N Is For Networking
Packet Pushers
68 episodes
N Is For Networking deconstructs the concepts, jargon and acronyms of the data networking industry. Join recovering CCIE Ethan Banks with rising star Holly Podbielak for these episodes that will help you place context around networking terminology.
Episodes page 1 of 2
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N4N067: Level Up Your Home Network for Gaming
Thanks to a listener request, today’s episode talks about how to optimize your home network for gaming. Ethan and Holly discuss key factors such as latency, connection type, and bandwidth congestion as well as how…
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N4N066: Access Lists
Ethan and Holly are back to walk us through Access Lists. Access Lists regularly appear in networking device configurations and aren’t just for security. Ethan and Holly break down what an access list is, how an…
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N4N065: Well Actually 4: Multicast, MPLS, and More
Thank you for sending in even more follow ups! On today’s show, Holly and Ethan respond to listener comments and corrections on Multicast, MPLS, NAC, Twisted Pair Cabling, and more. A big thank you to everyone who sent…
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N4N064: A Gentle Introduction to Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)
Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), the routing protocol of the global internet, is finding uses in all sorts of places in 2026 beyond internet routing. It’s a huge topic. Large books have been written about BGP and its…
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N4N063: Link Layer Discovery Protocol
Ethan and Holly tackle the Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP). They explain how this protocol helps network engineers map network topologies and validate wiring. They also discuss how LLDP devices use frames to send…
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N4N062: Your First Wi-FI Network, Part 3
In the third installment of the Wi-Fi networks series, Ethan Banks and Holly Podbielak discuss the basics of wireless security, the standards related to roaming between access points, and how to analyze access points…
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N4N061: Your First Wi-Fi Network Part 2
This week, Ethan and Holly continue their conversation around Wi-Fi. They go deeper into the benefits of Wi-Fi 7, look at what’s coming in Wi-Fi 8, and cover the differences among Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO),…
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N4N060: Your First Wi-Fi Network Part 1
Have you ever wondered how data actually travels through a Wi-Fi network? Holly and Ethan break down the fundamentals of wireless networking, including radio frequencies and channel planning. They also address the…
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N4N059: Twisted Pair Cabling
Copper twisted pair cabling serves as a fundamental component of Ethernet infrastructure and Ethan and Holly are here to break down how it works. They discuss the technical differences between cabling categories, how…
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N4N058: Future-Proofing Your Career for the AI Era (Sponsored)
In this sponsored episode by Cisco we explore how agentic AI is transforming network operations and what it means for your career. Robert Barton, an AI Distinguished Engineer at Cisco Systems, joins Ethan and Holly to…
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N4N057: The Art of Troubleshooting
As a network engineer, you’ll end up with a lot of weird problems to solve. Many times, the problems will not be with the network at all, and it’ll be up to you to figure it all out. But how? Ethan and Holly discuss…
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N4N056: A Wireless NAC Walkthrough
In the previous episode of N is for Networking, Jennifer “JJ” Jabbusch gave us a thorough overview of Network Access Control (NAC) for wired networks. This week we’re going wireless! JJ walks us through the major…
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N4N055: A Wired NAC Walkthrough
Today’s topic is Network Access Control (NAC) for a wired network. To help walk us through it all is Jennifer “JJ” Jabbusch, a network security architect, public speaker, book author, and co-host of the Packet…
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N4N054: Network Access Control (NAC) Basics
Today’s episode is part one of a three part series to break down Network Access Control (NAC). Ethan and Holly start simple by explaining what NAC is at a high level and all of the jargon and acronyms that come with…
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N4N053: Well Actually 03 – Multicast, Routing Protocols, RFC 1918
We asked for follow ups and you did not disappoint! On today’s show we respond to listener comments and corrections on multicast, routing protocols, security, and more. We also have a technical correction for the RFC…
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N4N052: Multicast Part 2
Lenny Giuliano, Sr. Distinguished Systems Engineer at HPE Juniper Networks, joins Holly and Ethan for another round of multicast. Part two helps fill in details not covered in episode 50. They cover how multicast…
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N4N051: MPLS Fundamentals
Today’s topic is Multiprotocol Label Switching or MPLS, a foundational technology that powers service provider networks and enterprise WANs all over the world. To help us break it down, we’ve invited James Bensley, a…
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N4N050: Multicast Fundamentals
Today’s learning adventure is an overview of multicast. Ethan and Holly have invited a guest to share his multicast expertise: Lenny Giuliano, Sr. Distinguished Systems Engineer at HPE Juniper Networks. Lenny guides…
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N4N049: Understanding Firewalls
Today, Ethan and Holly provide an overview of firewalls. While cybersecurity is a separate discipline from network engineering, much of what happens in cybersecurity is interesting at the packet level, so there’s a…
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N4N048: QoS Fundamentals
Quality of Service (QoS) is a huge topic with a punishingly large group of acronyms. Join Ethan and Holly as they help you build a mental framework of what QoS is and what it solves. Not only do they break down…
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N4N047: Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP)
Go beyond the basics to understand the mechanics that keep your default gateway from becoming a single point of failure. Ethan and Holly demystify Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP), which helps provide network…
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N4N046: In-Band vs. Out-of-Band Management
Ethan and Holly discuss the major differences between In-band and Out-of-band (OOB) management and the pros and cons of both. They explore how to implement a proper OOB network and critical use cases where OOB is…
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N4N045: Audience Follow Up & 2026 Preview
If you’re curious as to what Ethan and Holly have in store for 2026, they give you a sneak peak on today’s episode. Hint: Some of these topics might include letters like B, G, P, Q, o, S, A and I. They also take time…
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N4N044: Redundancy Vs. High Availability Part 2 – HA Networking Isn’t Free
In Part 1 of Redundancy vs. High Availability, we said that sometimes high availability and redundancy are considered to be the same thing, but we disagree. Holly and Ethan do agree that high availability can be…
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N4N043: Redundancy vs. High Availability Part 1
In today’s chat, Holly and Ethan consider a question from listener Douglas who asks, “How do you approach designing a network for high availability and redundancy?” They start by defining differences between redundancy…
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N4N042: Meet MACsec
MACsec is a protocol for encrypting Ethernet frames on a local (though not always local) network. Ethan Banks and Holly Metlitzky have an ELI5 (explain like I’m 5) discussion as to what exactly is MACsec and how it…
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N4N041: Switched Virtual Interface (SVI) and Integrated Routing and Bridging (IRB)
If you’ve ever wondered what the difference is between a Switched Virtual Interface (SVI) and Integrated Routing and Bridging (IRB), today’s show is for you! Ethan Banks and Holly Metlitzky start with some history and…
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N4N040: Mock Interview for a Network Administration Job
The job interview is an inescapable part of a career journey. Today on N Is For Networking, we conduct a mock interview with a candidate who’s applying for a junior network administration role. The goal is to give Toni…
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N4N039: Configuring an IPsec Tunnel
We dive back into the world of IPsec with an episode dedicated to configuring IPsec tunnels. After discussing a listener comment regarding transport mode in IPsec tunnels, Ethan Banks and Holly Metlitzky work through…
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N4N038: Well Actually 02 – OSPF Multi-Area and LSA Types
We got some interesting listener feedback from our series on OSPF, so today’s N Is for Networking is another “Well actually” episode where we dig into that feedback. In particular, we’ll cover a defense of OSPF…
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N4N037: IPsec Basics
It’s time to talk crypto. No, not the Bitcoin kind. Ethan and Holly introduce the basics of IPsec, the protocol that authenticates and encrypts traffic between endpoints. They discuss what it is, how it provides…
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N4N036: OSPF Area Types
Ethan and Holly bring you the last installment of the OSPF series discussing OSPF area types. They discuss why OSPF areas exist, do a quick recap of what OSPF areas actually are, and then introduce the different types…
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N4N035: Well Actually . . . Listener Comments and Corrections
We ask listeners for follow up and you’ve sent it in. On today’s show we respond to listener comments and corrections on tunneling, the link aggregation control protocol, link aggregation in general, and DHCP options.…
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N4N034: OSPF Network Types
Ethan and Holly continue their OSPF journey this week with OSPF Network Types. They discuss the two main OSPF network types used today: the broadcast and point to point networks. They also explain designated routers,…
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N4N033: OSPF Neighbor Formation and Timers
Our OSPF series continues with a look at OSPF neighbor formation and related timers. We talk about the five major packet types that carry information among OSPF routers, how OSPF routers become neighbors, how they…
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N4N032: OSPF Basics
By popular request (and now that we have some other background topics covered) we start our series on the Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) routing protocol. We kick off the series with OSPF basics including Link State…
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N4N031: When Is It Time For a Routing Protocol?
If you need to route in your network, you can program static routes into all your routing-capable devices. And this can work. But at some point, you’re probably going to want to switch to a dynamic routing protocol. On…
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N4N030: Network Shapes and Sizes
What shape is your network? In other words, what is its topology? On today’s episode, we discover the different types of network topologies and designs used in the enterprise, data center, and service provider…
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N4N029: Four Goals of Network Design
Let’s explore four goals of network design: stability, speed, scalability, and security. These goals are based on Ethan’s experience designing, building, and operating networks. Network architects and design experts…
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N4N028: The Wide World of WANs
We wanted to do an episode on SD-WAN, but realized we needed to set the stage for how wide-area networking developed. That’s why today’s episode is a history lesson of the Wide Area Network (WAN). We talk about how…
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N4N027: Tunneling Quirks & Features
On today’s show, we’re going to dig deeper into tunnels and explore some of the quirks and features of tunnels. This week we’ll discuss maximum transmission units (MTUs), maximum segment size, IP fragmentation and…
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N4N026: What Is a Tunnel?
Let’s dig into tunnels. While some network engineers may want to quibble, a tunnel is when you put one packet inside of another packet to carry it across a network (frames also come into the picture, so hold off on…
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N4N025: DHCP – Someone Get Me an Address!
The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) assigns an IP address to a host that joins a network, along with other information necessary for the host to communicate. DHCP also has more to it, so this week’s episode…
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N4N024: DNS Security, Record Types, and Reverse DNS
This week we continue with DNS. In our last episode we covered the basics; today we expand our scope to cover topics such as security for DNS, reverse DNS, and DNS record types. For dessert this week, a serving of…
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N4N023: DNS – Turning Names Into Numbers
The Domain Name System (DNS) keeps the Internet running. On today’s N Is For Networking podcast, we talk about how DNS transforms human-readable host names into IP addresses so that Internet traffic can be sent to the…
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N4N022: SNMP Fundamentals
Following last week’s introduction to network monitoring, we discuss the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), one of the most implemented types of network monitoring. We discuss how it is organized, operations…
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N4N021: Is It the Network? Network Monitoring Basics
How do you know what is happening within your network, especially when something isn’t working? Network monitoring is the answer. On today’s show, we’ll start with the basics of network monitoring. We’ll cover what it…
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N4N020: To Cert Or Not To Cert?
To cert or not to cert? That is the question Holly & Ethan discuss on today’s episode. Will a certification really land you a networking job? Are certs the guaranteed path to tech career success? We consider this,…
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N4N019: Howdy, Neighbor! And Other Routing Stuff
In today’s episode, we continue the discussion about routing and routing protocols by focusing on commonalities rather than differences among protocols such as OSPF, RIP, EIGRP, or BGP. We explain how, in general,…
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N4N018: RIB vs. FIB & Administrative Distance or Route Preference
Ready for more routing and routing protocols? Today we discuss the roles of the network operating system (NOS), routing protocols, the Routing Information Base (RIB), and the Forwarding Information Base (FIB). We also…
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