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 ...
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 ...
Comparing IPv4 and IPv6 at a Glance
When examining the details of the IPv4 and IPv6 headers, there are some important differences between the two protocols. This article summarizes some of the differences. More ...
IPv6 Multicast Addresses
An IPv6 multicast address defines a group of devices known as a multicast group. Unlike IPv4, there is no broadcast address in IPv6. Instead, IPv6 uses multicast. A packet sent to a multicast group always has a unicast source address. 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 ...
WAN Network Protocols - DSL, SONET, HDLC, DWDM, DLSW+
This article discusses some of the most implemented Wide Area Networking (WAN) protocols in enterprise networking environments today including HDLC, DSL, SONET, DWDM, and DLSW+. HDLC is a Cisco proprietary protocol for designed for sending data across serial links. 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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
The OSI Physical Layer
The Physical layer (OSI layer 1) deals with the mechanical and electrical specifications of the network hardware. Layer 1 specifications define connectors, pin-outs, signal voltages, and related software. More ...
Networking Protocols, Ports, Standards, and Organizations What Does it All Mean?
A protocol is a set of rules that devices agree to. A port is specific electronic connection, or software interface a protocol uses. A standard is a specification that the characteristics of the protocol's signal and the design of the interface. Networking standards are developed by networking standards organizations. More ...
The TCP/IP protocol Datagram Format
A datagram is the packet format defined by the Internet Protocol. A pictorial representation of an IP datagram shows the first five or six 32-bit words of the datagram are control information called the header. More ...
Ports and Sockets
Data transmitted over the Internet carries a 32-bit IP address that identifies its destination computer and a 16-bit number that identifies a port on that computer. The combination of the IP address and the port number is called a socket. A pair of sockets, one on the sending computer and one on the receiving computer uniquely identifies a specific connection on the Internet. 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 ...
