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Network Fundamentals: Top Picks

Network Fundamentals

Power over Ethernet - Understanding PoE Technol...

Power over Ethernet (PoE) was invented by PowerDsine back in 1997 and the first power injector (Midspan) was installed in 1998! Many manufacturespa...
Network Fundamentals

Need for Speed – The Data Tsunami & Advancement...

A long-long time ago (not long ago in earth time) 100 Mbps was THE technology. 100 Mbps uplinks bundled with ether-channel was the ultimate uplink ...
Network Fundamentals

Introduction to Content Switching - Application...

Content switches (also sometimes called application switches) is a class of network device that is becoming increasingly common in medium to large ...
Network Fundamentals

Hubs & Repeaters

Network hubs were once the primary method of interconnecting network devices to create a local area network (LAN). Hubs were inexpensive, easy to i...

Featured Subcategories:

Netflow Articles:

Netflow

Complete Guide to Netflow: How Netflow & its Co...

This article will cover the basics of Netflow, including its use cases, Netflow supported devices, Netflow history, and variants. We’ll also dive i...
Netflow

NetFlow Analyzer: Free Download, Step-by-Step I...

In our previous article we explained how a Netflow Analyzer can help you gain visibility into your user traffic, application traffic and data flows...
Netflow

Netflow: Monitor Bandwidth & Network Utilizatio...

Monitoring network traffic & bandwidth usage via Netflow is mandatory for any type and size network. Gaining visibility into user traffic, appl...
Netflow

Netflow vs SNMP. Two Different Approaches to Ne...

SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) and Netflow are both popular protocols with admins, prized for their ability to give visibility over the ...

Network Protocols:

Subnetting

IP Subnetting - Part 1: The Basic Concepts

When we subnet a network, we basically split it into smaller networks. For example, when a set of IP Addresses is given to a company, e.g 254 they ...
Subnetting

IP Subnet Calculator

This free online Subnet Calculator provides a fast and easy way to calculate all aspects of any IP Address and Subnet Mask. Simply enter your des...
TCP - UDP Protocol Analysis

TCP Header Anaylsis - Section 1: TCP Source & D...

This section contains one of the most well-known fields in the TCP header, the Source and Destination port numbers. These fields are used to specif...
TCP - UDP Protocol Analysis

Transmission Control Protocol - Part 1: Introdu...

Understanding how each protocol fits into the OSI Model is essential for any network engineer. This page analyses how TCP is classified as a 'trans...
Domain Name System (DNS)

The DNS Protocol - Part 1: Introduction

If you ever wondered where DNS came from, this is your chance to find out ! The quick summary on DNS's history will also help you understand why DN...
IP Protocol

IP Protocol - Part 1: Binary & The Internet Pro...

To understand the Internet Protocol, we need to learn and understand Binary. It is very important to know and understand Binary because part of the...
TCP - UDP Protocol Analysis

TCP Header Anaylsis - Section 3: TCP Header Len...

The third field under close examination is the TCP Header length. There really isn't that much to say about the Header length other than to explain...
TCP - UDP Protocol Analysis

UDP Protocol - Header

This article covers the UDP protocol. We examine the structure of the UDP header, the protocols that use UDP as a transport plus a lot more. Some ...

STP/ICMP Protocols:

ICMP Protocol

ICMP Protocol - Part 7: Time Exceeded Message A...

The ICMP - Time Exceeded message is one which is usually created by gateways or routers. In order to fully understand this ICMP message, you must b...
Spanning Tree Protocol (STP)

Spanning Tree Protocol – Part 1: Understand STP...

One of the most used terms in network is LAN (Local Area Network). It’s a form of network that we encounter in our daily lives, at home, at work, s...
Spanning Tree Protocol (STP)

Spanning Tree Protocol – Part 2: Rapid STP Port...

Spanning Tree Protocol, Rapid STP port costs and port states are an essential part of the STP algorithm that affect how STP decides to forward or b...
ICMP Protocol

ICMP Protocol - Part 1: Introduction

The Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP), is a very popular protocol and actually part of an Internet Protocol (IP) implementation. Because IP ...

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VLAN Networks

Static VLANs

VLANs are usually created by the network administrator, assigning each port of every switch to a VLAN. Depending on the network infrastructure and secur...
VLAN Networks

InterVLAN Routing - Routing between VLAN Networks

This article deals with the popular topic of InterVLAN routing, which is used to allow routing & communication between VLAN networks. Our article an...
VLAN Networks

VLAN Security - Making the Most of VLANs

It's easy to see why virtual LANs have become extremely popular on networks of all sizes. In practical terms, multiple VLANs are pretty much the same as...
VLAN Networks

VTP Introduction & Modes

The invention of VLANs was very much welcomed by all engineers and administrators, allowing them to extend, redesign and segment their existing network ...

Routing

OSPF - Part 4: OSPF Neighbor States – OSPF Neighbor ...

This is the third article of our OSPF series which analyzes the different OSPF States routers go through during the OSPF discovery and neighbor forming ...
Routing

OSPF - Part 3: OSPF Adjacency & Neighbor Forming Pro...

This is the thrid article of our 6-part OSPF series (see below) that describes how OSPF routers perform neighbor relationship and adjacency. We’ll exami...
Routing

Distance Vector Routing Protocols

Distance Vector routing protocols use frequent broadcasts (255.255.255.255 or FF:FF:FF:FF) of their entire routing table every 30 sec. on all their inte...
Routing

OSPF - Part 2: How OSPF Protocol Works & Basic Conce...

This article covers basic OSPF concepts and operation. We explain how OSPF works, how OSPF tables are built on an OSPF-enabled router and their purpose ...

Network Address Translation - NAT

Network Address Translation (NAT) Overload - Part 2

In our previous article, Network Address Translation (NAT) Overload - Part 1, we explained what NAT Overload is and how it works. This page deals with t...
Network Address Translation - NAT

Dynamic NAT - Part 2

Our previous article, Dynamic NAT - Part 1, covered the basic idea of Dynamic Network Address Translation. We are now going to take a closer look at the...
Network Address Translation - NAT

Dynamic NAT - Part 1

Dynamic NAT is the second NAT mode we're going to talk about. Dynamic NAT, like Static NAT, is not that common in smaller networks but you'll find it us...
Network Address Translation - NAT

Network Address Translation (NAT) Overload - Part 1

NAT Overload is the most common NAT method used throughout all networks that connect to the Internet. This is because of the way it functions and the li...