Learners will understand the key components of networks, and will also learn about the protocols and the services provided by networks. They will explore the technologies and devices used in networking and be able to design and maintain a secure network.
Understand networks and their components.
Types of network: local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), internet, WAN technologies e.g. frame relay, MPLS, ATM, Personal Area Network (PAN), logical and physical topologies e.g. star, bus, ring, mesh, tree, network access methods e.g. CSMA, Token passing, network models e.g. OSI 7 layer, TCP/IP.
Components: workstations, servers, domain controllers, firewalls, routers, switches, wireless access point, wireless routers, interconnection devices, connectors and cabling, software, commercial systems.
Networking technologies: Active Directory (AD), Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), Domain Name System (DNS), Network address translation (NAT), Access control (rights and permissions).
Common networking ports: HTTP (80), HTTPS (443), POP3 (110), FTP (21), IMAP (143), DHCP (67/68), SMTP (25), DNS (53).
Network protocols and standards: types e.g. TCP/IP, AppleTalk, UDP, 802.2, 802.3, FDDI, 802.5, wireless technologies e.g. 802.11, infrared, Bluetooth, 3G, factors affecting range and speed of wireless technologies.
Application layer protocols: types e.g. DNS, DHCP, HTTP, FTP, SMTP.
Explain different types of networks.
Describe networking components and technologies.
Explain why different network standards and protocols are necessary.
Be able to apply numerical skills for network addressing.
Characteristics of common (IP) addresses: IP version 4 addressing principles: dotted decimal format, classes (A-D), public and private addresses, address categories (default gateway, loopback address, broadcast address).
IP version 6 address representation (full and abbreviated representations), format (prefix, subnet ID, interface ID).
Apply binary conversion and arithmetic, binary to decimal, decimal to binary conversion (up to eight bits).
Apply subnetting to different IP addresses: subnet masks, subnets (number of hosts, number of networks, starting and ending IP addresses).
Identify the characteristics of common (IP) addresses
Apply binary conversion and arithmetic.
Apply subnetting to different IP addresses.
Understand network connectivity.
Cable characteristics (transmission speed, segment length) and connectors, coaxial, F-type connector, twisted pair (shielded/unshielded), cat 1-6 cables, RJ 45 connector (straight-through cable, crossover cables, rollover cables), fiber optic (multi-mode, single mode), standards (10BaseT, 100BaseT, 1000BaseT).
Characteristics of wireless systems, antennas and devices, directional, omnidirectional, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), point-to-point, point-to-multi point, wireless access points, routers and endpoint device, Bluetooth connectivity, standards (802.11 a, 802.11 b, 802.11 g, 802.11 n, 802.11 AC), speed, security, coverage.
Test equipment used for wired and wireless networks: cable tester, loopback, continuity tester, tone probe, wire map tester, wireless locator/Wi-Fi analyser, wireless heat map, optical time-domain reflexometer (OTDR).
Explain the purpose and characteristics of different types of cable.
Explain the purpose and characteristics of wireless systems, antennas and devices.
Explain how test equipment for wired and wireless networks is used.
Understand how to configure and maintain a secure network.
Network design should show the purpose and characteristics of networking devices and technologies.
Support and maintain network security: access control (rights and permissions), password policies, encryption, virtual private network (VPN), virtual local area network (VLAN), configuring security devices and software.
Design a network to meet specified requirements.
Explain how to support and maintain network security.
Understand networking maintenance practices and processes.
Tools for network maintenance and performance monitoring:
Software utilities: ping (loopback address, default gateway, local hosts), tracert, ipconfig (/renew, /release, /all), netstat, nslookup), Command-line interface (CLI), system logs, system monitor, network monitor.
Maintenance records (help desk records, job sheets, fault logs, CRM).
Knowledge base: updates (automatic, manual, server updates services), remote assistant, remote desktop.
Methods of managing local storage: disk quotas, mapping drives, disk cleanup, redundant array of independent disks (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10), rights and permissions.
Explain how different tools are used in network maintenance and performance monitoring.
Describe methods for managing local storage.