Course Objectives

By the end of the course, students should be able to demonstrate the following knowledge and skills:

Topic Knowledge Objectives Skill Objectives
Communications
  • Guided transmission media
  • Wireless transmission
  • Communication satellites
  • The public switched telephone network
  • The mobile telephone system
  • Cable television
  
Networks
  • Define and compare different types of networks, including LANS, MANS, WANS, PSTN, PSDN, ISDN, ATM, intranet, extranet, the Internet
  • List advantages and disadvantages of using networks
  • Compare client-server and peer-to-peer LANs
  
OSI Model
  • Describe the nature and purpose of protocols
  • Describe the purpose, protocols and working units of each of the seven layers
    • physical, data link, network, transport, session, presentation, application
  • Describe how data is transferred using the OSI model
  
Data Transmission
  • Simplex, half-duplex, duplex operation
  • Asynchronous and synchronous schemes
  • Serial vs. parallel transmission
  • Modems incl. modulation techniques

 

  • Connect and use a modem
LAN Hardware
  • LAN topologies: bus, star, ring
  • Network Interface Cards/Adapters
  • Hubs/concentrators

  • Network Media: twisted pair, coaxial cable, fibre optic, wireless

  • Selection Criteria: cost, distance limitations etc.
  • Install network card
  • Prepare network cable
  • Connect cable to hub
LAN OS and Software
  • Describe the functions and features of LAN software
  • Media access control (MAC); polling, contention, token passing, carrier sense/collision; MAC addresses; Ethernet frames
  • High speed networking: FDDI, Switched Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet
  • ATM
  • Compare the networking features of Windows 3.11/9x client, NT/2000/XP server, Novell Netware and UNIX/Linux
  • Access computers and resources on LAN through Network Neighborhood
  • Share files and printers
  • Configure network control panel to connect a PC to LAN using TCP/IP
  • Use Windows NET command
  • Configure a Windows peer-to-peer network
WANs
  • WAN architecture and topology
  • WAN services
  • Domain Name System (DNS); Internet addressing
  • Repeaters, bridges, routers, gateways
  • Public data networks, X.25 packets
  
TCP/IP
  • Connection (virtual circuit) vs. connectionless (datagram) protocols
  • IP addresses, IP datagram
  • Internet routing: routing tables, RIP, OSPF
  • TCP connections, TCP segment, sockets, UDP
  • Use Telnet, FTP, ping, traceroute, netstat, nslookup, ipconfig/winipcfg
  • Use NetMeeting
Internet
  • Explain how resources can be made available and accessed over the Internet; explain the relationship between client and server
  • Describe common electronic mail protocols
  • Describe the components of e-mail and web addresses
  • Create a free e-mail account?
  • Send and receive e-mail
  • Read usenet newsgroups
  • Browse the web
  • Configure Internet Options control panel
  • Create a web page using a web editor?
  • Create a web page using HTML?
  • Create a web site on the Intranet or a free web host?
  • Install an e-mail server?
  • Install personal web server?
Network Performance
  • Describe factors that affect network performance
  • Describe tools and techniques to monitor and tune network performance
  • Use performance monitoring tools
Network Security
  • Describe security threats and consequences
  • Describe security hardware, software and procedures
  • Choose an appropriate password
  • E-mail security
  • Web security
  • Cryptography and public key encryption
  • Authentication protocols
  • Encrypt and decrypt a file
  • Password-protect a directory on a web server?
Network Management  
  • Create a network plan
  • Make hardware and software purchasing decisions