Every second of every day, data is being sent and received. Billions of data packets are processed by your company’s network every day. In fact, you received dozens of packets just to read this article, but the vast majority of us have no idea how this works. People have no clue as to what goes on behind the scenes to ensure data actually gets to the right device.
Read moreIf you’ve been around IT for even a few minutes, you’ve likely heard the acronyms “LAN” and “WAN” used by fellow technicians. But with all of the possible variations of networks—different sizes, different arrangements, and different protocols—how do you tell the difference between a LAN and a WAN and everything in between? The simple answer is one of scope and size.
Read moreWhat is Network Time Protocol (NTP)? Well, it’s a network protocol used to synchronize clocks between computing systems over a packet switched network. It’s been around since the mid-1980s and was developed by David Mills at the University of Delaware; it is one of the oldest protocols still around on the Internet. NTP replaced other time synchronization technologies that didn’t have some capabilities to adjust time based on location of the time source or time server relative to the receiver or adjusting to the variation of delay found on typical data networks.
Read morePrecision Time Protocol (PTP) is a protocol designed to go beyond what Network Time Protocol (NTP) can offer relative to accuracy. PTP is IEEE standard 1588 that can give local computing systems accuracy within the sub-microsecond range (such as microsecond, nanosecond or picoseconds) whereas NTP is within milliseconds or longer. PTP standard was first released in 2002 and known as 1588-2002. In 2008, the IEEE released a revised standard for PTP, known as 1588-2008, that improved the accuracy and precision of the protocol. It is also known as PTPv2 and is not backward compatible with the older version. PTP was developed for packet based network for control and measurement systems.
Read moreBy modeling good cybersecurity practices, you can protect your company’s resources while also encouraging others to comply as well. In the world of security, if you are not actively and intentionally using best practices, then your normal or default choices may leave you vulnerable to malware or legal action. There are five common security policies that organizations use that cover the use of personal equipment at work, prohibited websites, protecting user account information and end users installing software. By becoming familiar with these policies, it can help you to act in a manner that helps support organizational security.
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