Beginner5 projects

Networking Basics

Build the mental model behind every 'it works on my machine'.

30+

completed

~13.5h

total time

projects

Part 1·Beginner·2.5h·30+ learners

Learn IP addressing and subnetting, watch a real TCP three-way handshake with tcpdump, and compare TCP vs UDP tradeoffs.

Part 2·Beginner·2.5h·26+ learners

Trace a DNS resolution to an authoritative server with dig +trace, understand DNSSEC, and test encrypted DNS.

Part 3·Intermediate·3h·23+ learners

Inspect a real HTTP request and TLS handshake, then compare HTTP/1.1, HTTP/2, and HTTP/3 directly.

Part 4·Intermediate·2.5h·19+ learners

Stand up HAProxy locally in front of three backend containers, compare algorithms, and watch failover happen live.

Part 5·Intermediate·3h·16+ learners

Build a systematic, layer-by-layer diagnostic process with ping, mtr, dig, ss, and tcpdump/Wireshark.