Thinking in Packets

A Mental Model for Computer Networks

Welcome

A conceptual introduction to how computer networks actually work — signals, frames, IP addressing, routing, TCP/UDP, DNS, TLS, HTTP, performance, cloud and container networking, and production troubleshooting — written for curious, technically-adjacent readers with no networking certification, no systems-programming background, and no prior familiarity with the OSI model.

Most introductions to networking begin with a stack of acronyms or a seven-layer diagram to memorize. This book builds one cumulative mental model instead, starting from the smallest possible problem — moving information between two machines — and following it outward until it becomes the Internet, the Web, cloud networking, container networking, and production troubleshooting.

This is a first complete draft, not a finished, professionally edited book.