N Is For Networking

Discover the fascinating world of network topologies, from leaf/spine to hub and spoke designs. Learn how these configurations influence traffic management and network efficiency. Dive into the critical last mile of connectivity, which links homes to the internet, and explore the essential role of content delivery networks in streaming services. Understand the growing significance of edge networks in reducing latency for various industries. Join the conversation on evolving networking concepts and community engagement.

Discover the four essential goals of network design: stability, speed, scalability, and security. The hosts share insights on navigating design challenges and the importance of collaboration with specialists. They delve into the nuances of network latency and the significance of investing wisely based on specific needs. Scalability strategies are also discussed, highlighting how simple, efficient designs can accommodate future growth. Finally, the necessity of regular maintenance and community engagement is emphasized to enhance overall network performance.

We wanted to do an episode on SD-WAN, but realized we needed to set the stage for how wide-area networking developed. That’s why today’s episode is a history lesson of the Wide Area Network (WAN). We talk about how WANs emerged, public and private WANs, how WANs connect to LANs and data centers, the care... Read more »

On today’s show, we’re going to dig deeper into tunnels and explore some of the quirks and features of tunnels. This week we’ll discuss maximum transmission units (MTUs), maximum segment size, IP fragmentation and more.  Today’s bonus material is more RFCs – RFC 4821 and RFC 8899. Episode Links: What Is a Tunnel? – N... Read more »

Let’s dig into tunnels. While some network engineers may want to quibble, a tunnel is when you put one packet inside of another packet to carry it across a network (frames also come into the picture, so hold off on your follow-ups for now). On today’s N Is For Networking, Ethan and Holly explore this... Read more »

Dive into the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol as it assigns IP addresses automatically, making network connectivity smoother. Explore its historical roots in BootP and the significance of RFC documents like RFC 2131. Learn about the critical role of DHCP servers, including configuration intricacies and the importance of redundancy to prevent downtime. Discover how security measures like VPNs and zero trust access enhance network safety while tackling the challenges of IP address conflicts and unauthorized servers. It's a networking adventure you won't want to miss!

This week we continue with DNS. In our last episode we covered the basics; today we expand our scope to cover topics such as security for DNS, reverse DNS, and DNS record types. For dessert this week, a serving of Raspberry Pi and Happy Eyeballs. Episode Links: DNS: Turning Names into Numbers – N Is... Read more »

The Domain Name System (DNS) keeps the Internet running. On today’s N Is For Networking podcast, we talk about how DNS transforms human-readable host names into IP addresses so that Internet traffic can be sent to the right place. We talk about root name servers, Top Level Domains (TLDs), and other elements of the DNS... Read more »

Following last week’s introduction to network monitoring, we discuss the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), one of the most implemented types of network monitoring. We discuss how it is organized, operations that SNMP can perform, and versions of SNMP. This week’s bonus conversation is a discussion on the future for SNMP. Episode Links: MIB tree... Read more »

How do you know what is happening within your network, especially when something isn’t working? Network monitoring is the answer. On today’s show, we’ll start with the basics of network monitoring. We’ll cover what it is, how it’s used, and suggest some paid and open source network monitoring tools. This week’s bonus material is a... Read more »