University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

The HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an application-layer network protocol that defines how web browsers request web pages and resources and how servers respond to those requests. Operating over TCP, HTTP follows a request-and-response interaction pattern where a client issues a request (such as retrieving a webpage) and the server returns the requested HTML documents, media, and related files. Web servers typically listen for HTTP requests on port 80.

HyperText Transfer Protocol

At which network protocol layer does the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) operate?

Which standard port number do web servers typically listen on to receive HTTP requests?

HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is a secure version of HTTP that encapsulates standard HTTP communication inside Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption. By encrypting web traffic, HTTPS prevents intermediate parties from intercepting, reading, or tampering with page content exchanged between a browser and a server. However, HTTPS does not conceal all online activity; while page contents remain protected, unencrypted DNS lookups can still disclose which domain names and websites a user visits. HTTPS connections typically operate over port 443 and serve as the default communication standard for modern websites.

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