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Viewing articles tagged 'networking'

A Method for Diagnosing Network Problems The approach.THE FOUR QUESTIONSWhat exactly fails? When did it start? What changed? Who is... Adding Staff and Devices Growing headcount.WHAT EACH PERSON ADDSSeveral devices Bandwidth demand Possibly calls and... Addresses and Names: Everything That Matters, Briefly The summary.THE THREE THINGS THAT MUST AGREE ON A DEVICEAddress, subnet mask, and gateway.An... Auditing Your Network Establishing what you have.WHEN TO DO ITAnnually After taking over an environment Before any... Backup Internet Connections Continuity of access.WHY CONSIDER ONEAn outage stops everything: cards, calls, systems,... Bandwidth, Latency and Throughput Different measurements.BANDWIDTHThe maximum rate data can be transferred.Usually what a... Bots, Crawlers and Automated Traffic Non-human visitors.WHAT VISITS YOUR SITESearch engine crawlers Monitoring services Scrapers... Changing and Growing: Everything That Matters, Briefly The summary.BEFORE SPENDING ON CAPACITYEstablish what is actually consuming it, and whether... Changing Connection Providers Switching service.WHAT TO ESTABLISH FIRSTWhether the new service is actually available at your... Checking Basic Connectivity Is anything working.WHAT TO CHECK IN ORDERIs the cable connected or the wireless associated? Does... Checklist: Annual Network Review Once a year, properly.INVENTORYEvery device accounted for Equipment age and support status... Checklist: Before Changing DNS Avoiding an outage.RECORD EVERYTHING FIRSTEvery existing record, exactly, including ones you do... Checklist: Diagnosing Any Network Problem Work through in order.ESTABLISHWhat exactly fails When it started What changed Who and what is... Checklist: Monthly Network Check A short routine.EQUIPMENTFirmware current on router and access points Nothing overheating Nothing... Checklist: Setting Up a New Office Network From nothing to working.BEFORE INSTALLATIONConnectivity ordered, with lead time allowed Cabling... Clients, Servers and Connections Who asks and who answers.WHAT A CLIENT ISA device or program making a request.Your browser, your... Common Protocols You Will Encounter What each is for.HTTP AND HTTPSWeb traffic. HTTPS is the encrypted form, and what everything... Connecting Sites and Remote Workers Multiple locations.WHAT THE REQUIREMENT ISReaching resources at one location from another,... Connectivity: Everything That Matters, Briefly The summary.UPLOAD MATTERS MORE THAN PEOPLE THINKCalls, backups, sending files and anything... Dedicated Addresses and When You Need One Having your own.WHAT A DEDICATED ADDRESS ISA public address used only by your account.WHEN IT WAS... Default Gateways and Routing How traffic leaves your network.WHAT A DEFAULT GATEWAY ISThe device traffic is sent to when the... Diagnosing a Slow Connection Finding the constraint.WHAT TO ESTABLISHSlow for everyone or one device? Everything or one... Diagnosing Intermittent Faults Problems that come and go.WHY THEY ARE HARDThey are absent when you look.WHAT TO DORecord every... Diagnosing Name Resolution Problems When names do not resolve.WHAT THE SYMPTOM ISAddresses work; names do not.Or one name fails while... Diagnosing Problems: Everything That Matters, Briefly The summary.THE FOUR QUESTIONSWhat exactly fails? When did it start? What changed? Who is... Diagnosing Slow Performance When things work but slowly.WHAT TO ESTABLISHEverything or one service? All devices or one? Wired... DNS Record Types and What Each Does The records you will meet.APoints a name at an IPv4 address.The record sending your domain to... Documenting Your Network The record that saves you.WHAT TO DOCUMENTEquipment: what it is, where, and its... Escalating a Network Problem Effectively Getting help.WHAT TO ESTABLISH FIRSTWhat exactly fails When it started Who and what is affected... Essential Diagnostic Tools What to use.A CONNECTIVITY TESTSends a small packet and reports whether a reply arrives, and how... Guest Networks Access for visitors.WHAT IT ISA separate wireless network, isolated from your business... Hosting Networking: Everything That Matters, Briefly The summary.WHY A CORRECT DNS RECORD IS NOT ENOUGHThe server must also recognise the domain as... How Data Travels Across a Network The journey.WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU LOAD A PAGEYour device resolves the name to an address It opens... How Devices Get Their Addresses Automatic and manual assignment.AUTOMATIC ASSIGNMENTMost devices ask the network for an address... How Email Travels Between Servers Mail delivery in outline.WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU SENDYour client connects to your mail server and... How Networks Are Structured Topology and segmentation.WHAT A SIMPLE NETWORK LOOKS LIKEA router, a switch, and devices... How Web Traffic Works HTTP and HTTPS in practice.WHAT HAPPENSYour browser resolves the name Opens a connection, usually... How Your Website Is Reached From visitor to server.WHAT HAPPENSThe visitor's device resolves your domain to an address It... Improving Wireless Coverage Getting a usable signal everywhere.WHAT AFFECTS COVERAGEPlacement of the access point Walls,... Knowing When to Upgrade Your Network Recognising the constraint.WHAT SUGGESTS THE NETWORK IS THE CONSTRAINTConsistent slowness across... Load Balancing and Redundancy Spreading and duplicating.WHAT LOAD BALANCING ISDistributing requests across several... Local Networks: Everything That Matters, Briefly The summary.DO THESE WHEN SETTING UP ANYTHINGChange the router's administrative password first... Managing Bandwidth and Congestion Sharing limited capacity.THE PROBLEMOne activity consuming the connection, degrading everything... Managing Devices on Your Network Keeping track.WHAT TO RECORDEvery device What it is and who uses it Whether its address is fixed... Managing DNS Records Safely Making changes without breaking things.BEFORE ANY CHANGERecord every existing record,... Monitoring Availability Knowing when something is down.WHAT TO MONITORWhether your site responds Whether mail is accepted... Moving Premises Network aspects of relocation.WHAT TO ESTABLISH EARLYWhat connectivity is available at the new... Nameservers and Delegation Who is authoritative.WHAT NAMESERVERS AREThe servers holding a domain's records.WHERE THEY ARE... Network Cabling Basics The physical layer.WHAT CABLES DOCarry data between devices.CATEGORIESCables are rated by... Network Printers and Shared Equipment Shared devices.WHAT TO CONFIGUREA reserved address, so it does not move A changed administrative... Networking for Cameras and Security Systems Surveillance equipment.WHAT IT CONSUMESContinuous bandwidth, and substantial storage.WHAT TO PLAN... Networking for Cloud Services When your systems are elsewhere.WHAT CHANGESYour connection becomes critical.Everything stops... Networking for Connected Business Equipment Machines and sensors.WHAT THIS COVERSEquipment with network connections: machinery, sensors,... Networking for Digital Displays and Media Screens and streaming.WHAT IT CONSUMESContinuous download, particularly for video.WHAT TO PLAN... Networking for File Sharing and Storage Shared files.THE OPTIONSStorage on the local network Cloud storage A combinationLOCAL STORAGEFast... Networking for Payment and Point of Sale Taking payments reliably.WHAT MATTERSReliability above everything.A payment system that fails... Networking for Remote Access to Your Own Systems Reaching your premises.WHEN THIS ARISESAccessing files, equipment or applications at your... Networking for Specific Needs: Everything That Matters, Briefly The summary.THE MEASUREMENT THAT MATTERS FOR CALLS AND VIDEOConsistency, not speed. Jitter and... Networking for Video Conferencing Meetings over the network.WHAT IT NEEDSMore bandwidth than voice, in both directions Consistent... Networking for Voice Calls Telephony over the network.WHAT MATTERSConsistency, not raw speed.A call needs modest bandwidth... Networking Fundamentals: Everything That Matters, Briefly The summary.THE THREE THINGS EVERY CONNECTION NEEDSA physical or wireless link, an address, and... Networking: Everything That Matters, Briefly The whole category in one page.THE THREE THINGS EVERY CONNECTION NEEDSA link, an address, and an... Planning a Small Business Network Before you buy equipment.WHAT TO ESTABLISHHow many devices, now and in a yearWhat each needs:... Planning for Growth Capacity ahead of need.WHAT TO PROJECTDevices, in a year and in three People, and where they will... Port Forwarding and Exposing Services Making something reachable.WHAT IT ISConfiguring your router to send inbound connections on a... Power, Cooling and Physical Considerations The unglamorous part.WHY IT MATTERSNetwork equipment fails from heat, power problems and physical... Preventing Network Problems Reducing how often things break.WHAT PREVENTS MOST FAULTSEquipment that is current and supported... Protocols and Ports: Everything That Matters, Briefly The summary.WHAT A PORT IS FOROne address, many services. The port says which service a... Public and Private Addresses The difference.PRIVATE ADDRESSESUsed inside local networks.Reserved ranges that are not routed on... Reading Network Error Messages What they tell you.CONNECTION REFUSEDSomething answered and declined the connection.The host is... Reference: Terms Used in Networking Support Quick definitions.GATEWAYThe device traffic is sent to for destinations outside the local... Reference: What to Check for Each Symptom Quick lookup.NO CONNECTIVITY AT ALLLink, then address, then gateway.SOME SITES WORK, OTHERS DO... Resolvers and Where Answers Come From The lookup path.WHAT A RESOLVER ISThe service your device asks when it needs to resolve a... Reverse DNS and Why It Matters Addresses back to names.WHAT IT ISA record mapping an address back to a hostname.WHERE IT IS... Server Ports and Firewall Rules What is open on a server.WHAT IS TYPICALLY OPENWeb ports Mail ports Control panel ports Secure... Setting Up a New Network Practical order.WHAT TO DO IN ORDERConnect and configure the router Change its administrative... Shared Hosting and Network Resources What you share.WHAT IS SHAREDThe server's processing, memory and connection Its address, usually... Switches, Access Points and Extenders Network equipment explained.A SWITCHConnects wired devices on the same local network.Adds ports.... Testing Your Connection Properly Measuring what you have.WHAT TO TESTDownload speed Upload speed Latency Packet loss and jitterHOW... Time Synchronisation and Why It Matters Clocks.WHY IT MATTERSCertificates, authentication and logging all depend on accurate time.WHAT... Types of Internet Connection What is available.FIXED LINEDelivered over cable or fibre to the premises.Generally the most... Understanding Connection Limits Simultaneous connections.WHAT LIMITS EXISTHow many requests an account can handle at once How... Understanding IP Addresses How devices are identified.WHAT AN IP ADDRESS ISA number identifying a device on a network.WHY IT... Understanding IPv6 Adoption The newer addressing.WHY IT EXISTSIPv4 addresses ran out.WHAT IT PROVIDESEnough addresses for... Understanding Network Address Translation Address sharing.WHAT IT DOESAllows many devices to share one public address.HOWThe router... Understanding Network Layers Why the model helps.THE IDEANetworking is organised into layers, each handling one part of the... Understanding Packet Loss and Jitter Quality, not speed.PACKET LOSSPackets that never arrive.The sender resends them, which costs... Understanding Ports How a machine runs several services.WHAT A PORT ISA number identifying a particular service on a... Understanding Subnets Dividing address space.WHAT A SUBNET ISA defined range of addresses treated as one local... Understanding TCP and UDP Two ways to send data.TCPEstablishes a connection, confirms delivery, resends what is lost, and... Understanding TTL and Propagation Why changes take time.WHAT TTL ISHow long a record may be cached before being checked again.Set... Understanding Upload and Download Speeds Why they differ.WHAT DOWNLOAD ISData coming to you: pages, files, video.WHAT UPLOAD ISData... Understanding Your Router The device everything passes through.WHAT IT DOESConnects your local network to your provider... Using a Content Delivery Network Serving from closer.WHAT IT DOESServes your files from servers closer to each visitor.WHY THAT... Using Logs to Diagnose Problems Where the record is.WHAT LOGS EXISTRouter logs Device logs Web server access and error logs Mail... What a Network Is The basic idea.WHAT A NETWORK ISTwo or more devices able to exchange data.WHAT THAT REQUIRESA... What DNS Does Names to addresses.WHAT IT ISThe system translating names people use into addresses machines... When the Problem Is Not Your Network External faults.WHAT SUGGESTS AN EXTERNAL PROBLEMOne destination affected while everything else... Wired and Wireless Compared Choosing a connection.WIREDMore consistent Lower latency Not affected by interference Requires... Working With Your Connection Provider Reporting faults.WHAT TO ESTABLISH BEFORE CONTACTING THEMWhether the problem is inside your...
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