How do SCTP and HTTP2 interact with other protocols and layers in the network stack?

1 What is SCTP?

SCTP, or Stream Control Transmission Protocol, is a transport layer protocol that provides reliable, ordered, and error-free delivery of data. Compared to TCP, SCTP has some advantages. It enables multiple streams of data within a single connection, thus reducing head-of-line blocking and increasing efficiency. Additionally, it supports multihoming, meaning a host can have multiple IP addresses and switch between them in case of network failure or congestion. Moreover, SCTP supports message-oriented communication, which means data is sent and received as discrete units instead of a continuous stream of bytes. This makes it suitable for applications that require high availability and reliability, such as voice over IP, video conferencing, and webRTC.

2 What is HTTP2?

HTTP2, or Hypertext Transfer Protocol version 2, is an application layer protocol that defines how web browsers and servers communicate. It is an upgrade from HTTP1.1, introducing binary framing, multiplexing, and server push. Binary framing encodes and compresses data into smaller and more efficient frames, multiplexing allows multiple requests and responses to be sent and received over a single TCP connection, and server push allows a server to send additional resources to a browser before they are requested. These improvements make HTTP2 more efficient, reducing latency and overhead while improving loading speed and user experience. As such, HTTP2 is widely adopted by modern web browsers and servers, enhancing the performance and security of web applications.

3 How do SCTP and HTTP2 interact with TCP and IP?

SCTP and HTTP2 are both built on top of the internet protocol (IP), which is the network layer protocol that handles the routing and addressing of packets across the internet. IP does not guarantee the delivery, order, or integrity of packets, so SCTP and HTTP2 rely on the transport layer protocols to provide these features. SCTP is a transport layer protocol that competes with TCP and provides reliable, ordered, and error-free delivery of data; however, it has some limitations such as head-of-line blocking and inefficiency due to its single stream of data per connection, as well as its lack of support for multihoming. On the other hand, HTTP2 is an application layer protocol that works with TCP and adds enhancements such as binary framing to reduce the size and complexity of data, multiplexing to reduce the number of TCP connections needed, and server push to reduce the number of requests needed. While HTTP2 can leverage the advantages of TCP, it also has some challenges such as requiring encryption and being incompatible with HTTP1.1.

4 How do SCTP and HTTP2 interact with other protocols and layers?

SCTP and HTTP2 are not just isolated protocols, but they interact with other protocols and layers in the network stack to provide a complete and coherent service. They can support different application layer protocols, such as HTTP1.1, webRTC, SIP, depending on the needs and preferences of developers and users. In addition, they can use different presentation layer protocols, such as TLS and SSL, to provide encryption and authentication of data transmission. Furthermore, they can use different session layer protocols to manage the state and context of communication between applications. Moreover, they can use different transport layer protocols to balance reliability and efficiency of data transmission. Lastly, they can use different network layer protocols based on the availability and compatibility of IP addresses and networks. Understanding how SCTP and HTTP2 work and how they interact with other protocols and layers can help you make better choices for your applications.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?