Protocol is the special set of rules that end points in a telecommunication connection use when they communicate. Protocols exist at several levels in a telecommunication connection. On the Internet, there are the TCP/IP protocols, consisting of: Transmission Control Protocol(TCP), which uses a set of rules to exchange messages with other Internet points at the information packet level Internet Protocol(IP), which uses a set of rules to send and receive messages at the Internet address level Additional protocols that include the Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) an d File transfer Protocol (FTP), each with defined sets of rules to use with corresponding programs elsewhere on the Internet.