4 ms·

Evan as a 20+ year network engineer, I don't think I've run across an article about networking that balances depth and breadth so well. All of the information

Evan as a 20+ year network engineer, I don't think I've run across an article about networking that balances depth and breadth so well. All of the information presented is high-level enough to retain (at least as a big picture), but detailed enough to avoid hand-wavy 'magic networks' descriptions. Bravo - well done. Edit - Also worth adding that this article is a rarity in that the details are actually accurate! Even things I read in networking books and trades often have egregious errors - usually due to the breadth of the topic matter.

emcrazyone 9y ago
Exactly, I thought the very same thing. In fact, I read it with a critical eye at first and as I got through I was quite pleased. I thought it was really cool to mention the 8b/10b encoding near the end. yes, well done indeed!
catern 9y ago
It's slightly inaccurate in that it doesn't mention any other routing protocol than BGP. BGP is used between Autonomous Systems, but within ASs usually other routing protocols are used.
- ice109 9y ago
  such as?
- djrogers 9y ago
  To call this "inaccurate" because it's missing out on what is mostly an unnecessary detail is going way too far. BGP is the routing protocol on the internet, and it's a fairly common one to see inside enterprise networks as well - iBGP is for routing inside an AS. Describing OSPF, IS-IS, etc would have just made things a little more complicated without adding anything.
  - catern 9y ago
    Maybe I don't understand the realities of networking as well as I though. But my understand was that once packets enter my ISP's network, on my home connection, the rest of the way they get routed to me with protocols other than BGP. That's quite a lot of routing being done with non-BGP protocols.
    - dsr_ 9y ago
      Between major networks, BGP. Inside the major network to your cable headend or similar: OSPF or IS-IS or something else - in the largest ISPs, a combination of iBGP to get things to right area and then OSPF, IS-IS or EIGRP in medium areas. Inside your house: almost always static routes, no protocol for exchanging reachability info.
  - dronemallone 9y ago
    BGP is a policy-based routing protocol, whereas OSPF/RIP are performance based. BGP is not "the" routing protocol, just that it's widely used because of its simplicity. You should consider reading Kurose/Ross: http://eclass.uth.gr/eclass/modules/document/file.php/INFS131/%CE%94%CE%B9%CE%B1%CF%86%CE%AC%CE%BD%CE%B5%CE%B9%CE%B5%CF%82%20%CE%94%CE%B9%CE%BA%CF%84%CF%8D%CF%89%CE%BD%20%CE%94%CE%B5%CE%B4%CE%BF%CE%BC%CE%AD%CE%BD%CF%89%CE%BD/Computer_Networking_A_Top-Down_Approach.pdf http://eclass.uth.gr/eclass/modules/document/file.php/INFS13...

emcrazyone 9y ago

Exactly, I thought the very same thing. In fact, I read it with a critical eye at first and as I got through I was quite pleased. I thought it was really cool to mention the 8b/10b encoding near the end. yes, well done indeed!

catern 9y ago

It's slightly inaccurate in that it doesn't mention any other routing protocol than BGP. BGP is used between Autonomous Systems, but within ASs usually other routing protocols are used.

ice109 9y ago
such as?
djrogers 9y ago
To call this "inaccurate" because it's missing out on what is mostly an unnecessary detail is going way too far. BGP is the routing protocol on the internet, and it's a fairly common one to see inside enterprise networks as well - iBGP is for routing inside an AS. Describing OSPF, IS-IS, etc would have just made things a little more complicated without adding anything.
- catern 9y ago
  Maybe I don't understand the realities of networking as well as I though. But my understand was that once packets enter my ISP's network, on my home connection, the rest of the way they get routed to me with protocols other than BGP. That's quite a lot of routing being done with non-BGP protocols.
  - dsr_ 9y ago
    Between major networks, BGP. Inside the major network to your cable headend or similar: OSPF or IS-IS or something else - in the largest ISPs, a combination of iBGP to get things to right area and then OSPF, IS-IS or EIGRP in medium areas. Inside your house: almost always static routes, no protocol for exchanging reachability info.
- dronemallone 9y ago
  BGP is a policy-based routing protocol, whereas OSPF/RIP are performance based. BGP is not "the" routing protocol, just that it's widely used because of its simplicity. You should consider reading Kurose/Ross: http://eclass.uth.gr/eclass/modules/document/file.php/INFS131/%CE%94%CE%B9%CE%B1%CF%86%CE%AC%CE%BD%CE%B5%CE%B9%CE%B5%CF%82%20%CE%94%CE%B9%CE%BA%CF%84%CF%8D%CF%89%CE%BD%20%CE%94%CE%B5%CE%B4%CE%BF%CE%BC%CE%AD%CE%BD%CF%89%CE%BD/Computer_Networking_A_Top-Down_Approach.pdf http://eclass.uth.gr/eclass/modules/document/file.php/INFS13...