Although I have been a TCP/IP networking professional for decades, in the last 10 years I’m also involved in network security as well. One of the tasks I’m responsible to do in my work environment is to either coordinate or perform network assessment projects on my own. A major part of a network security assessment […]
[Continue reading]15 Best Firewall Management Software Tools for Rules and Policies
Firewall management is one of the most challenging aspects of enterprise network security. The main issue is that many enterprise networks are complex, they contain a blend of many different vendors and technologies and this makes it time-consuming and difficult to maintain and support. The big hardware firewall vendors (like Cisco, Checkpoint, Fortinet, Palo Alto […]
[Continue reading]Explanation and Configuration of OSPF MD5 Authentication on Cisco Networks
OSPF (Open Shortest Path First) is a dynamic routing protocol used in IP networks, primarily within large enterprise networks. In this article we will discuss and configure OSPF MD5 authentication on Cisco devices. Like other routing protocols, OSPF shares information about network topologies and prefixes between devices. This is done by exchanging messages between OSPF-enabled […]
[Continue reading]11 Alternatives to Solarwinds NPM for I.T and Network Monitoring
In my 20 years career in the fields of IT and TCP/IP networking I have procured and used countless of software tools to help my company in our day-to-day operation of complex infrastructures. I’ve used Solarwinds Orion back in the day and was a solid tool. However, I’ve also used other competitive software in the […]
[Continue reading]Comparison of BGP Confederations vs Route Reflectors
When deploying excessively large Autonomous Systems or ASes in BGP, it is necessary to overcome the limitation introduced by the iBGP full mesh peerings required within the AS in question. There are two primary ways this can be achieved, using either BGP’s Route Reflector feature or BGP confederations. In this article, we’ll examine these two […]
[Continue reading]What are BGP Confederations-Explanation and Discussion (With Cisco Example)
Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is the de facto routing protocol that is deployed on the Internet at large. BGP is ideal for the Internet because of its scalability. One of the many characteristics of this routing protocol that make it so scalable is what is known as BGP confederations. In this article, we’ll discuss what […]
[Continue reading]What is BGP Route Reflector – Explanation and Discussion (with Cisco Example)
Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is the protocol of choice for routing on the Internet. BGP is also often used on the edge of corporate networks and is often the routing protocol of choice for large private enterprise networks. BGP needs to be extremely scalable to respond to these requirements. One of the ways that this […]
[Continue reading]Explanation of BGP Neighbor Adjacency States on Cisco Devices
Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is the fundamental routing protocol that is used on the Internet. Like most routing protocols, BGP depends upon the creation of neighbor adjacencies between BGP routers to exchange prefixes and routing information. In order to successfully create these neighbor adjacencies, they go through a series of neighbor adjacency states. In this […]
[Continue reading]BGP Attributes Explained – Why Are They Vital to the Internet?
The Internet owes its existence in part to the operation of the Border Gateway Protocol or BGP. BGP is a routing protocol that uses a list of attributes to determine the best path to the intended destination. It is these attributes that give BGP the characteristics necessary to perform its highly demanding routing obligations on […]
[Continue reading]12 Splunk Alternatives for Log Analysis, Observability and SIEM
In the fields of Information Technology, cybersecurity, computer networking etc, having visibility in your systems and networks is essential in order to detect security risks, prevent or fix faults, optimize performance etc. This visibility and information is usually provided by the logs generated by your I.T systems and infrastructure. Because of the enormous amount of […]
[Continue reading]Overview of BGP ASN (Autonomous System Numbers) in Networks
The Internet is an extensively large network that requires a specialized type of routing to ensure scalability and reliability. For this reason, BGP is the protocol of choice for routing on the Internet. BGP leverages what are known as Autonomous System Numbers or ASNs to achieve routing. In this article, we’ll elaborate on ASNs, and […]
[Continue reading]Comparison of Routed vs Routing Protocols in Networking
In networking, there is often terminology used to refer to various concepts that sound similar. This can occasionally be confusing especially to greener techs that are just coming into the field. One particular distinction that can potentially perplex less experienced networking professionals is the difference between routed and routing protocols. In this article, we’ll help […]
[Continue reading]Comparison of Tagged vs Untagged vs Native VLANs in Ethernet Networks
A Virtual Local Area Network, or VLAN, is a logical construct that can be configured within a switch that can be used to create distinct broadcast domains, which are partitioned and isolated in a computer network at the Data Link Layer, or Layer 2 of the OSI model. A VLAN enables the segmentation of a […]
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