Network Fundamentals: Top Picks
Network Data Transmission
Network data transmission refers to the process of sending and receiving information between two or more devices connected to a network. It is a crit…
Network Unicast - Its role and Importance
Unicast is a communication method used in computer networking where data is sent from a single sender to a specific destination device. In this…
Measuring Network Performance: Test Network Throu…
Measuring network performance has always been a difficult and unclear task, mainly because most engineers and administrators are unsure which approac…
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 si…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Network Protocols:
Transmission Control Protocol - Part 4: In-Depth…
This article is an introduction to the 7-page TCP Header analysis section that follows. We briefly view each section of the TCP Header and then move…
TCP Header Anaylsis - Section 7: TCP Data Payload…
Finally, the last page of our incredible TCP Analysis. As most of you would expect, this section is dedicated to the DATA section that follows the TC…
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 mi…
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…
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…
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…
IP Subnetting - Part 4: Routing Between Subnets
Routing and Communication between subnets is the main topic here. This article analyses communications between subnets. We provide examples on differ…
IP Protocol - Part 1: Binary & The Internet Proto…
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 I…
STP/ICMP Protocols:
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 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 1: Introduction
The Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP), is a very popular protocol and actually part of an Internet Protocol (IP) implementation. Because IP wa…
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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VLANs - IEEE 802.1q Trunk Link Protocol Analysis
While the VLAN Tagging article briefly covered the IEEE 802.1q protocol this article will continue building upon it by further analyzing the IEEE 802.1q 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…
Dynamic VLANs
Dynamic VLANs were introduced to grant the flexibility and complexity(!) that Static VLANs did not provide. Dynamic VLANs are quite rare because of their…
VLAN InterSwitch Link (ISL) Protocol Analysis
Deciding whether to use ISL or IEEE 802.1q to power your trunk links can be quite confusing if you cannot identify the advantages and disadvantages of eac…
OSPF - Part 5: Analysis of OSPF Link State Update (LSU…
This article explains how OSPF uses Link State Advertisement (LSA) to exchange information about the network topology between routers. When a router recei…
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 interf…
Link State Routing Protocols
Link State routing protocols do not view networks in terms of adjacent routers and hop counts, but they build a comprehensive view of the overall network…
Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol - EIGRP
Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP), similar to IGRP, is a Cisco proprietary routing protocol that is used to exchange routing information…