Standards+and+Protocols

__Standards and Protocols__

Definitions:
**STANDARDS -** A required or agreed level of quality or attainment

**PROTOCOLS** - The established code of procedure or behavior in any group, organization, or situation

Standards and protocols are technical rules and conventions that enable compatability and therefore facilitate communication or interoperability between different IT systems and their components. They might govern the design and use of hardware, software and information. For example, the communication protocols used on the, ASCII representations for characters, or the design of the printer port on a personal computer are all governed by standards.

Example:
Nearly all websites have their own level of standards and set of protocols users have to comply by. The quality of both factors determines how well managed and professional the website is. [|Wikipedia], for example, constanly aims to make sure that all the information that is stored on the site is legitimate, not false and is backed up with references and sources to prove that the information on each topic/subject is valid. Wikipedia also allows users to sign up to the website and contribute to providing more information on topics, along with having the site notify them with any new information on a particular topic which subscribers are interested in. The website must ensure that they would not lose subscriber account details/information, or worse the accounts themselves. Due to the sites popularity and how much it is relied upon by day-to-day users, the site's standard of high quality has to be maintained by moderators or site officials. They do this by introducing a number of protocols that site users must follow and obide by. The protocols ensure thats the site users do not abuse the site, e.g. information vandalism, hacking, spamming of user-made accounts, etc. Failing to follow the protocols would lead to the banning of accounts. As well as moderators, Wikipedia also has a word filter system which picks up on profane and inaproppriate language, which helps to find and get rid of website vandals.

The Importance of Standards and Protocols:
The standards and protocols are the important factors of any IT related project. They are effectively the guidelines of a task or operation, and show what should be expected and at what level of quality. Internet connectivity is an example of an operation which uses a list of protocols. No one likes slow internet which is why this particular protocol called "The Ethernet Protocol" is quite important. This video explains more about it.media type="youtube" key="h4nXjY5Ov64?version=3" height="390" width="640"

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