Networking 101

Best of ENP: Understanding the ubiquitous TCP is key to troubleshooting networking communications. First of two parts.

Understanding how bridges, switches and VLANs relate will help you master the second layer in the OSI model.

Best of ENP: The OSI Reference Model gives you the tools you need to understand how networking works. Here's a guide that'll help you avoid common misunderstandings.

Best of ENP: If you want to understand most networking, you have to understand the Internet Protocol and how it works.

Best of ENP: If subnets are such a pain to calculate, why do we have them at all? This and more in this week's Networking 101.

Calculating subnets can be tricky work. This installment of Networking 101 offers some tips and a few practice exercises to get you started.

Best of ENP: Internet routing involves a lot of players and a lot of pieces. Before we delve into Internet routing protocols, here are the broad strokes.

We kick off our Networking 101 series with a look at the building blocks of network configuration: IP addresses.

The spanning tree protocol ensures that sensible redundancy in your network doesn't turn into loops run amok. Here's how it works.

Tunnels are key to everyday network security. Our gentle introduction explains how they work and offers some easy-to-try examples with SSH.

Whether you're watching a celebrity childbirth streaming live from Africa or just trying to help your enterprise network run more efficiently, understanding mulitcast routing is key.

OSPF is a versatile, efficient routing protocol. This week we learn more about what makes it tick.

As the most widely used interior gateway protocol, OSPF is where most network designers look when RIP just isn't enough.

Networking 101 begins its exploration of network routing with this introduction to basic issues and concepts every routing protocol addresses.

We continue our look at Internet routing with BGP -- The protocol that ties the 'net together.

Building on last week's look at BGP, this week's installment of Networking 101 considers iBGP for connecting multiple border routers.

Best of ENP:ICMP is "that thing ping uses," but it's a lot more, too. There's plenty to take in before we move further up the layer stack.

When is NAT not NAT? When the folks talking about it mean PAT. Networking 101 clears up some confusion on network address translation.

RIP has its share of detractors, but as one of the oldest and simplest routing protocols, understanding it is key to to understanding routing.

There's an alphabet soup of governing bodies overseeing the Internet's day-to-day operations. Here's how to tell your IANA from your ICANN.

Learning more about how TCP handles basic flow control will help you understand some security issues and give you a leg up when it comes to optimizing high-speed networks.