Please Whitelist This Site? I know everyone hates ads. But please understand that I am providing premium content for free that takes hundreds of hours of time to research and write. I don't want to go to a pay-only model like some sites, but when more and more people block ads, I end up working for free. And I have a family to support, just like you. :) If you like The TCP/IP Guide, please consider the download version. It's priced very economically and you can read all of it in a convenient format without ads. If you want to use this site for free, I'd be grateful if you could add the site to the whitelist for Adblock. To do so, just open the Adblock menu and select "Disable on tcpipguide.com". Or go to the Tools menu and select "Adblock Plus Preferences...". Then click "Add Filter..." at the bottom, and add this string: "@@||tcpipguide.com^$document". Then just click OK. Thanks for your understanding! Sincerely, Charles Kozierok Author and Publisher, The TCP/IP Guide

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The TCP/IP Guide  9  The TCP/IP Guide: Introduction and "Guide To The Guide"

Acknowledgments 1 Networking Fundamentals

I was born in 1966 in Windsor, Ontario, Canada and raised in nearby Toronto. I married my wife Robyn in 1990; we now live in southern Vermont with our three sons: Ryan (now 12), Matthew (9) and Evan (4).

I have had an interest in the field of computers ever since my early years, starting at the age of 14 when I received my first computer, an Apple ][ that was a gift from my parents. Since that time I have worked in various computer-related fields in hardware and software. In 1989 I obtained a Bachelor of Applied Science from the University of Waterloo, in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. I completed my formal education in 1993 with two Master’s degrees, in Management and in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), from MIT.

After a brief “conventional” technical career, I created and published The PC Guide, an extensive online reference work on personal computers and in 1998 I decided to devote myself to my writing projects full time. The TCP/IP Guide was part of a larger networking project that I spent time on earlier this decade. I continue to work in the technical writing and editing field on various projects, for myself and other companies.

You may have noticed something missing here: no impressive listings of credentials. No, I’m not a New York Times best-selling author; I haven’t been a professor at a prestigious Ivy League university for a quarter-century; neither am I a top executive at a Silicon Valley giant. In some ways, I am a student of technology, just like you are. And my experience over the years has shown me that many of the people who know the most about how technology works also have rather limited success in explaining what they know in a way that will allow me to understand it. My interests, and I believe my skills, lie not in being an expert, but an educator; in presenting complex information in a form that is sensible, digestible and fun to read.

When I am not working—all too rare these days—I spend time with my family and enjoy the peaceful quiet and natural beauty of the state of Vermont. I enjoy listening to many types of music, walking in the woods, hiking, and playing tennis. I am also an avid amateur photographer, with particular interests in nature and landscapes.

Acknowledgments 1 Networking Fundamentals