is http connection less or is it connection oriented?

ghaouf

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bellboy

i believe it uses tcp, which makes it connection-orientated.

mynameisboring

definitly connection oriented because of TCP - think of it this way. If it wasn't then some of the JPG and HTML files you would view would be corrupted if it wasn't connection oriented

Webmaster

mynameisboring wrote:

definitly connection oriented because of TCP - think of it this way. If it wasn't then some of the JPG and HTML files you would view would be corrupted if it wasn't connection oriented

Don't think of it that way... even if it would use UDP, the responsibility of JPG lies at the Presentation layer. If a protocol uses UDP, often upper layers are responsible for the error-recovery...

ghaouf

At the application layer, HTTP is connectionless. However, HTTP requires a connection oriented service to operate, and that is where TCP comes into play. The Transport layer is where the virtual connection is established, and that is where something is either demmed connection oriented or connectionless.

but that does not answer the question
so if on the exam it ask http is connection less or connection oriented what should i choose???

ghaouf

isn't http an application layer protocol so it does not have any thing with is not where the connection is established. HTTP needs TCP and TCP establishes the connection.
so what would comptia think of it as connection less or connection oriented

Webmaster

ghaoufa wrote:

isn't http an application layer protocol so it does not have any thing with is not where the connection is established. HTTP needs TCP and TCP establishes the connection.
so what would comptia think of it as connection less or connection oriented

Right, it's a bit like asking if UDP(transport layer) is routable... (routing occurs at network layer)

So my guess would be, if they would ask if HTTP is connection oriented, I would say yes, HTTP communication is connection oriented (with the help of TCP...)
But if they explicitily mention the Application layer, the answer might be no... so, as is typically for CompTIA, it might depend on the exact wording of the question

ghaouf

how do you think comptia will word it
and could you give me an example on how comptia might word it so the answer would be connection oriented and another so the answer would be connection less

Webmaster

I wouldn't break my head over this one, CompTIA might be known for their ambigious wording but they are not that tricky...

The point is that if they ask if HTTP is connection-oriented or not, they might be after the fact that HTTP uses TCP or UDP. If they put it in an obvious OSI model perspective they might be after the fact that each OSI layer communicates virtually directly with the same layer at the destination host... (and as you quoted "At the application layer, HTTP is connectionless.")

Usually helpful in determining what CompTIA wants to hear on the exam is the use of CompTIA approved study material...