Wikipedia and the Bible

Wikipedia

"Wikipedia as a recommended resource! Filthy casual! I read the RFCs" - Someone who doesn't get it.

Hear me out. If I am trying to understand what a protocol is, how it works, what it does, I read Wikipedia and you should too. There is no reason to fight through pages of arcane nonsense when it has been distilled into the perfect amount of detail. When you are working with a protocol for the first time, or just need a refresher (I basically re-read protocols every time I touch them so I don't have to rely on memory), just read the Wikipedia entry.

Helpfully, all the RFCs are listed at the bottom... It's like maybe these are supplementary resources, meant to be used together?

Skim the DNS Wikipedia page to check out what Wikipedia has to offer. Don't read the whole thing (unless you really want to), but just see that this would have been a much easier place to answer the questions you previously answered using the RFCs.

TCP-IP Bible

The TCP-IP Guide by NoStarch Press is absolutely amazing. You should buy it at some point. I had a hard copy for a while, but I left it behind with my security team when I graduated. I hope it's getting good use now. Anyway, any time you have a question about a protocol, find it here, and do some Google. Together, you are unstoppable. There are other similar books, but this is my recommendation for beginners.

Cheatsheets

I alluded to it earlier, but take copious notes and find/make cheatsheets. The more resources you have scattered around your desk and on your computer, the better you are at networking. I guarantee it.