How the Internet Works
Jon Spriggs (known as JonTheNiceGuy for all the right reasons) is a man walking several paths. By day, he is a Network Security professional, working for a major international Systems Integrator. By night, he writes awful PHP code, and then at the weekends, he tries to convince everyone that Free (as in Freedom) software could be the right choice for them. Every now and then he finds time to be a radio amateur and a father too.
An occasional blogger, a recovering IRC addict, an infrequent social media butterfly (on self-hosted platforms, when possible), a retired LUG organiser and podcaster, Jon wears many hats (*). Some of them even fit.
Jon is passionate about all these aspects of his life, and enjoys sharing them with you.
(*) The hats are not real. They are, in fact, a metaphor. Hats don’t suit him. They make his ears stick out.
Twitter: @JonTheNiceGuy
Facebook: http://facebook.com/JonTheNiceGuy
Google+: https://jon.sprig.gs/g+
StatusNet: https://jon.sprig.gs
Blog: https://jon.sprig.gs/blog
E-Mail/GTalk: jon@sprig.gs
Any spare time is spent with his family, and his double basses.
How the Internet Works
As web developers, content consumers and end-users, we interact with the internet every day. In my day job, as a Network Security Specialist, I support the types of devices that would probably be involved in your journeys across the internet. This talk seeks to explain a little bit about what makes the internet tick.
When you come out of this talk, hopefully, you should understand:
* The principals around how your computer gets an IP address from DHCP.
* How routing tables help (or hinder) getting across the internet.
* How a VPN works and what it gives you.
* What some of the devices you’ll traverse will do, and why they do it.
* What some of the protocols you use are there for. Several of these protocols are used without you even knowing about them.
* What commands you can run in advance to help the networks staff in your team diagnose issues.
If we have time, I’ll answer questions about your network issues and try, where I can, to make some simple suggestions on how to improve your network.
My experiences in troubleshooting network and access issues, frequently for people with limited understanding of what goes on between the keyboard and the web application, have given me a broad scope of knowledge that help me to explain the issues in language even a pointy-hair’d-boss might understand. I might even be able to explain some of the reasons why the various people involved in the 2AM "It’s not working" call might be getting grumpy!
** NOTE : Even though I work for a large solutions integrator, this will not be a sales pitch – I am not at PHPNW on behalf of my employer. **
