Networking Mind Map

Every networking visualization on this site on one map. The branches are the main ideas. Each leaf is a page; the grey line under it is the one thing to remember about it. Click a branch to focus on it, click a page to open it.

Recall mode hides the page names. Read the hint, say the name, then click the "?" to check.

1. How the map is organized

Overview of the networking mind map: Layers & links, IP & routing, Core services, TCP, UDP & sockets, HTTP & TLS, APIs & push, Proxies & edge, Containers, Real-time media. — The map at a glance: 9 branches, 46 pages.

Find the layer that does the work, then ask where it runs:

One local network? Bits and frames found by MAC address belong to layers & links. Packets that cross routers by IP address belong to IP & routing.
A helper the network needs before real traffic? Getting an address, a name or the time is a core service.
Ports and byte streams between two programs? That is TCP, UDP & sockets. What runs on top (HTTP, TLS, gRPC, WebSocket) goes to HTTP & TLS or APIs & push.
Something sitting in the path or built from virtual parts? Proxies, CDNs and VPNs are proxies & edge; bridges, veth pairs and kube-proxy are containers. Live voice and video over UDP is real-time media.

2. The branches side by side

Branch	Layer	Addressed by	Key device or program
Layers & links	1–2, link	MAC address	switch, Wi-Fi access point
IP & routing	3, network	IP prefix	router
Core services	7, mostly over UDP	lease, name	DHCP, DNS and NTP servers
TCP, UDP & sockets	4, transport	port	the kernel's TCP stack
HTTP & TLS	7, with TLS below it	URL, hostname	browser, web server
APIs & push	7, application	route, method, query	API server
Proxies & edge	3 to 7	hostname or IP	proxy, CDN, VPN gateway
Containers	2–4, virtual	pod IP, Service IP	bridge, iptables, kube-proxy
Real-time media	7, over UDP (RTP)	IP:port candidate	WebRTC peer, TURN server

3. Five facts to remember

Each layer adds its own header: a frame has MACs, a packet has IPs, a segment has ports.
Switches forward by MAC inside one network; routers forward by the longest matching IP prefix between networks.
Every router lowers TTL by one; at 0 it drops the packet and sends ICMP Time Exceeded, which traceroute uses.
TCP gives an ordered, reliable byte stream; the sender may have at most min(cwnd, rwnd) bytes in flight.
TLS 1.3 needs one round trip after the TCP handshake; QUIC does transport and TLS together in one.

See all networking pages in the index, or the other mind maps.