Networking

11 topics in networking.

OSI Model

The OSI model helps you understand where different technologies operate (TCP at Layer 4, HTTP at Layer 7, load balancers at Layer 4 or 7).

7 min read

beginner

IP Addresses

Understanding IP addressing is essential for designing networked systems — configuring load balancers, VPCs, subnets, and security groups all require IP.

7 min read

beginner

Domain Name System (DNS)

DNS is the first step of every web request. It affects latency, reliability, and can be used for load balancing (DNS-based routing).

7 min read

beginner

Proxy vs Reverse Proxy

Reverse proxies are used in virtually every production system. They handle TLS termination, load balancing, caching, rate limiting, and DDoS protection.

8 min read

beginner

HTTP and HTTPS

Every web API uses HTTP. Understanding HTTP methods, status codes, headers, and connection management is essential for API design.

9 min read

beginner

TCP vs UDP

Choosing between TCP and UDP affects your system's performance and reliability. Real-time systems (video calls, gaming) cannot afford TCP's overhead.

7 min read

intermediate

Load Balancing

Load balancing is used in virtually every production system. It is one of the first things you add when scaling beyond a single server.

11 min read

beginner

Checksums

Checksums protect data integrity in distributed systems. When transferring files across networks, replicating databases, or storing data on disk, you need.

6 min read

intermediate

Data Compression

Data compression reduces payload sizes for faster network transfer and lower storage costs.

11 min read

intermediate

Serialization

Serialization converts in-memory objects to a transferable format (JSON, Protobuf, Avro, MessagePack).

11 min read

intermediate

Encryption

Encryption protects data confidentiality at rest (AES-256), in transit (TLS), and end-to-end (E2E).

11 min read