Intermediate Networking

Gain a full understanding of almost every aspect of networking technology as you prepare for CCNA certification. This course will build your knowledge of networks and networking, with detailed treatments of TCP/IP, how switches and routers operate, DNS, and more with real-world applications for the concepts you learn.

6 Weeks / 24 Course Hrs

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Bristol Community College

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Learning method

Self-Guided

$129

No instructor. Study on your own schedule

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Instructor-Moderated

$140

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Starting April 16 | May 14

Details + Objectives

Course code: ntn

Learn real-world applications for the concepts you learned in Introduction to Networking. Continue to build your knowledge of networks and networking, with detailed treatments of TCP/IP, how switches and routers operate, DNS, and more.

You will gain a full understanding of almost every aspect of networking technology, including hot topics such as virtual private networks, security, Internet connectivity, and cloud computing. Completion of this course and its prerequisite should serve as a springboard for a career in computer networking or training for CCNA Certification.

What you will learn

Learn crucial real-world applications for the computing and networking knowledge you attain
Examine all of today's important issues and concerns - privacy, security, data transfer speeds, and cloud computing
Learn about IP addressing, the four primary IP address classes, and all about the various protocols that come packaged within TCP/IP
Learn various encryption schemes and acquire firsthand knowledge of how data is encrypted, processed, and secured

How you will benefit

Gain the insight you will need for a career in computer networking or training for CCNA certification
Discover the ins and outs of the most pressing issues affecting computer networking today
Acquire knowledge with applications for both your work and personal life

How the course is taught

Instructor-Moderated or Self-Guided online course
6 Weeks or 3 Months access
24 course hours

Outline

In the first lesson, you'll learn about the concept of a network stack. After a succinct review of essential network and networking terms, you'll compare the theoretical structure of a network stack—commonly called the OSI model—to real-world networking. You'll then trace how data travels through the computer for transmission on the network.

You'll pick up right where the last lesson left with a discussion on how a unit of computer data—called a packet—gets from one computer to another. You'll learn all about how packets are formed, how packets are sometimes chopped then reassembled to go across WAN links, and how the receiving computer handles packets upon arrival. You'll also learn why the network's most important device is the router.

This lesson is dedicated to helping you understand how routers operate. You'll learn all about how routers create a virtual map of the entire Internet. You'll also see how routers connect to different network types—an Ethernet segment and an ATM link, for example—and transmit data across those different mediums. The lesson will then discuss why routers have their own special languages, called routing protocols.

In this lesson, you'll learn the language of routers: routing protocols. You'll learn why some routing protocols are appropriate for smaller networks, and why very large networks require specialized routing protocols. You'll also learn about the two most revealing measurements of a router's capability: latency and packets per second (pps).

You've heard of TCP/IP, but its details may seem mysterious. After you complete this lesson, those mysteries will be banished forever! You'll learn about IP addressing, the four primary IP address classes, and all about the various protocols that come packaged within TCP/IP. Prepare to demystify TCP/IP!

Security is on everyone's mind these days, so in this lesson, you'll learn the fundamentals of how computers enforce security. You'll learn what a security descriptor is and how it can allow some people to only read a document, while others can delete or modify the document as much as they like. You'll also learn the difference between a security implementation and security protocols. Finally, you'll find out how security operates in a Windows environment, including exactly what happens during log on, authentication, and authorization.

In this lesson, you'll explore encryption, a method used to secure data for transmission over the Internet. You'll learn about various encryption schemes and get firsthand knowledge of how a chunk of data gets encrypted, how it gets decrypted on the receiving end, and how this process can be made secure. You'll also learn how Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) makes it safe for you to order merchandise online, and how SSL ensures that your connection to the seller's website is secure.

The Internet is a great public network, but what if you need it for private communication? For example, what if a salesman needs to make a private connection to their company's network to check on special bulk pricing? In this lesson, you'll learn how you can create a virtual private network out of your Internet connection. You'll get a hands-on view of how these private connections are made, and why they're so useful.

The Internet, and almost every other network today, uses Domain Name System (DNS) to translate human-readable names (like www addresses) into IP addresses that computers can use. It's important to understand how this system works, so in this chapter you'll learn details about how DNS operates. You'll learn how resource records are the building blocks of DNS, and how DNS scales to the entire Internet by being broken into zones.

This lesson will expand on the discussion of DNS. Here you'll learn about the most important types of resource records, including A records, SOA records, and others. You'll also learn about the two types of DNS queries: recursive and iterative. There are many other resource record types, and you'll learn about those as well. By the end of the lesson, it'll be clear just how important DNS is to people's daily lives!

In this lesson, you'll learn how Internet servers operate, including how a web page is requested and transmitted to your computer, then displayed on your screen. You'll also learn about the two primary web protocols—HTTP and HTML. There are other Internet-based services, such as email servers, news servers, and instant messaging, and you'll investigate those in this lesson, too.

Have you ever wondered about the difference between a desktop computer and a server? Have you heard of cloud computing, but don't know exactly what it means? The final lesson will go over the differences between server-class operating systems and server-class computers and go in-depth about the various hardware components that comprise a true server-class computer. Understanding why a desktop computer shouldn't be used as a departmental server is important! You'll also learn what cloud computing is, why it's such a compelling platform, and how data centers provide all that computing power.

Instructors & Support

David Iseminger

David Iseminger is an author and technology veteran, with expertise in computing, networking, wireless and cloud technologies, data and analytics, artificial intelligence, and blockchain. While with Microsoft, David worked on early versions of Windows and its core networking infrastructure, and on transmission protocols, security, data visualizations, and multiple emerging cloud technologies. David is passionate about education, serving as a School Board director for over 10 years, advocating at state and federal levels for increased learning standards, and has taught over 40,000 students through multiple technology courses. He has an awarded patent in Artificial Intelligence (AI) object detection and social posting methodologies, and is the founder and CEO of the blockchain company that created IronWeave, the unlimited scale blockchain platform, based on his patent-pending blockchain innovations and inventions.

Instructor Interaction: The instructor looks forward to interacting with learners in the online moderated discussion area to share their expertise and answer any questions you may have on the course content.

Requirements

Prerequisites:

Completion of the Introduction to Networking course (or equivalent experience).

Requirements:

Hardware Requirements:

This course can be taken on either a PC or Mac.

Software Requirements:

PC: Windows 8 or later.
Mac: macOS 10.6 or later.
Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred. Microsoft Edge and Safari are also compatible.
Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.

Other:

Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.

Instructional Material Requirements:

The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.

FAQ

Instructor-Moderated: A new session of each course begins each month. Please refer to the session start dates for scheduling.

Self-Guided: Your course begins immediately after you enroll.

Instructor-Moderated: Once a course session starts, two lessons will be released each week for the 6 week duration of your course. You will have access to all previously released lessons until the course ends. You will interact with the instructor through the online discussion area. There are no live sessions or online meetings with the instructor.

Self-Guided: You have 3 months of access to the course. After enrolling, you can learn and complete the course at your own pace, within the allotted access period. You will have the opportunity to interact with other students in the online discussion area.

Instructor-Moderated: The interactive discussion area for each lesson automatically closes two weeks after each lesson is released, so you're encouraged to complete each lesson within two weeks of its release. However, you will have access to all lessons from the time they are released until the course ends.

Self-Guided: There is no time limit to complete each lesson, other than completing all lessons within the allotted access period. Discussion areas for each lesson are open for the entire duration of the course.

Instructor-Moderated: Students enrolled in a six-week online class benefit from a one-time, 10-day extension for each course. No further extensions can be provided beyond these 10 days.

Self-Guided: Because this course is self-guided, no extensions will be granted after the start of your enrollment.

Reviews

Another wonderful class. David made this difficult subject accessable and understandable. The course and the lessons were very well organized and interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed this class and would recommend it to anybody. The online format was great for me too, perhaps even better than going to a class. I felt I received much more personal attention than I would have in a class room! I look forward to many more classes by David.

David does a great job communicating a very difficult subject. I highly recommend him as an instructor.

Instructor is very personable and encouraging in the discussion. Guess you could say that he has a "good webside manner"! The text flows comfortably and the reference materials are generally very useful.

I really enjoyed this course. The instructor's use of concepts we are already familiar with to make the Networking concepts more understandable was great!

The instructor has a great teaching style and I found myself learning and retaining concepts I would have previously believed would be beyond my grasp.

This course has helped me prepare for the Networking exams I have to take in the next few months. Thank you.

This course was presented in such a way that a network novice like myself could fairly easily grasp the fundamentals. I liked the instructor's use of every day models as examples to teach a concept. I learned more about networking in this class and the preceding one than I ever did anywhere else. I enjoyed it very much!

This has been a fantastic experience, David Iseminger is a great teacher. He knew how to keep it interesting and informative at the same time. I look forward to possibly taking another of his courses if I can!

Your humor, analogies and expertise made this a very enjoyable and worthwhile course to participate in. Thank you!