Make a Connection: What Is a Network?

The term "network" has been defined countless times. If there is anything I have learned about something being repeated many times, it means it is important. With networks, that is no different. I defined networking previously and briefly - a collection of devices that receive and transmit data amongst each other. Yet, it truly does not do it justice. I just finished my first co-op iteration at Motorola Solutions. Entering this new opportunity for me was more than just a foot in the door in the field of networking. I got to see critical infrastructure that transmitted and received signals relayed from first responders' and public sector communications. Long story short, I got to see the inner workings of a network, especially how different media and architecture converges to keep communications clear and functioning.

Humanizing Networks

 The world's networks, big and small, have been compared to:

•  Extensive highways that carries information across "tolls", experiences "heavy traffic", and gets off its "exit" to reach its destination
  
• A series of post offices and mail people delivering our precious packages and mail to its proper destination to its intended recipient

If you think about it, these analogies humanize networks into everyday life.  This brings up another analogy and one I am quite fond of: the backbone of communication. An average adult human grows to have 24 bones that make up the vertebrae or backbone. All these bones come together to provide vital functions, such as support, protection, and connection points. Those are the exact functions, amongst others of course, of today's networks. 

Today's networks are made of many middleboxes, media, and messages traversing the biggest network of them all - the Internet - and even within our own homes. Without these guiding centers and lines, our e-mails, videos, and smart homes and devices will not operate effectively, or at all. Just as how our vertebrae keep us upright and we would protect it from damage, a lot goes into keeping the Internet, routers, firewalls, cables and security mechanisms operational. 

An Internet Behind-the-Scenes Look

Let's take a behind-the-scenes look. If you accessed this blog, you more than likely reached here using a web URL - a Universal Resource Locator. Whether you looked it up or via a link, there was a process for you to get this web resource. Thanks again for coming, by the way! The first few letters of that web address should be https. Have you ever thought about what that means? Well, first, it means HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure. Actually, I mean how does it come about - its origin. That is an example of a protocol. 

We are familiar with protocols. Generally, a protocol is usually a set of rules or codes that we follow that keeps society going, whether it is a dress code, dealings within a business, or proper etiquette around the dinner table. Computer networks, and especially the Internet, follows protocols. A protocol is a set of rules that determines how different communications between devices and services operate. Clearly, there is a protocol for when we browse the Web (HTTPS/HTTP), but there are also protocols when it comes to sending and receiving an email (SMTP/IMAP), videoconferencing and streaming TV (SIP/UDP), reliable transfer (TCP), and thousands other applications. 

The Internet is quite complex, and it is always changing. Not just because of news stories, social media posts, and new technologies, but as to what keeps it going in an orderly fashion. To help with that order and prevent it from being a digital Wild West, there is an international organization that standardizes Internet protocols - the Internet Engineering Task Force. The IETF publicly records these standards and protocols in readily available documents. This transparency has allowed us to understand how the Internet works and further updates to achieve their goal: "to make the Internet work better". (IETF) 

The most interesting thing about the IETF is that anyone can join. Not sponsored, but the amount of content online and in video form on YouTube is something that caught my eye. Learn more about them at their site. 

What's Next?

I can keep going. I love networking because it is foundational. Everything builds from it. Maybe that is the inspiration even behind the blog name, NodeConnect. A network is essentially devices, or nodes, connecting. The thing is - this happens on different levels. That's right! From your Bluetooth headphones to the network beast of them all - the Internet, there comes a different architecture that caters to its users and scope. Doing networking justice is always going to evolve, but it all begins with the Tim Duncan of facts - "the Big Fundamentals" of networking.