The Network Foundation Series: Part 2 - Understanding Terminology

Before we begin any implementation, we need to understand what we are doing and plan it out to a basic degree. Part of this planning involves making sure we have a common understanding of terminology. This helps build a strong foundation to work from, allowing us to advance our initial goals to eventually get to where we ultimately need to be.

So, let’s start by making sure we understand some basic networking concepts and terms that will be used throughout the series.

The list of concepts and definitions covered in this video are by no means comprehensive deep dives and we would encourage you to do some additional digging to deepen your understanding, as that is ultimately the best way to learn. We will leave some links to channels and other resources that we feel do a fantastic job of breaking down these concepts in a very simple, understandable manner in the resources section below to help you get started. Let’s go!

Chapters:
Introduction: 0:00
Network: 1:38
Interface: 4:16
Internet: 5:49
Intranet: 6:55
WAN and LAN: 8:01
Switch: 9:56
Router: 11:49
Wireless Access Point: 14:55
Network Addresses: 18:00
IP Address: 19:10
Subnet Mask: 21:45
Gateway: 23:45
DNS: 24:21
Domain Name: 25:42
MAC Address: 28:25
Analogy Time: 31:36
DHCP: 35:23
VLAN: 37:27
Useful Commands: 40:02
IP Configuration: 40:29
Ping: 46:43
Trace Route: 50:16
DNS Lookup: 53:27
Prerequisites: 58:14
A Managed Switch: 58:25
A Computer with at Least One Network Interface: 59:28
Internet Connection: 1:00:32
-Conclusion: 1:01:00

Resources:

Concepts

Here are some useful resources for digging into more detail on some of the concepts we discussed, particularly the networking concepts:

TCP/IP Model

We did not directly discuss the TCP/IP Reference Model, which is the modern version of what is called the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) model at all during this portion of the series. However, each of these concepts are aspects of how network data transmission works under the hood. It is ultimately an essential component to truly understanding how networking functions at the physical and software level. It's a model for breaking down the various technical aspects of how data flows through a network. We highly recommend beginning to learn about this model. We will touch on aspects of it as we go through the series, but for now, check out this fantastic overview by one of our favorite network teachers:

   • What is the OSI Model and is it Still...  

Keith Barker's Youtube Channel:    / @keithbarker   has a wealth of very well explained networking related content. We highly recommend you to subscribe to his content if you're interested in becoming well educated on these subjects. He is one of the better teachers when it comes to networking and his Youtube channel is very extensive. He explains things in a very clear and concise manner, walking you through the concepts and providing spot on analogies and thorough examples.

• IPv4 Playlist:    • Subnet Saturday #1: IPv4 Basics | Cis...  
• IP Addresses Explained:    • 👉 Take 5 Minutes now to learn about I...  
• DHCP Explained:    • How do IP addresses magically show up❓  
• Vlans Explained:    • Layer 2 Switching & VLANs | Cisco CCN...  

Tools

Ping

Windows: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/win...
Advanced Ping: PSPing: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sys...
MacOS & Linux: https://linux.die.net/man/8/ping
Advanced Ping: MTR https://traceroute-online.com/mtr/

Trace Route
Windows: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/t...
MacOS & Linux: https://linux.die.net/man/8/traceroute

DNS Lookups

Windows
NSLookup tool: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/win...

MacOS and Linux
Dig: https://linux.die.net/man/1/dig

The Network Foundation Series Playlist
https://stapel.io/NetworkFoundationSe...

The Network Foundation Series: Part 1 – Introduction

Video: https://stapel.io/tnfs1
Blog: https://stapel.io/tnfs1blog