COURSE OVERVIEW

This course combines select topics from two of our most popular networking courses: Understanding Networking Fundamentals and TCP/IP Networking. In this course, you will learn how to configure a workstation to connect to a network, analyze network traffic, examine switch and router configurations, and perform basic IPv4 subnetting. In short, you will gain the essential knowledge and skills to configure, support, and troubleshoot a TCP/IP network.

Our expert instructor and hands-on labs will help prepare you for a career in network administration. In addition, this course will position you for more specialized courses in network security, wireless integration, VoIP, and product-specific training in Cisco, Avaya, and Microsoft.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

• The roles of various devices in a TCP/IP network
• Basics of layered network protocols and the two primary reference models: OSI and TCP/IP
• Ethernet operations and the use of VLANs, including switch operations and the use of Spanning Tree as a method for eliminating broadcast storms on a switched network
• Wi-Fi router configuration and operation on a SOHO network, including security, SSID, and Wi-Fi channels
• Various IP addressing considerations, including binary to decimal conversion, dotted decimal notation, classful vs. classless addressing, private vs. public addresses, and the use of network masking
• Basic subnetting using both fixed-length subnet masking (FLSM) and variable-length subnet masking (VLSM)
• The operation and configuration of routers, including the function and characteristics of various routing protocols (RIP, EIGRP, OSPF, and BGP)
• Various WAN technologies, including circuit switched solutions such as leased lines and packet switched solutions such as Carrier Ethernet, and determine the best WAN connectivity solution for a given corporate network
• Operation of various TCP/IP protocols on a network, including connectionless and connection-oriented communications using UDP and TCP, translation between private and public addresses using NAT, and support protocols such as ARP, DNS, and DHCP
• Analysis of multicasting, Voice over IP, e-mail, FTP, Telnet, and other application layer traffic
• Use of a protocol analyzer and other tools to troubleshoot problems at each layer of a TCP/IP network
• Basic network security implementations, including security protocols, firewall configurations, and common security threats and mitigation techniques
• Functions of IPv6 and its related protocols
• Current and emerging trends in network technology

OUTLINE

• On-Demand Outline
• Introduction to Networking
• What is computer networking?
• Building blocks of networks
• Network infrastructure
  • Media
  • Switches and access points
  • Routers
• Network services
• Network types
• Network topologies
• Locating network resources
  • Peer-to-peer networking
  • Client-server networking
• Virtual computing
• Cloud computing
  • Cloud computing services
  • Cloud computing architectures
• Network Standards
• Standards organizations
• Example standards development process
• OSI networking model
• TCP/IP model
• TCP/IP Overview
• Origins of TCP and IP
• ARPANET requirements documents
• Collaborative network requirements
• Layered approach to networking
  • Actual flow
  • Effective flow
• Documentation and RFCs
• TCP/IP Numbering Systems
• Introduction to numbering systems
• Positional numbering system basics
• Converting between numbering systems
  • Binary/hexadecimal to decimal
  • Decimal to binary/hexadecimal
  • Binary to hexadecimal
  • Hexadecimal to binary
• Counting
• Guidelines for determining the base of a number
• Physical Network Connections
• UTP cabling
  • UTP standards and categories
  • UTP system components
  • RJ-45 connections
  • Half and full duplex operations
  • Crossover vs. straight-through
• Structured cabling systems
  • Designing cabling systems
  • Installing cabling systems
  • Examining network cabling
  • Testing and certifying cabling systems
• Fiber optic cabling
  • Fiber cable types
  • Fiber cabling components
  • Fiber optic testing
• Wireless connections
  • Wireless connections
  • Wireless components
  • Wireless considerations
• Ethernet LANs
• NIC and MAC addresses
• Ethernet standards
• Ethernet frame structures
• Ethernet equipment types
• Ethernet connectors
• Ethernet performance issues
• Ethernet Switching
• Benefits of switching
• Switch installations
• Switch operations
• Spanning Tree Protocol
  • STP operations
  • Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol
  • STP self-healing capability
• Configuring switches
  • Port security
  • Power over Ethernet
  • Port mirroring
• VLANs
• Troubleshooting
• Wireless LANs
• WLAN standards: IEEE & Wi-Fi Alliance
• WLAN components
  • Wi-Fi client hardware and software
  • Access points
  • WLAN controllers
  • SSID
• Wi-Fi channels
• Wi-Fi speeds
• WLAN security
• WLAN performance issues
• IPv4 Addressing
• Logical addressing
• IPv4 address structure
  • Dotted decimal notation
  • Classful addressing (Class A, B, C, D, E)
  • Reserved addresses
  • Network masking
• Subnetting classful address blocks
• Private addressing
• Network Address Translation (NAT)
• Variable-Length Subnet Masking (VLSM)
• Classless Inter-Domain Routing
  • CIDR prefix notation
• IPv4 Subnetting with FLSM
• Purpose of subnetting
• Subnet communications
• Subnet mask rules
• Calculating subnets
  • Four key addresses
  • Implementing the plan
  • Subnetting case study
• Variable-length subnet masking
• IPv4 Subnetting with VLSM
• IPv4 Subnets
  • FLSM vs. VLSM
• Calculating VLSM subnet values
  • Determining the masks
  • Laying out subnets and their addresses
• Planning for growth
  • Sequential allocation errors
  • Future subnets
• CIDR and VLSM
• Address Resolution Protocol
• Address mapping
• ARP restrictions
• ARP cache
• ARP commands
• ARP message fields
• Additional ARP capabilities
• Multicasting
• What is multicasting?
  • Uses for multicasting
  • Reserved IP multicast addresses
• Internet Group Management Protocol
  • Joining multicast groups
  • Multicast routing
• Mapping Class D IP address to an Ethernet multicast address
• How does it all work together?
• Internet Protocol Version 4
• Internet Protocol overview
  • Self-healing networks
• IPv4 header
  • IPv4 header layout
  • Differentiated services
  • Explicit congestion notification
  • Total IP length
  • Identification
  • Fragmentation
  • Time to live
  • Protocol
  • IPv4 header checksum
  • IPv4 Addresses
  • IPv4 Options
• Routing
• Routing overview
• Logical segmentation
• Static vs. dynamic routing
• Routing decision process
• Routing metrics
• Routing protocol operation
• Common routing protocols
  • Routing Information Protocol (RIP)
  • Open Shortest Path First (OSPF)
  • Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP)
  • Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)
• Configuring routers
• IP Routing
• Routing function
• IP routing algorithm
• Types of routing protocols
• Choosing the best path
• Routing tables
• Routing Information Protocol
• Open Shortest Path First
• Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol
• Border Gateway Protocol
• Wide Area Networks
• Evolution of WAN technologies
• Sources of WAN solutions
• Circuit-switched vs. packet-switched
• Circuit-switched WAN solutions
  • TDM circuits
  • SONET
  • Optical Transport Networks
• Packet-switched WAN solutions
  • Multiprotocol Label Switching
  • Carrier Ethernet networks
• Internet WANs
• Autoconfiguration
• Manual vs. automatic assignments
• Historical solutions
• DHCP new lease acquisition process
  • DHCP discover
  • DHCP offer
  • DHCP request
  • DHCP acknowledgment
• DHCP scopes and options
  • IP lease renewal
• DHCP in a routed network
• Multiple DHCP servers
• Troubleshooting DHCP
  • The ipconfig /release command
  • The ipconfig /renew command
• Domain Name System
• Name and number organizations
• The DNS name space
  • Generic top-level domains
  • Sponsored top-level domains
• DNS name servers
  • Primary and secondary servers
• A distributed service
• DNS name resolution process
• DNS message format
• DNS resource records
• Reverse lookup
• Dynamic DNS
• Troubleshooting DNS
• ICMP Diagnostic and Error Reports
• ICMP basics
• ICMP message destinations
  • Silent discard vs. informed discard
• ICMP message layout
• ICMP message types
  • Echo request and echo reply
  • Destination unreachable
  • ICMP redirect
  • Time exceeded
• UDP Sessions
• Host-to-host layer categories
  • Connectionless protocols
  • Connection-oriented protocols
  • Low overhead vs. reliability
• UDP header layout
• UDP/TCP ports
• UDP ports and sockets
  • UDP application port examples
• Common UDP Applications
• Trivial File Transfer Protocol
  • TFTP transfer process
  • TFTP operation codes
• Simple Network Management Protocol
  • SNMP manager model
  • SNMP agent model
  • SNMP commands
  • Management information base
• Remote Network Monitoring
• TCP Sessions
• TCP overview
  • Reliable transport services
  • TCP characteristics
• TCP header
  • Source and destination ports
  • Sequence number
  • Acknowledgment number
  • Header length
  • Session flags
  • Window size
  • TCP checksum
  • Urgent pointer
  • TCP options
  • Maximum segment size and window size
• TCP three-step handshake
• Four-step session shutdown
  • Normal end
  • reset
• TCP congestion management
• Common TCP Applications
• Telnet
  • Telnet negotiations
  • Telnet protocol options
• File Transfer Protocol
  • FTP commands
  • FTP response codes
• E-mail
  • Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
  • Post Office Protocol Version 3
  • Internet Message Access Protocol Version 4
• World Wide Web
  • Uniform Resource Locator
  • HTTP requests and responses
• Communications Protocols
• Electronic mail
  • Sending e-mail with SMTP
  • Retrieving e-mail with POP
  • Retrieving e-mail with IMAP
• Instant messaging
  • SIP for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions
  • Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol
• Voice over IP
  • Session Initiation Protocol
  • Real-Time Transport Protocol
  • H.323 and MGCP
• Unified communications
• VoIP Implementation
• Benefits of VoIP
• TCP/IP protocols used by VoIP
• VoIP system components
• VoIP protocols
  • Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)
  • Session Description Protocol (SDP)
  • Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP)
• VoIP codecs
• Network Security
• Security threats
  • Malware
  • Social engineering
  • Unsecured networks
  • Network attacks
  • Crackers and hackers
• Threat mitigation
  • Anti-malware
  • Authentication
  • Encryption
  • Virtual private networks
  • Firewalls and perimeter networks
  • Intrusion detection systems
  • Security training and education
• Developing a security plan
• TCP/IP Security
• TCP/IP security concerns
• The CIA triad
• TCP/IP vulnerabilities
  • Network access layer
  • Internet layer
  • Transport layer
  • Application layer
• TCP/IP security protocols
• Network access security tools
• Virtual private networks
• TCP/IP security protocols
  • IP Security (IPSec)
  • TLS and SSL
  • DNSSEC
  • Secure Shell protocol
• Internet Protocol Version 6
• IPv6 addressing
  • IPv6 address categories
  • Global unicast address format
  • Interface ID structure
  • IPv6 address types
• IPv6 header layout
  • Extension headers
• ICMPv6
• IPv6 DNS operation
  • IPv6 DNS records
• IPv6 routing services and protocols
  • Static routing
  • RIPng
  • OSPFv3
  • MP-BGP
  • EIGRP for IPv6
• Internet2
• Emerging Technologies
• Improved wireless technologies
• Enterprise mobility
• Internet of Things
• Software Defined Networks
  • Keeping up with new technologies