🌐 Track 1: Universal Computer Networking Course (Vendor-Neutral)

How Computer Networks & The Internet Actually Work

Before diving into any cloud provider, master the universal building blocks that power every home, office, data center, and ISP on Earth: Switches (Layer 2), Routers (Layer 3), IPs & CIDR Subnetting, NAT, Firewalls, and BGP (Border Gateway Protocol).

πŸ“¬
The Postal System Analogy: Every network packet has two addresses: a Layer-3 IP Address (the final Street Address & City) and a Layer-2 MAC Address (the next courier's handoff badge). A Switch passes notes between desks in the same room. A Router is the post office door that connects different rooms. NAT is the front desk that stamps your building's public return address. And BGP is the international air-traffic routing treaty connecting giant telecom networks across the globe!
πŸš€ Start Module G1: Switches & Routers β†’ ☁️ Switch to Track 2: AWS Cloud Course
Interactive End-to-End Network Map β€” Click Any Device or Run a Packet Flow
🏠 Local Area Network (LAN) Subnet CIDR: 192.168.1.0/24 (Mask 255.255.255.0) πŸ’» Laptop A IP: 192.168.1.10 MAC: AA:AA:01 GW: 192.168.1.1 Port 1 on Switch πŸ–¨οΈ LAN NAS / Printer IP: 192.168.1.20 MAC: AA:AA:02 Same /24 Subnet! Port 2 on Switch πŸ”Œ L2 Switch Forwards by MAC P1: AA:AA:01 P2: AA:AA:02 P3: BB:BB:99 (Rtr) VLAN 10 Tagged 🧭 L3 Default Gateway Router Routes between different IP Subnets LAN Intf: 192.168.1.1 (BB:BB:99) WAN Intf: 203.0.113.5 (CC:CC:01) Rewrites L2 MAC at every hop! 0.0.0.0/0 β†’ ISP Next-Hop Decrements IP TTL by 1 πŸ›‘οΈ NAT / PAT & Firewall Translates Private IP & Inspects State πŸ”„ PAT Translation Table 192.168.1.10:52000 ⇄ 203.0.113.5:61001 πŸ”’ Stateful Inspection Outbound: ALLOW + Track Unsolicited Inbound: DROP 🌍 Global Internet (BGP Autonomous Systems) Independent ISP & Cloud Networks Exchanging BGP AS-PATH Routes πŸ“‘ Regional ISP AS 7018 (Tier-1) eBGP Peer Path: [7018, 3356, 13335] 🌐 Backbone Transit AS 3356 (Core) Subsea Fiber Mesh Path: [3356, 13335] 🎯 Destination AS13335 🌐 example.com 93.184.216.34:443 Announces BGP Prefix: 93.184.216.0/24 πŸ•΅οΈ Internet Scanner 198.51.100.99 Probes your WAN IP 203.0.113.5:22
Layer 2 (Switch / MAC / VLAN) Layer 3 (Router / IP / CIDR) Layer 4 (NAT / Ports / Firewall) BGP (Inter-Domain Internet Routing)
Click any box on the diagram to inspect how it works!

🌐 Track 1 Curriculum: General Networking Interactive Modules

Pure networking fundamentalsβ€”explained visually with live frame/packet inspectors, binary subnet visualizers, NAT port tables, and BGP failure simulations.

Module G1 β€’ Layer 2 vs. Layer 3

πŸ”Œ Switches, Routers, MAC Addresses, ARP & VLANs

See why Switches use MAC addresses inside a room while Routers connect different IP subnetsβ€”and watch the Ethernet MAC header rewrite at every router hop!

Open Switches & Routers Lab β†’
Module G2 β€’ IP Addressing

🏘️ IP Addresses, CIDR Notation (/24) & Subnetting

Slide between /16, /24, /26, and /28 to see Network vs. Host bits in real time and test when two computers need a router to talk.

Open Interactive CIDR Slicer β†’
Module G3 β€’ Network Edge & Security

πŸ›‘οΈ NAT / PAT, Port Forwarding & Stateful Firewalls

Watch multiple private devices share one Public IP via Port Address Translation (PAT), compare Stateless vs. Stateful Firewalls, and test DNAT port forwarding.

Open NAT & Firewalls Lab β†’
Module G4 β€’ Global Internet Routing

✈️ BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) & Autonomous Systems

Cut a fiber link between ISPs and watch BGP recalculate the AS_PATH live, tune LOCAL_PREF, and block a BGP Route Hijack with RPKI!

Open BGP Internet Simulator β†’
Track 2 β€’ Cloud Application

☁️ Ready for AWS Cloud Networking?

See how AWS turns these exact concepts into virtual building blocks: VPCs, Subnets, ENIs, NAT Gateways, VPC Endpoints, Security Groups, Transit Gateways, and Org SCPs.

Switch to Track 2: AWS Networking β†’