IP Addressing and Subnetting
Today, many different kinds of devices can communicate on a network. A network device might be a computer, a router, a printer, or any number of unusual devices. Every device on a network that uses the Internet protocol (IP) needs a unique IP address. More ...
OSI Transport Layer
The Transport layer (OSI layer 4) uses connection-oriented protocols to provide a reliable end-to-end connection between the source computer and the destination computer. Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is a transport layer protocol. More ...
Integration of IPv6 with IPv4
Almost all networks use IPv4. The question is how to move them over to IPv6 while allowing them to keep the networks they currently have operating. There are three methods. More ...
A Simple Description of the IPv6 Header and Datagram
This article provides a simple description of the IPv6 header and datagram without a lot referring back to IPv4. More ...
Networking Routing Believability and Administrative Distance
If a network is running more than one routing protocol and a router receives two route advertisements from different routing protocols, which route advertisement does the router believe?. More ...
TCP/IP Protocol Suite
A good portion of the knowledge required to be a network technician relates to the TCP/IP protocol suite. This article describes the most important protocols in the TCP/IP protocol suite. Many other less frequently used protocols exist. More ...
RIP (Routing Information Protocol)
RIP is an Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) that uses hop count as a metric. RIP comes in versions 1, 2, and RIPng (RIP next generation) an extension of RIPv2 for support of IPv6. More ...
The OSI Data Link Layer
The Data Link layer uses MAC addresses is to pass data frames from the Physical layer to the Network layer and vice versa. The use of MAC addresses permits the direction of data within the same network, but not across routers. More ...
Classless IP Addressing
In the beginning, classful addressing was a great idea for keeping IP addresses organized. But as the Internet grew, and IP addresses became scarce, classful addressing was found to be too limiting. Classless IP addressing, known as Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) was released in September 1993. More ...
Video Streaming Protocols
Video surveillance systems currently are undergoing a transition where more and more traditional analog solutions are being replaced by digital solutions. Here, some of the network protocols used in video streaming are described. More ...
Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs)
A Virtual LAN (VLAN) is a subgroup within a local network. VLANs make it easy for network administrators to separate a single switched network into subnetworks to match the functional and security requirements of their network without having to make major changes in the existing network infrastructure. More ...
IPv6 Flow Label Field
The IPv6 Flow Label field is used to help identify all the packets within the same flow to ensure that all the packets receive the same type of handling by the IPv6 routers. More ...
X.25 and Frame Relay Overview
Frame Relay originated as an extension of integrated services digital network (ISDN). Its designers aimed to enable a packet-switched network to transport over circuit-switched technology. The technology has become a stand-alone and cost-effective means of creating a WAN. More ...
What Are Private IP Addresses?
Normally you have to be assigned an IP address, or a group of IP addresses by a Regional Internet Registry. However, if you just need IP addresses for an internal network that will not be routed to the Internet, you can select from blocks of IP addresses reserved as Private IP addresses. More ...
Networking and Internet Standards Organizations
Without standards, the Internet would be chaos. The primary organization that sets communications standards for the Internet is the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). More ...
