Network Fundamentals

Collision Domains are layer 2 segments where computers can communicate over ethernet.  But what happens when your layer 2 ethernet segment gets too noisy and packets start colliding. Your network performance goes down the toilet and you starts getting complaints from your users.  Not a good thing! Welcome to the …

Network Routing Protocols – IGRP, EIGRP, OSPF, ISIS, BGP Overview of Routing Protocols The purpose of routing protocols is to learn of available routes that exist on the enterprise network, build routing tables and make routing decisions. Some of the most common routing protocols include RIP, IGRP, EIGRP, OSPF, IS-IS …

Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting… Otherwise Known as AAA (triple A).  Most people who have had to implement AAA on a router or switch probably know very little about the commands they copy to the router config.  Most simply grab the AAA configs from another working router or switch and be …

Many engineers (at one time myself too) believe they understand wild card masks. If you ask someone they will most likely tell you that a wild card mask is just the opposite or reverse of a subnet mask. Unfortunately this isn’t quite correct. Yes, at first glance a wild card …

Today I’m going to get back to basics and discuss the 7 layer OSI reference model and how it applies to networking.  Most experienced network engineers know the OSI model all to well and most if not all certifications will expect you to know it. So lets unwrap this 7 …