Top Network Protocols Every DevOps Engineer Should Know
In DevOps, knowing network protocols is vital for managing infrastructure, automation, and security. Understanding key protocols and port numbers improves your workflow. Let's explore the most common protocols in DevOps and their role in modern workflows.
HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)
Port Number: 80
Use Case in DevOps: HTTP is the foundation of web communications and is used to access anything over the internet through HTTP requests and HTTP responses. DevOps engineers often interact with HTTP while configuring load balancers, reverse proxies, and monitoring tools.
For example: Nginx and Apache Server listen on Port 80
HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure)
Port Number: 443
Use Case in DevOps: HTTPS encrypts HTTP traffic using TLS (SSL) to ensure secure communication. It is essential for securing web applications, APIs, and Kubernetes ingress controllers. DevOps teams use HTTPS to prevent data breaches and enforce secure access to web services.
FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
Port Number: 20 (for Data Transfer / Downloading) & 21 (for Data Control)
Use Case in DevOps: FTP is used for transferring files between systems. While it’s less common in modern DevOps workflows, some legacy applications and CI/CD pipelines still rely on FTP to fetch build artifacts or logs from external servers.
SSH (Secure Shell Protocol)
Port Number: 22
Use Case in DevOps: SSH is a critical protocol for securely accessing remote servers, managing infrastructure via automation tools (like Ansible and Terraform), and performing secure file transfers using SCP or SFTP. DevOps engineers rely on SSH to maintain infrastructure across on-prem and cloud environments.
DNS (Domain Name System)
Port Number: 53
Use Case in DevOps: DNS translates domain names to IP addresses, enabling seamless communication between services. In DevOps, DNS plays a key role in service discovery, managing multi-cloud setups, and configuring internal networking within Kubernetes clusters.
For example: AWS Route 53 DNS service
SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
Port Number: 25
Use Case in DevOps: SMTP is used to send emails. It plays a role in alerting and logging mechanisms within DevOps, helping teams receive notifications from monitoring tools like Prometheus, Grafana, and Jenkins.
For Example: Jenkins SMTP Plugin is used to send Build Notifications email.
Mastering these protocols helps you troubleshoot network issues, optimize DevOps workflows, and enhance security, making you a skilled DevOps engineer by understanding how they operate, whether managing cloud infrastructure, automating deployments, or setting up monitoring systems.