Hello, my name is Mike Pennacchi and I am the owner of Network Protocol Specialists. About 10 years ago, as a LAN Administrator I found that I was running into problems that could not be solved by software upgrades or replacing hardware. A friend of my let me borrow his Network General Sniffer™ to solve one of the problems. I became hooked on network protocol analysis.

For the last 7 years I have been going out to companies around the country solving their network problems and instructing people on how to fix the problems themselves. One of the most common questions I get is “how do I learn how to do what you do?” The answer is simple; start doing it.

There is no book or course that will tell you everything you need to know to fix every problem. These books and courses are useful in obtaining a general understanding of protocol behavior and how things should operate, but without actually doing some troubleshooting, you will never get good at it.

The Protocol Specialist is designed to be a monthly newsletter of sorts, discussing various problems and products I have encountered over the previous month. It is my hope that this information will prove useful in helping you gain a better understanding of network troubleshooting methods and techniques.

The key to becoming a skilled network analyst is to start today, not tomorrow (TNT).

Mike spent 9 years with PACCAR working as an application developer, LAN administrator, and Network Technology Manager.

The next 6 years was spent at Pine Mountain Group, Inc. as a senior network analyst and trainer.  During this time he traveled around the United States troubleshooting critical network problems.

At InterOp 2005 Las Vegas Mike led the team of networking professionals responsible for patching and troubleshooting the event network.

Chris Greer is a senior network analysis with Network Protocol Specialists, LLC.  Chris is an accomplished network analyst and trainer.  Prior to joining Network Protocol Specialists, LLC Chris held a variety of positions at Fluke Networks.  Chris spent 2 years working in Fluke Networks TAC group.