Sam’s First Visit to An Internet Exchange
Justin Wilson announces his second children’s networking book, A Kid’s First Visit to an Internet Exchange. Follow Sam as he learns how networks meet, peer, and move Internet traffic.
What Is NBASE-T? More Bandwidth Without Replacing Your Cabling
NBASE-T bridges the gap between 1 Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet by supporting 2.5 Gbps and 5 Gbps over existing copper cabling. Learn how it works, where it makes sense, and what network engineers should look for when deploying and troubleshooting multi-gigabit links.
Path panel prime day deal
Say that 3 times. I like these keystone style parch panels because they save so much time. No more punching down. https://amzn.to/4g3tJ8W
Don’t forget Google SAS retires June 2027.
In case you forgot: RETIREMENT NOTICE Google Cloud Spectrum Access System (SAS) is being retired. Starting June 10, 2026, we are no longer accepting new customers. The service will remain fully operational for existing customers during the transition period and will be shut down on June 10, 2027. Please review the migration steps below for instructions on … Read more
Update Theme and Navigation Elements
I have updated to a newer theme and ditched the “featured post” at the top, which had no active link. I am still searching for a theme that highlights posts similar to what the Ghost blog system does on https://blog.fd-ix.com/ . I kind of like the categories. It’s one of those things is I could … Read more
Packets Down Range #41: New Cogent Route, The Hedge, GPC and Ritter Communications
Welcome to Packets Down Range #41.
What makes a good data center?
A good data center is not about lobby photos or vendor language. It is about clean power, working cooling, clear cable paths, useful remote hands, and gear that can be repaired without fighting the building.
What is the difference between latency and Jitter
Latency is the time a packet takes to make the trip. Jitter is the swing between packets. One makes the path feel far away. The other makes voice, video, gaming, and remote desktop feel broken.
Tags: jitter, latency, network troubleshooting, packet loss, QoS, ISP networks, wireless networks, network
Data Center Fabrics High Level Overview
A data center fabric connects servers, storage, and network devices using a leaf-spine architecture designed for high bandwidth and predictable latency. Learn how packets move through a fabric, why ECMP matters, and how modern data centers support virtualization, cloud, and AI workloads.
Example BGP Configuration on the Alta Labs Route10
The Alta Labs Route10 includes dynamic routing support through FRRouting (FRR). This article walks through a complete BGP configuration example using private ASNs, a test prefix advertisement, inbound community tagging, and route filtering. It also covers where to access the FRR shell within the Route10 interface and how to verify that the BGP session is operating correctly.
Fiber Optic Cable Colors Explained: Yellow, Orange, Aqua, Green, and More
Fiber optic patch cables come in several colors, each helping identify the fiber type or connector style inside the network. Learn what yellow, orange, aqua, lime green, blue, and green fiber cables typically represent in data centers, ISPs, and telecommunications networks.
How Rain Affects Wireless Microwave Links: 24 GHz, 60 GHz, and 80 GHz Compared
Rain can have a major impact on wireless microwave links, especially as frequencies increase. Learn how rain fade affects 24 GHz, 60 GHz, and 80 GHz circuits, and why fade margin is critical for reliable network design.