Course Brief

An understanding of network protocols and functionality is essential for anyone intending to undertake a career in the  industry. This course will provide an introduction to the major network technologies, protocols, algorithms and tools needed to support the delivery of secure network services over networks.

  1. Demonstrate knowledge of network communication, OSI and TCP/IP model.

  2. Demonstrate a critical understanding of the TCP/IP network model with related key protocols, services and applications.
  3. Understand and apply the principles and standards that enable networks to communicate.
  4. Discuss performance issues in network environments in qualitative and quantitative terms.

LANs – shared medium, access control schemes, CSMA/CD and (briefly) flow control, error recovery.

IP and TCP operation – IP addressing issues – subnetting, routing and switching, ports and sockets, encapsulation over MAC frames.

TCP: Communication with reliability, Server process, Connection management, Flow and Congestion Control, Error recovery and acknowledgement;

UDP: Low overhead versus reliability, Datagram Reassembly, Server Processes and Requests, Client Process;

Stream Control Transport Protocol;

Routers and routing configurations – routing protocols (RIP, OSPF, BGP, EIGRP) – an example router configuration based on Cisco routers

Network Layer: IPv4 – header fields and functions; Options – route recording, timestamping, source routing; Addressing, packet forwarding & delivery, fragmentation and reassembly;

Address Resolution Protocol (ARP);

Performance issues – congestion control, transmission delays, propagation delays