Keith Shaw
Contributing Writer
The first gadget Keith Shaw ever wanted was the Merlin, a red plastic toy that beeped and played Tic-Tac-Toe and various other games. A child of the '70s and teenager of the '80s, Shaw has been a fan of computers, technology and video games right from the start. He won an award in 8th grade for programming a game on the school's only computer, and saved his allowance to buy an Atari 2600.
Shaw has a bachelor's degree in newspaper journalism from Syracuse University and has worked at a variety of newspapers in New York, Florida and Massachusetts, as well as Computerworld and Network World. He won an award from the American Society of Business Publication Editors for a 2003 article on anti-spam testing, and a Gold Award in their 2010 Digital Awards Competition for the "ABCs of IT" video series.
Shaw is also the co-creator of taquitos.net, the crunchiest site on the InterWeb, which has taste-tested and reviewed more than 4,000 varieties of snack foods.
What is SD-WAN, and what does it mean for networking, security, cloud?
Software-defined wide area networks, a software approach managing wide-area networks, offers ease of deployment, central manageability and reduced costs, and can improve connectivity to branch offices and the cloud.
What is a network router?
Is a router still a router even if forwarding packets is just one of its many jobs?
What is a network switch, and how does it work?
Switches connect network segments, providing full-duplex communication, valuable network performance data and efficient use of network bandwidth.
802.11x: Wi-Fi standards and speeds explained
To help clarify the many Wi-Fi standards, here’s an update on these physical-layer standards within 802.11, as well as standards still in the works and the new naming scheme that includes Wi-Fi 6.
What is a virtual machine, and why are they so useful?
Many of today’s IT innovations have their roots in VMs and their separation of software from hardware.
What is DNS and how does it work?
The Domain Name System resolves the names of internet sites with their underlying IP addresses adding efficiency and even security in the process.
What is edge computing and why does it matter?
With deployments of IoT devices and the arrival of 5G fast wireless, placing compute, storage, and analytics close to where data is created is making the case for edge computing.
What is a digital twin and why is it important to IoT?
Digital twins are virtual replicas of physical devices that data scientists and IT pros can use to run simulations before actual devices are built and deployed. Digital twins can also take real-time IoT data and apply AI and data...
The OSI model explained and how to easily remember its 7 layers
A tutorial on the Open Systems Interconnection networking reference model and tips on and how to memorize the seven layers
What is beamforming and how does it make wireless better?
Beamforming uses the science of electromagnetic interference to make Wi-Fi and 5G connections more precise.
What is MU-MIMO, and why is it essential for Wi-Fi 6 and 6E?
Multi-user, multiple-input, multiple-output technology supports concurrent users accessing Wi-Fi 6 and 6E networks in both uplink and downlink scenarios