Wireless Network Standards - 80211a, 80211b, 80211g, 80211n, 80216
This article describes the 80211a, 80211b, 80211g, 80211n, 80216, the current IEEE defined wireless protocol standards in use today, their bandwidth, maximum data rate, and coverage area. More ...
Video - Data Link Layer of OSI Networking Model
In this video by Kevin Wallace you learn about the Data Link Layer of the OSI networking model. More ...
PoE (Power Over Ethernet)
Say you want to mount a wireless access point (AP) on the ceiling. Although no electrical outlet is available, a switch feature called Power over Ethernet (PoE) IEEE 802.3at standard offers as much as 32.4W of power over a UTP cable. More ...
Neighbor Discovery Protocol (NDP)
Neighbor Discovery Protocol is part of the new version of the Internet Protocol (IPv6). Its function is to resolve IPv6 addresses into valid MAC addresses. All addresses discovered by NDR are stored in a buffer known as the neighbor cache. More ...
Kerberos Authentication Protocol
Kerberos is an authentication protocol which allows computers communicating over a non-secure network to prove their identity to one another. Windows 2000 and later use Kerberos as their default authentication method. More ...
IP version 6 (IPv6) Advantages and Implementation
The Internet has, to all intents and purposes, run out of public IP version 4 addresses. The solution to this issue is new IP version 6. This would require a parallel IPv6 based Internet to be running until all IPv4 connections have been converted. More ...
Shortest Path Bridging (SPB) Protocol
Shortest Path Bridging (SPB) protocol is a computer networking technology intended to simplify the creation and configuration of networks, while enabling multipath routing. It is the replacement for the older spanning tree protocols. More ...
Looking at the OSI 7 Layer Reference Model
The OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) model is a 7 layer reference model for how applications can communicate over a network. Don't confuse The OSI model with TCP/IP Protocol which has 4 layers and is the actual architecture used for networking. 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 ...
14 Common Network Ports You Should Know
Ports are virtual software-based and are managed by a computer's operating system. Different types of data flow to and from a computer over the same network connection. The use of ports informs computers what to do with the data they receive. Each port is assigned a number, and each is associated with a specific process or service. Port numbers are standardized, most reserved for certain protocols, for example, all HTTP messages go to port 80. More ...
IPv6 Address Auto Configuration
When an IPv6 device first connects to a network, it can configure its own IPv6 address. It does this using a mechanism called MAC-to-EU164. More ...
T-Carrier - A Complete and Comprehensive Guide
T-carrier was introduced in 1962 by AT&T Bell Laboratories. A T1 line has the capacity of transmitting 1.544 Mbps and it can also be used to send 24 digitized voice channels. Dispite its age, because of its reliability, T-carrier is the most commonly used digital transmission service in the US, Canada, and Japan. More ...
What's the Difference Between a Packet and a Frame?
When speaking of the data in a network, people often call everything a packet. A more proper generic term would be protocol data unit or PDU. The specific name for a PDU depends on at what layer the data unit is in the OSI model. More ...
The OSI Session Layer
The Session layer, layer seven of the OSI model, establishes, synchronizes, maintains and terminates sessions between computers on a network. It establishes a connection ID and authenticates security. More ...
Network Switches
A bridge or router may be referred to as a switch because it uses information in the data packet to choose a path from one network segment to another. A bridge may be referred to as a layer 2 switch because it uses information from layer 2, the Data Link layer of the OSI model. More ...
