VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) aren’t new. They’ve been around for almost three decades and are used by practically every organization and individual who pays attention to data privacy. But the kind of benefit every user derives from a VPN may differ. While some may use it simply to protect their confidential data when browsing the internet, others may use it to escape data throttling. After all, a VPN can help you break the bandwidth barriers your ISP imposes on you.

Network redundancy is process of providing multiple paths for traffic, so that data can keep flowing even in the event of a failure. Put simply: more redundancy equals more reliability. It also helps with distributed site management. The idea is that if one device fails, another can automatically take over. By adding a little bit of complexity, we reduce the probability that a failure will take the network down. But complexity is also an enemy to reliability.

When it comes to multi-cloud, it’s easy to assume that the biggest connectivity challenge facing network professionals would be connecting between different cloud providers. But actually moving data between different geographic instances of the same cloud platform is not as straightforward as you might think.

The Transmission Control Protocol provides reliable, ordered and, sometimes, time-sensitive data flow between applications across a network. As well as economizes network use by attempting to improve error-handling capability and providing reliable data transmission. The Transmission Control Protocol is the underlying communication protocol for a wide variety of applications, including web servers and websites, email applications, FTP and peer-to-peer apps.

This post is part of a series featuring customers, partners, and experienced DX Unified Infrastructure Management (DX UIM) practitioners. We’ve asked these expert users to share their knowledge with the broader DX UIM community. Today, we’re featuring Kathy Solomon, the Unix Systems Administrator for the R&D Support organization within Broadcom IT.

Links are the plugs, sockets, cables, and electrical signals traveling through a network. Every link implies a function. At the hardware level, electronic signals activate functions; data are read, written, transmitted, received, checked for error, etc. At the software level, instructions activate the hardware (access methods, data link protocols, etc.). At higher levels, the data transferred or transmitted may request functions to be performed (client/ server, program-to-program, etc.).