This post is by no means an exhaustive tutorial about Cisco Routers and how to configure their numerous features. It is a step-by-step guide for the most basic configuration commands needed to make the router operational. When you first power up a new Cisco Router, you have the option of using the “setup” utility which […]
What is a Subnet Mask Used For (on Routers and Hosts)
This is a post for people new to networking that have just started learning IP addressing and the basis of routing and subnetting. Every host or device on a TCP/IP network MUST have an IP address assigned in order to communicate with other devices. An IP address consists of a network part and a host […]
10 Best Free&Paid WiFi Heatmap Software for Wireless Site Survey
WiFi is an incredibly useful communication protocol that is widely used. In fact, it’s the de facto standard used to create wireless networks in homes, businesses, public spaces etc. However, it’s not uncommon for signal strength to degrade due to a variety of factors, including distance from the access point, obstacles, competing WiFi signals, and […]
Cisco ASA 5505, 5510 Base Vs Security Plus License Explained
CISCO ASA 5505 CISCO ASA 5510 The two smallest ASA Firewall models, the 5505 and the 5510, are the only ones that have two types of licenses. They can be ordered either with a Base License or a Security Plus License. Many customers of mine are always asking me what the difference is between the […]
What is a Network Security Key in Home Wireless Networks?
It is fair to say that there are few things more important to your daily security than the security of your Internet connection and hence your privacy and sensitive data. Everyone has heard horror stories of their information being stolen via covert means online, and nobody wants to be subject to the nightmares that can […]
Cisco IOS Zone Based Firewall Configuration Example (ZBF)
In this article we will consider the topic of Cisco IOS Zone Based Firewall (ZBFW). Cisco IOS Zone Based Firewall allows us to define Security Zones and to give each zone its own policy. What is Zone Based Firewall At the very beginning of Cisco routers, the implementation of firewall functionality on IOS router devices […]
Intelligent DDoS Mitigation System – IDMS Compared to Firewall & IPS
As e-commerce continues to proliferate and deliver profitable results, more business is being done online. The growing adoption of online retailing, Internet banking, cloud-based data storage and other commercial services represents a natural evolution of Internet use. For online businesses, however, any downtime can dramatically impact the bottom line. As a result, the growing scale […]
How to Ping a Network Port (TCP) Number to Verify if its Open
In this article I’ll describe a few ways to verify over the network if a remote TCP port on a host is open or not. This is a popular troubleshooting method to identify if a specific service or application is running on a remote server or computer. As you might know already, when an application […]
16 Best Network Diagram Software & Topology Mapper Tools (Free&Paid)
Throughout my career in TCP/IP networking (mainly with Cisco products) I have learned a very important lesson: Spending some time to create Documentation for your projects will pay dividends down the road. An important part of this Documentation is a network diagram/topology of your Network project. Moreover, another primary task you will need to perform […]
New MAJOR Changes in Cisco CCNA, CCNP, CCIE in 2020
I have been a Cisco certified professional since 2001 where I first passed my CCNA exam. A few months after that I managed to acquire also CCNP Routing and Switching and then CCSP (Security Professional certification which is not available anymore). During all these years I have experienced many changes in Cisco Certifications, some of […]
Ubiquiti Unifi Security Gateway (USG) Vs Edgerouter 4/Lite
Ubiquiti manufactures networking products (routers, switches, wireless etc) that can serve in a broad range of implementation cases, from Home networks up to large Enterprise environments. The USG (UniFi Security Gateway) and EdgeRouter devices are two product lines that target a similar market – I would say the SOHO and SMB enterprise market (although there […]
10 Best Network Traffic Packet Generator Software Tools
In the Networking and IT world we usually design and implement networks and server infrastructure taking for granted that the hardware and applications will withstand any volume of traffic. Stress Testing a network or IT system with high volume of traffic will give us significant insights about the behavior of such systems in abnormal conditions […]
How to Configure DHCP on Cisco Routers (With Command Examples)
DHCP stands for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. Basically it’s a mechanism which assigns IP addresses to computers dynamically. Usually DHCP is a service running on a server machine in the network in order to assign dynamic IP addresses to hosts. However, Cisco Routers (and other devices such as ASA firewalls etc) can work also as […]