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IP Addresses, Subnet Masks, Subnetting, and Calculating Hosts
IPv4 IP addresses are a 32-bit (binary digit) value. IP addresses are just strings of 32 binary digits (bits!). ex: 11000000101010000000010000000010 Broken down into 4 groups of 8, separated by dots (periods/decimals). ex: 11000000.10101000.000001.00000010 Now each 8-bit value, octet, is converted to a decimal number between 0 and 255 (for a total a 256 options). So the above would translate to: ex: 192.168.4.2 This is “dotted decimal notation” aka “the dotted octet numbering system”. Tip: You should memorize that 0=00000000 and 255=11111111. You’ll find knowing this very helpful. Note: By definition, all computers on the same network have the same subnet mask and network ID. /24 is limited to IP…
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The TCP/IP Reference Model and Layers
The TCP/IP model is a more concise take on the OSI model. The TCP/IP model contains four layers: Process/Application Layer Host-to-Host/Transport Layer Internet Layer Network Access Layer/Link Layer Network Access Layer The Network Access Layer defines how to use the network to transmit an IP datagram, or unit of information packet. The Network Access Layer is: the lowest layer physical, data link, network a directly attached network the protocols provide the means for the system to deliver data to other directly (physically) attached network devices. must be able to know the details of the underlying network (packet structure, addressing, etc.) Gateways are devices that switch packets between different physical networks.…
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Notes To Know: “Fundamentals of Telecommunications” by Roger L. Freeman—Chapter 1 Introductory Concepts
(Note: This is an evolving, evergreen post.) Chapter 1–Introductory Concepts What is Telecommunication? “Communications at a distance.” —Webster Dictionary “The transmission of signals over long distance, such as by telegraph, radio or television.” —IEEE Standard Dictionary Telecommunications is one of those words that has broad scope, meaning and coverage. It can mean different things to different individuals. “Fundamentals of Telecommunications” brings forth the following definition: “Some take the view that telecommunications deals only with voice telephony, and the typical provider of this service is the local telephone company. We hold a wider interpretation. Telecommunications encompasses the electrical communication at a distance of voice, data, and image information (e.g., TV and…
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What is Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)?
Border Gateway Protocol is one of those foundational, core infrastructure protocols used by Internet users everyday but not top of mind for the average consumer or end-user. Border Gateway Protocol, or BGP, is a routing protocol. BGP is the primary protocol for the Internet, and is a Layer 4 Transport protocol that sits on top of TCP [2]. It’s purpose is to keep the various systems on the Internet up to date with the information needed to send and receive data traffic correctly. So, real quick in a nutshell, when information is sent around the Internet, that info is broken up into chunks of data called ‘packets’. Packets sent on…
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4). Intro to Hypervisor, Docker & Container Basics–(VMs) Virtual Machines [VIDEO]
There’s a great series of videos on YouTube giving a quick intro to telecommunication cloud basics. The videos feature Vikas Shokeen and are available in short 4-video series. The fourth one is below with some basic notes. 4). Intro to Hypervisor, Docker & Container Basics–(VMs) Virtual Machines [VIDEO] Docker Architecture See also: 1). Intro to Telco (Telecommunications Company) Cloud Basics, NFV, SDN, Architecture of Cloud Networks [VIDEO] 2). Intro to NFV (Network Function Virtualization) Basics–NFV Architecture, ETSI, NFV ManO [VIDEO] 3). Intro to SDN (Software Defined Networking) Basics–SDN & Openflow Architecture [VIDEO] Biblio: [1] vCloud NFV Reference Architecture [2] Tech Tutorial–Introduction to NFV: Network Function Virtualization [3] Introduction to Network…
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3). Intro to SDN (Software Defined Networking) Basics–SDN & Openflow Architecture [VIDEO]
Software defined networking (SDN) SDN (software defined networking) is highly correlated with NFV. SDN is a big deal in IT and Telecom. NFV is all about building up virtual platforms. SDN is about making IP networks more flexible, more customizable, more programmable so that packet routing is possible with lots of flexibility and agility. Imagine a router, a physical piece of hardware, specifically designed and manufactured for implementing software functions that allow us control over the delivery of our data packets at its core. SDN now allows us to extract the software function from the actual piece of hardware. Now, we can take this extracted software function and apply it…
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1). Intro to Telco (Telecommunications Company) Cloud Basics, NFV, SDN, Architecture of Cloud Networks [VIDEO]
There’s a great series of videos on YouTube giving a quick intro to telecommunication cloud basics. The videos feature Vikas Shokeen and are available in short 4-video series. The first one is below with some basic notes. Architecture of Cloud Network for Telcos Telco–a telecommunications company (informal) Telecom–general telecommunications (informal) (Note: As with many terms in the tech industry, “telco” and “telecom” are sometimes used interchangeably in common-day speech. Don’t get too twisted up over it. Dig deep into what’s underneath.) Telco Cloud: Basics Introduction Why cloud? Mobile Operators Benefits Overview Cloud–a network “out there”. Properties of cloud networks Properties of cloud networks include: No Dedicated Hardware Shared Resources Convenient…
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What is a Tier 1 network?
What is a Tier 1 network? A Tier 1 network is “an IP (Internet Protocol) network that can reach every other network on the Internet solely via settlement-free interconnection”[2] (that is, they can reach the entire internet via settlement-free peering). You can think of Tier 1 networks as having a kind of “golden VIP pass” with each other, and each Tier 1 network can exchange traffic with other Tier 1 networks without paying any fees for the exchange of traffic in either direction. (This contrasts with some Tier 2 networks and all Tier 3 networks which must pay to transmit traffic on other networks.) Universally recognized Tier 1 networks include…
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What is a data center? And Why Are They So Important??
Many people may have heard the term “data center” but most don’t really know what that means. Nonetheless, these data centers are incredibly important to our everyday way of life. What is a data center? Data centers are these vast, huge, sometimes-sprawling buildings dedicated to holding the back-end computer systems, machinery and associated components needed to help run what we consumers know of as “the internet”. In a way these data centers are “the cloud” that we think of when we say our info is “stored out there…in the cloud”, and these data centers can use as much electricity as a small town. What is colocation? A colocation data center…
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What is “the cloud”? #Cloud #CloudComputing #CloudNetworking
The cloud. Conjures up all kinds of memories of looking toward the sky and gazing at these constantly evolving, ephemeral, floating objects. In the tech world some terms are flexible and can be a bit tricky, or hard to contain to one concrete definition. The “cloud” is a network “out there”. Indeed the very internet itself can be the cloud in some ways. Many consumers quickly warmed up to cloud with the easy adoption of web-based email like “Gmail” which is essentially “email in the cloud”. Instead of being stored on our local machines, we became used to storing our email with Google in their “cloud”. But a “cloud” has…