Storage
Build a DIY NAS with TrueNAS or Unraid on a Mini PC
Building a NAS yourself comes down to two decisions: what box to put it on, and whether to…
Author
Josphat Mutai
Networking
IPv6 Addressing Explained: Address Types and EUI-64
IPv6 exists because the 32-bit IPv4 address space ran out: roughly 4.3 billion addresses was never going to…
Networking
TCP vs UDP Explained: Handshake, Windowing, and Ports
TCP and UDP are the two transport protocols that carry almost all network traffic, and the choice between…
Networking
OSI Model Explained: 7 Layers, TCP/IP Mapping & Encapsulation
Two models describe how a network moves data: the seven-layer OSI model and the TCP/IP model that the…
How To
IPv4 Addressing Explained: Classes, Private IPs & Cisco Setup
You sit down at a brand-new router, type show ip interface brief, and every line says unassigned. Before…
How To
Subnetting Cheat Sheet: IPv4 Masks, Hosts, and VLSM
Every IPv4 subnet mask, the usable host count it gives you, the wildcard mask, and the fastest way…
Storage
CMR vs SMR Drives for NAS: Why SMR Wrecks RAID Rebuilds
Buy the wrong hard drive for a NAS and everything looks fine until the day a disk dies.…
How To
VLSM Subnetting Explained: How to Subnet by Host Requirements
Carving a network into equal-size subnets wastes addresses. A point-to-point link with two routers does not need the…
How To
How to Subnet: A Step-by-Step Guide to Subnetting by Network Requirements
Most people who struggle with the CCNA do not freeze on OSPF or VLANs. They freeze on a…
How To
Configure DNS on Cisco Routers
DNS turns names into addresses, so you can reach server1.lab.example.com without memorizing 10.0.0.1. A Cisco router handles names…
How To
Configure HSRP on Cisco Routers
When the default gateway on a subnet dies, every host on it loses the path off the LAN…
How To
Cisco IOS CLI Editing Commands and Navigation Shortcuts
Most of the time you spend on a Cisco router or switch is spent typing in the IOS…