Michael Tanczos's List: Networking

EAHS Online is the Moodle site for Easton Area High School students. Moodle is an online learning system created to provide students with easy to access class resources.

Cisco Networking Academy is an innovative education initiative that delivers information and communication technology (ICT) skills to improve career and economic opportunities around the world.

A network switch is a computer networking device that connects network segments.

A network hub or repeater hub is a device for connecting multiple twisted pair or fiber optic Ethernet devices together and thus making them act as a single network segment. Hubs work at the physical layer (layer 1) of the OSI model. The device is thus a form of multiport repeater.

Routers are specialized computers that send your messages and those of every other Internet user speeding to their destinations along thousands of pathways. In this article, we'll look at how these behind-the-scenes machines make the Internet work.

evices on a network don't immediately become aware of the existence and location of other devices on the same network. If you've ever wondered how they discover one another, then you're ready to enter the not-really-that-mysterious world of NIC, MAC, and ARP (pronounced as words, not as spelled-out letters). Full speed ahead, matey!

Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) is the method for finding a host's link layer (hardware) address when only its Internet Layer (IP) or some other Network Layer address is known.

Hackers lie. Skillful hackers lie well. And well-rounded hackers can lie both to people and to machines. This article discusses the ARP attack including how it works and what it can be used for.

A firewall is a barrier to keep destructive forces away from your property. In fact, that's why its called a firewall. Its job is similar to a physical firewall that keeps a fire from spreading from one area to the next. As you read through this article, you will learn more about firewalls, how they work and what kinds of threats they can protect you from.

This page has links to articles on wireless security, networking utility and security software, and wireless router vendors and product reviews.

Network Address Translation allows a single device, such as a router, to act as an agent between the Internet (or "public network") and a local (or "private") network. This means that only a single, unique IP address is required to represent an entire group of computers.

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a network application protocol used by devices (DHCP clients) to obtain configuration information for operation in an Internet Protocol network. This protocol reduces system administration workload, allowing devices to be added to the network with little or no manual intervention.

IP network engineers need a solid understanding of how IP subnetting works--yet the subject is often taught so poorly, students wind up completely baffled. George Ou has developed a simple, graphical approach that explains IP subnetting in a way that finally makes sense.

When educators ask students what they consider to be the most confusing aspect in learning about networking, many say that it is IP address subnetting. While subnetting isn't all that difficult in concept, it can be a bit mind-boggling in part due to the manipulations of binary numbers required. Many people understand the ideas behind subnetting but find it hard to follow the actual steps required to subnet a network.

This guide has a number of important explanations on the basics of VLSM. VLSM subnetting is done the same way as regular subnetting; it is just more complex because of the extra levels of subnetting hierarchy. You do an initial subnetting of the network into large subnets, and then further break down one or more of the subnets as required.

This page describes the concept of VLSM. A Variable Length Subnet Mask (VLSM) is a means of allocating IP addressing resources to subnets according to their individual need rather than some general network-wide rule.