Network Fundamentals: Top Picks
Controlling Broadcasts and Multicasts
The first step in controlling broadcast and multicast traffic is to identify which devices are involved in a broadcast or multicast storm. The follow…
DoS & DDoS Attacks
A Denial of Service (DoS) attack is a malicious attempt to disrupt the normal functioning of a website, server or network by flooding it with traffic…
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 ins…
Firewall Topologies
In this section we are going to talk about the different ways a firewall can be set up. Depending on your needs, you can have a very simple firewall…
Featured Subcategories:
Netflow Articles:
NetFlow Analyzer: Free Download, Step-by-Step Ins…
In our previous article we explained how a Netflow Analyzer can help you gain visibility into your user traffic, application traffic and data flows w…
Netflow vs SNMP. Two Different Approaches to Netw…
SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) and Netflow are both popular protocols with admins, prized for their ability to give visibility over the ne…
Netflow: Monitor Bandwidth & Network Utilization…
Monitoring network traffic & bandwidth usage via Netflow is mandatory for any type and size network. Gaining visibility into user traffic, applic…
Complete Guide to Netflow: How Netflow & its Comp…
This article will cover the basics of Netflow, including its use cases, Netflow supported devices, Netflow history, and variants. We’ll also dive int…
Network Protocols:
Transmission Control Protocol - Part 3: The TCP H…
This article shows the TCP Header and Segment. We explain where the TCP Header and Segment are located in an Ethernet frame and also briefly view the…
The DNS Protocol - Part 3: DNS Query Message Form…
This section will deal with the analysis of the DNS packets by examining how DNS messages are formatted and the options and variables they contain. T…
TCP Header Anaylsis - Section 5: TCP Window Size…
Our fifth section contains some very interesting fields that are used by the TCP transport protocol. We see how TCP helps control how much data is tr…
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 desir…
What is Supernetting (Route Summarization) & How…
Supernetting is the opposite of of subnetting, and is also known as route aggregation or CIDR (Classless Inter-Domain Routing). Supernetting is a tec…
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 DNS…
TCP Header Anaylsis - Section 2: TCP Sequence & A…
This page will closely examine the Sequence and Acknowledgement numbers. The very purpose of their existence is related directly to the fact that the…
IP Subnetting - Part 5: Subnetting Guidelines
There is always that day when you are called upon to provide a solution to a network problem. The number of problems that can occur in a network are…
STP/ICMP Protocols:
ICMP Protocol - Part 2: Echo / Echo Reply (Ping)…
As mentioned in the previous page, an Echo is simply what we networking engineers call a 'ping'. The Echo Reply is, as most would guess, the 'p…
Spanning Tree Protocol – Part 3: Bridge ID, Prior…
In this article we will examine the Spanning Tree Bridge ID structure, explain why it has increments of 4096, how VLAN information is embedded (for P…
ICMP Protocol - Part 6: Redirect Messages
The ICMP - Redirect Message is always sent from a gateway to the host and the example below will illustrate when this is used.
Putting it simply (be…
Spanning Tree Protocol – Part 1: Understand STP P…
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, stu…
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Comparing Traditional Flat & VLAN Networks
Designing and building a network is not a simple job. VLANs are no exception to this rule, in fact they require a more sophisticated approach because of t…
VTP Protocol - In-Depth Analysis
The previous article introduced the VTP protocol, we examined how it can be used within a network, to help manage VLANs and ease the administrative overhe…
VLANs - Access & Trunk Links
If you've read our previous article The VLAN Concept - Introduction to VLANs then you should feel comfortable with terms such as 'VLAN', 'Stati…
VTP Pruning
VTP (VLAN Trunking Protocol) pruning is a feature that is used in Cisco switches to reduce unnecessary traffic in VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network) trunks…
Introduction to Routing Protocols
Distance Vector, Link State RIP, IGRP, EIGRP, OSPF
Routing protocols were created for routers. These protocols have been designed to allow the exchange…
Routing Information Protocol - RIP
Routing Information Protocol (RIP) is a distance-vector routing protocol that is commonly used in small to medium-sized networks. It is one of the o…
OSPF - Part 3: OSPF Adjacency & Neighbor Forming Proce…
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 examine…
Routed Protocols
We all understand that TCP/IP, IPX-SPX are protocols which are used in a Local Area Network (LAN) so computers can communicate between with each other and…