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The computing world has become dependant on various types of tunneling. All remote access VPN connections use tunnels, and you’ll frequently hear the geeks talking about SSH tunnels. You can accomplish amazing things with tunnels, so sit back and relax while you enjoy a gentle introduction to tunneling and its uses. If you’re looking for IPSEC details, come again to find that in a future Networking 101.

A tunnel is a mechanism used to ship a foreign protocol across a network that normally wouldn’t support it. Tunneling protocols allow you to use, for example, IP to send another protocol in the “data” portion of the IP datagram. Most tunneling protocols operate at layer 4, which means they are implemented as a protocol that replaces something like TCP or UDP.

Networking 101:  Layer 2

What's more important than IP and routing? Well, Layer 2 is much more important when it's broken. Many people don't have the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) knowledge necessary to implement a Layer 2 network that's resilient. A switch going down shouldn't prevent anyone from having connectivity, excluding the hosts that are directly attached to it. Before we can dive into Spanning Tree, you must understand the innerworkings of layer 2.

Many Spanning Trees to Rule Them All

The much anticipated spanning tree edition of Networking 101 has finally arrived. Yes, you too can have a network that survives multiple exploding devices; read on.

Understanding the Internet Protocol

Welcome back! This issue of Networking 101 will give you the IP knowledge required to understand routing issues. Most everything on the Internet uses IP, and unlike Ethernet, knowing this protocol is pivotal to understanding how networking works with regards to the big picture. In upcoming articles, Networking 101 will explore TCP and UDP, routing theories, and then delve into the specific routing protocols. It's going to be a wild ride.