Installing a firewall onto your network is “good network firewall security”, right? Let’s be clear, it’s not – it’s the start to good security. While installing a firewall is an important component of security in a network firewall security posture, there’s much more to the process than just dropping in a piece of hardware, or enabling some new software.

ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) is the protocol that bridges Layer 2 and Layer 3 of the OSI model, which in the typical TCP/IP stack is effectively gluing together the Ethernet and Internet Protocol layers. This critical function allows for the discovery of a devices’ MAC (media access control) address based on its known IP address. By extension, an ARP table is simply the method for storing the information discovered through ARP.

When you’re in the networking technology field, you’re going to find that there are many different types of “monitors” (like router monitoring) that you need to stay on top of, from throughput to application performance and device health. And as you become more knowledgeable, you’re going to start to understand these diverse types of traffic and equipment. It’ll become more important to you to be able to understand concepts like where traffic is flowing.

With networks at the heart of the most modern business, network design can have a major impact on business outcomes. Finding the right balance of network performance, security, redundancy, and cost require a unique mix of project management and technical skill. To help you nail your next network design project, we’ll take a deep dive on the topic, provide a basic framework you can follow, and look at some best practices to keep in mind as you go.

Auvik and Cherwell recently co-hosted an information-packed webinar to answer some important network integration questions facing network managers: How do we get ahead of our workload and how do we know where to start? Let’s look at some of the key takeaways from the webinar (you can watch here) on how to move from a proactive to a reactive network operation model, how network integration solutions can help put out fires faster, and when to incorporate tools to automate processes.

IT events and technology conferences, once mind-bogglingly big in-person learning and networking opportunities, have certainly changed a lot since 2020. What started out as optimistic postponing for safety concerns quickly transformed into a new reality of virtual-only presentations and even total event redesigns due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now a year later, the outlook seems the same: another cycle of virtual-only events. We have to ask, “Is this the new future for conferences”?

Network diagrams are not only handy to have, but provide a vital look at the network topology for your team, your company, and your peace of mind. Let’s look at what a network diagram is, and why it’s so important. A network diagram is, simply put, a schematic or map of your existing network that illustrates the nodes and their connections. Network diagrams are very useful at mapping out your elements and device interactions, as well as illustrating different network topology types.

The importance of network documentation becomes very clear when you have to sit down and troubleshoot a network from top to bottom. Or when there’s a changing of the guard at your company. New management wants to see what you’re doing with your network. Or new IT staff need to be brought up to speed quickly.

As an IT professional, chances are you’ve come across the phrase Please Do Not Throw Sausage Pizza Away while hearing about protocols, network design, and implementation issues. How about Or Please Do Not Touch Steve’s Pet Alligator? If these ring a bell then you’re on the right track: These are smart memory aids linked to the seven layers of the Open System Interconnection (OSI) model.

Network infrastructure mapping tools that help you maintain up-to-date maps can be the difference between quickly diagnosing a problem or wasting hours of your time. Similarly, network maps can help everyone in your organization better understand and optimize a network you inherit. In many cases, however, network maps contain stale information or don’t exist at all.