From ML to networking: 15 basic networking concepts everyone should know
victorialslocum · x · 2026-11-03
The author, who moved into networking from an ML/search background, breaks down 15 networking fundamentals she believes everyone should know, since today's hot topics (cybersecurity, agent identity, open ports) are all built on these basics.
Key concepts covered:
- The basics: IP addresses identify devices, DNS maps names to IPs, DHCP assigns IPs to new devices, data travels as packets, and ports (443 for HTTPS, 22 for SSH) tell machines which service a packet is for
- Intermediate: the OSI model, subnetting, TCP vs UDP (ordered delivery vs lossy), NAT mapping private to public addresses
- Security & topology: firewall allow/deny rules, peer-to-peer direct connections and tunnels, WireGuard encrypted tunnels, hub-and-spoke vs mesh, TLS handshakes, and zero-trust default-deny access policies
An accompanying hand-drawn 15-panel cheat sheet illustrates each concept. Useful primer for engineers without a networking background to understand why direct device connections are tricky and what access policies actually restrict.
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