Networking and Telecommunications
Fall 2006

Syllabus

 
Topics:

1. Introduction
 What is Data Communications?  Networking?  Telecommunications?
   Lan?  Wan?  Why are they used?  History.  Shared Resources,
   Distributed Processing, and basic Terminology & Acronyms

2. Telecommunications
  Terminology (ports, punch down blocks, etc..), Transmission
  Signals, Transmission Media (coax, fiber, TP), RS232,
  Terminals, Modems, DCE/DTE, Handshaking, Protocols, 
  Multiplexors.  Hardware (56k, T1, leased lines..)
  Packet Switching vs. Circuit Switching

3. Networking
  Lans vs Wans
  Lan Characteristics (speed, broadband vs. baseband, bandwidth)
  How Lans work
  More Terminology (broadcast, traffic, collisions..)

4. Lans
  Lan Topology (star, bus, ring, others)
  Channel Access Methods (CSMA, CSMA/CD, Aloha, Token Passing)
  Client-Server Model vs Peer-Peer
  Lan O.S. (Windows 2000/2003/NT/XP, Novell, Unix, Macs)

5. Lan Hardware
  Transmission Media (cabling) - TP, UTP, STP, RJ11, RJ45, Coax, fiber
  NIC, Clients and Servers, diskless workstations, hubs, mau, 
  wiring closets, hosts systems, repeaters, switches
  network peripherals (printers, modems, etc..)
  Types of servers (file, print, email, web..)

6. Network Architecture
     Ethernet (802.3, 10base2, 10base5, 10baseT, 100baseT, 1000baseT)
     Token Ring (802.5)
     Starlan, Arcnet, FDDI, Fast Ethernet, ATM, etc..
    Network Theory (deterministic vs. non-deterministic)

7. Lan Software
   Network Operating System (NOS)
     Novell Netware, Windows NT/2000/2003/XP
     MacOs, Unix
   Application Software
   User Interfaces (GUI)


8. WANS
    connectivity - interoperability
    transmission media (coax, fiber, TP, satellites, microwave,
         leased lines, 56k, T1, T3)
    repeaters, bridges, routers, switches
    routing
    Access/Terminal Servers
    RIP, OSP
    X.25, frame relay, cell relay (ATM)
    
9. TCP/IP and the Internet 
  TCP/IP basics
  packets, subnets, ports, sockets
  What is the Internet (WWW)
  Internet vs. Intranet
  addressing (ip address, ethernet hardware address)
  domain name servers
  software - ftp, tftp, telnet, ssh, email
  boot servers, ntp servers, web server

10. Standards Committees
  IEEE, ISO, ANSI, CCITT
    (802.3, 802.4, 802.5 (IEEE); OSI (ISO), TCP/IP- defacto standard)

11. Protocols
  TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, Appletalk, Netbeui
  OSI 7 layer Model
  smtp, arp, rarp, snmp, bootp, dhcp

12. PC to Mainframe Communications
  Hardware/Software - 3270 emulation, ftp, telnet

13. Network Problems
  Server/Workstation Failure
  Cross talk, EMI, RFI
  Security (firewalls, virus, spam, spyware)
  Sniffers, Network Management Tools

14. Network Printing
  
15. Unix Networking
  daemons, nfs, nis, dns, X windows       
  network tools - ping, traceroute

16. Lan Life Cycle
 Planning, Installing, Maintaining, Upgrades, Testing & Monitoring,
 Diagnostics and Problem Solving, Security, Reliability
 Performance, Disaster Recovery

17. RUnet (Rutgers Network)
 Lans, Wans, RUNet 2000
 Hardware and Software
  
18. Advanced Network Aspects
 Fast Ethernet, FDDI/CDDI/SDDI, 100baseT, ATM
 Gigabit Ethernet
 wireless lans - 802.11b, 802.11g
 T3, T4 lines, OC3, OC12
 Internet 2, IPng, switches, Vlans, VPN