRP (Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol): A Cisco proprietary routing protocol.
  • IS-IS (Intermediate System to Intermediate System): A link-state routing protocol.

8. File Sharing and Access Protocols

  • SMB (Server Message Block): A network file sharing protocol used by Windows.
  • NFS (Network File System): A file sharing protocol for Unix and Linux systems.
  • AFP (Apple Filing Protocol): A file-sharing protocol used in macOS.

9. Multicast Protocols

  • IGMP (Internet Group Management Protocol): Used for managing multicast groups.
  • PIM (Protocol Independent Multicast): A multicast routing protocol.
  • MLD (Multicast Listener Discovery): IPv6’s version of IGMP for multicast group management.

10. Wireless Networking Protocols

  • Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11): The standard for wireless LANs.
  • Bluetooth: A short-range wireless communication protocol for devices like phones and computers.
  • Zigbee: A low-power, low-data rate wireless communication standard, often used in IoT.

11. Miscellaneous Protocols

  • NTP (Network Time Protocol): Used for synchronizing the clocks of devices across a network.
  • BGP (Border Gateway Protocol): A protocol used for routing data between different networks, especially in the internet backbone.
  • DCCP (Datagram Congestion Control Protocol): A transport layer protocol for congestion control in applications that require UDP-like performance.
  • MPTCP (Multipath TCP): Extends TCP to allow multiple paths between two devices.

This list covers the most common network protocols across the various layers of the OSI model and other areas like routing, security, file sharing, and wireless communication.

Here’s a list of common network port numbers that correspond to various protocols, categorized by service and purpose. Port numbers are typically divided into three ranges: Well-Known Ports (0-1023), Registered Ports (1024-49151), and Dynamic/Private Ports (49152-65535).

1. Well-Known Ports (0–1023)

These are reserved ports, commonly used by system processes or applications that require root or administrative privileges.

Port NumberProtocolService Name
20TCPFTP Data
21TCPFTP Control
22TCPSSH (Secure Shell)
23TCPTelnet
25TCPSMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
53TCP/UDPDNS (Domain Name System)
67UDPDHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol)
68UDPDHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol – Client)
69UDPTFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol)
80TCPHTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)
110TCPPOP3 (Post Office Protocol)
119TCPNNTP (Network News Transfer Protocol)
123UDPNTP (Network Time Protocol)
143TCPIMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol)
161UDPSNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol)
162UDPSNMP Trap
443TCPHTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure)
445TCPMicrosoft-DS (Active Directory, SMB over TCP)
514UDPSyslog
587TCPSMTP (Secure Submission)
631TCPIPP (Internet Printing Protocol)
993TCPIMAPS (IMAP Secure)
995TCPPOP3S (POP3 Secure)
1080TCPSOCKS Proxy
1433TCPMicrosoft SQL Server
1434UDPMicrosoft SQL Monitor
1512TCPWINS (Windows Internet Name Service)
1616TCPSIP (Session Initiation Protocol)
1645UDPRADIUS (Old version)
1646UDPRADIUS Accounting (Old version)
1701UDPL2TP (Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol)
1723TCPPPTP (Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol)
1812UDPRADIUS (Authentication)
1813UDPRADIUS (Accounting)
2049TCP/UDPNFS (Network File System)
3306TCPMySQL Database
3389TCPRDP (Remote Desktop Protocol)
5432TCPPostgreSQL
5900TCPVNC (Virtual Network Computing)
6379TCPRedis Database
6660-6669TCPIRC (Internet Relay Chat)
8080TCPHTTP Alternate (Proxy/Relay)

2. Registered Ports (1024–49151)

These ports are not as strictly reserved as Well-Known Ports but are registered with IANA for use by specific services or applications.

Port NumberProtocolService Name
1025TCPNFS (Portmapper)
1433TCPMicrosoft SQL Server
1434UDPMicrosoft SQL Monitor
1723TCPPPTP (Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol)
3306TCPMySQL Database
5432TCPPostgreSQL
5900TCPVNC
8080TCPHTTP Alternate (Proxy)
10000TCPWebmin (System Administration)

3. Dynamic or Private Ports (49152–65535)

These ports are dynamically allocated by the operating system for client-side applications, used for temporary connections. They are often referred to as ephemeral ports.

  • 49152–65535: The range for dynamic or ephemeral ports, assigned dynamically by the OS for outbound connections.

Commonly Used Application-Specific Ports

  • 3389: Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)
  • 1521: Oracle Database
  • 6660-6669: IRC (Internet Relay Chat)
  • 27017: MongoDB
  • 8080: Web Proxy/Alternate HTTP Port
  • 9000: PHP-FPM, SonarQube
  • 11211: Memcached
  • 27015: Steam gaming servers
  • 5000: UPnP (Universal Plug and Play)

Other Notable Protocol Ports

  • 69: TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol)
  • 25: SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
  • 53: DNS (Domain Name System)

These ports are often assigned for specific services to help ensure that clients can always connect to a service regardless of location or configuration. For security reasons, many firewalls restrict access to well-known ports unless specifically needed.

Port Numbers for Popular Services

  • Web:
    • HTTP (80), HTTPS (443), HTTP Alternate (8080)
  • Email:
    • SMTP (25), POP3 (110), IMAP (143)
  • Remote Access:
    • SSH (22), Telnet (23), RDP (3389)
  • File Transfer:
    • FTP (21), TFTP (69)
  • Database:
    • MySQL (3306), PostgreSQL (5432), Microsoft SQL Server (1433)

Email Service All Port No 

Here’s a list of email-related port numbers, along with the protocols they correspond to. These ports are used for sending, receiving, and managing email, both securely and non-securely.

Common Email Port Numbers

Port NumberProtocolService Name / Description
25SMTPSimple Mail Transfer Protocol (Used for sending email between servers, often blocked by ISPs for outgoing mail to reduce spam)
465SMTP Secure (SMTPS)Secure version of SMTP, typically used for sending email over SSL/TLS encryption
587SMTP (Submission)SMTP Submission – Secure SMTP used by email clients to send emails securely to mail servers (with STARTTLS or SSL/TLS)
110POP3Post Office Protocol 3 – Used to retrieve emails from a mail server (non-encrypted by default)
995POP3SSecure version of POP3 (POP3 over SSL/TLS)
143IMAPInternet Message Access Protocol – Used to retrieve and store emails from the server, allows multiple devices to access email (non-encrypted by default)
993IMAPSSecure version of IMAP (IMAP over SSL/TLS)
220SMTPSMTP Greeting (This is the initial connection message from the SMTP server when starting communication)
421SMTPSMTP Service not available (Temporary failure response)
587SMTPSMTP Submission (Client-to-server submission for sending email securely)
465SMTPSSMTP Secure (SSL) (Older method for secure email submission)

Email Protocols in Detail

  1. SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol):

    • Port 25 is traditionally used for sending email from one mail server to another.
    • Port 587 is used for email submission from a client (like Outlook or Thunderbird) to a mail server, with STARTTLS encryption.
    • Port 465 was historically used for SMTP over SSL/TLS, but is now considered deprecated, and many modern systems use port 587 with STARTTLS instead.
  2. POP3 (Post Office Protocol 3):

    • Port 110 is used by POP3 for receiving email. It allows the client to download email from the mail server and typically deletes the messages from the server after they are downloaded (unless specified otherwise).
    • Port 995 is used for POP3S, the secure version of POP3, which uses SSL/TLS to encrypt the communication.
  3. IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol):

    • Port 143 is used by IMAP for receiving and managing email. Unlike POP3, IMAP allows email to be stored on the server, and multiple clients can access the same email box (with the state of messages synchronized).
    • Port 993 is used for IMAPS, the secure version of IMAP, using SSL/TLS encryption for secure communication.

Other Email Ports

  • 2525: Some mail servers (especially for submission) use port 2525 for SMTP submission, especially when port 25 is blocked by ISPs to prevent spam.
  • 587: SMTP Submission (Client to Server), encrypted using STARTTLS.
  • 110: POP3 (non-secure version).
  • 995: POP3S (Secure POP3 over SSL).
  • 143: IMAP (non-secure version).
  • 993: IMAPS (Secure IMAP over SSL).

Summary of Common Email Ports

PortProtocolDescription
25SMTPEmail sending between servers (unsecured, often blocked by ISPs for outgoing email)
587SMTP (Submission)Email client to server for sending (STARTTLS)
465SMTP (SMTPS)Secure email submission (SSL/TLS) (Deprecated in favor of 587)
110POP3Email retrieval (non-secure)
995POP3SSecure POP3 (SSL/TLS)
143IMAPEmail retrieval and management (non-secure)
993IMAPSSecure IMAP (SSL/TLS)

These are the primary ports used for email-related services, ensuring that email can be sent and received securely and efficiently. Depending on the provider or system, encryption and security standards (such as STARTTLS or SSL/TLS) are increasingly used to protect email communications.

All Database Port No

Database Port Numbers for Specific Services

Many databases allow configuration of custom ports or use ports for specific services such as replication, clustering, and management interfaces. Here’s a breakdown of common port usage for database-related services.

MySQL/MariaDB Ports

  • 3306: Default port for MySQL and MariaDB database servers.
  • 33060: MySQL X Protocol (used for NoSQL and JSON data queries, in addition to SQL queries).

PostgreSQL Ports

  • 5432: Default port for PostgreSQL.
  • 5433: PostgreSQL replication port (used for standby servers in a replication setup).
  • 5000: Sometimes used for PostgreSQL replication (typically in custom configurations).

Microsoft SQL Server Ports

  • 1433: Default port for Microsoft SQL Server.
  • 1434: SQL Server Browser Service (UDP) for resolving dynamic ports used by SQL Server instances.

Oracle Database Ports

  • 1521: Default port for Oracle Database (SQL*Net).
  • 2483: Oracle SQL*Net (non-secure).
  • 2484: Oracle SQL*Net (secure with SSL/TLS).
  • 1158: Oracle Web Listener port.

MongoDB Ports

  • 27017: Default port for MongoDB.
  • 27018: MongoDB Sharded Cluster.
  • 27019: Used by MongoDB for replication (secondary member communication).

Cassandra Ports

  • 7000: Cassandra internal communication between nodes (non-SSL).
  • 7001: Cassandra internal communication with SSL enabled.
  • 7199: Cassandra JMX (Java Management Extensions) for monitoring and management.

Redis Port

  • 6379: Default port for Redis database (in-memory key-value store).
  • 6380: Redis server with SSL/TLS encryption.

IBM DB2 Ports

  • 50000: Default port for IBM DB2 database communication.

Database Management and Monitoring Ports

  • 8080: Apache Tomcat, often used in conjunction with web applications that interact with databases.
  • 9000: Used by SonarQube for database interaction and reporting.
  • 9092: Default port for Apache Kafka (used as a distributed event streaming platform which might interact with databases).

Summary of Common Database Ports

Port NumberDatabaseDescription
3306MySQL, MariaDBDefault port for MySQL and MariaDB
5432PostgreSQLDefault port for PostgreSQL
1433Microsoft SQL ServerDefault port for Microsoft SQL Server
1521Oracle DatabaseDefault port for Oracle Database
27017MongoDBDefault port for MongoDB database
11211MemcachedPort for Memcached (distributed caching system)
50000IBM DB2Default port for IBM DB2
50000SAP HANAPort for SAP HANA Database
1527InterBaseDefault port for InterBase
9092Apache KafkaDefault port for Kafka

These ports are critical for database connectivity, management, and optimization, enabling different applications and services to interact with database systems effectively.