"A crash reduces
Your expensive computer
To a simple stone."


Networking Fundamentals:

This module deals with the early use of networks in business and how early networking systems struggled due to a lack of interoperability. As networks grew and the desire for networks to be able to transfer information with entities other than their own company, common standards began to develop. The TCP/IP model developed primarily through the Department of Defense's ARPANET project and the Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) model created standards in which the networking industry could build on and grow.

Vocabulary - Key Terms:

Performance - SANs allow concurrent access of disk or tape arrays by two or more servers at high speeds. This provides enhanced system performance.

Availability - SANs have built-in disaster tolerance. Data can be duplicated on a SAN up to 10 km (6.2 miles) away.

Scalability - A SAN can use a variety of technologies. This allows easy relocation of backup data, operations, file migration, and data replication between systems.

A local area network (LAN) is a computer network covering a small local area, like a home, office, or school!!!

A Network Access Card (NIC) is a printed circuit board that fits into the expansion slot of a bus on a computer motherboard. It can also be a peripheral device. NICs are sometimes called network adapters.

Hubs concentrate connections. In other words, they take a group of hosts and allow the network to see them as a single unit.

Network topology defines the structure of the network. One part of the topology definition is the physical topology, which is the actual layout of the wire or media. The other part is the logical topology, which defines how the hosts access the media to send data.

A Protocol is a formal description of a set of rules and conventions that govern a particular aspect of how devices on a network communicate. Protocols determine the format, timing, sequencing, and error control in data communication.

Intranet -An intranet is a private computer network that uses Internet protocols, network connectivity to securely share part of an organization's information or operations with its employees.The same concepts and technologies of the Internet such as clients and servers running on the Internet protocol suite are used to build an intranet.

Extranet - An extranet is a private network that uses Internet technology and the public telecommunication system to securely share part of a business's information or operations with suppliers, vendors, partners, customers, or other businesses. An extranet can be viewed as part of a company's intranet that is extended to users outside the company.

Related Articles:

http://www.tcpipguide.com/free/t_NetworkingFundamentals.htm provides an overview of some of the basic issues related to networking.

http://networking-guides.com/a/90536/10+Networking+Myths+For+Newbies-To-Networking.html- -truths the government doesn't want you to know!

http://gaia.cs.umass.edu/cs653-1997/notes/ch1/ch1.htm- What is the matrix? What you are about to read, may disturb you. Enter with an open mind.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/expert/russel_05sept19.mspx- and how to fix them

http://www.darkreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=95556&WT.svl=column1_1!- Social Engineering, you can do it! Woot?

http://www.zakon.org/robert/internet/timeline/-Hobbes' Internet Timeline

Key Concepts:

In the late 1960s and 1970s smaller computers called minicomputers were created.

In 1977 the Apple Computer Company introduced the microcomputerwhich was also known as the Mac.

1981 IBM introduced its first PC. The user-friendly Mac

LANs allow businesses to locally share computer files and printers efficiently and make internal communications possible.
WANs are designed to do the following:

• Operate over a large and geographically separated area
• Allow users to have real-time communication capabilities with other users
• Provide full-time remote resources connected to local services
• Provide e-mail, Internet, file transfer, and e-commerce services

SANs offer the following features:

• Performance – SANs allow concurrent access of disk or tape arrays by two or more servers at high speeds. This provides enhanced system performance.
• Availability – SANs have built-in disaster tolerance. Data can be duplicated on a SAN up to 10 km (6.2 miles) away.
• Scalability – A SAN can use a variety of technologies. This allows easy relocation of backup data, operations, file migration, and data replication between systems.

OSI Model video part 1

OSI Model video part 2


LAN is a local area network that connects computers that are nearby to each other.


WAN is a wide area network connecting computers over long distances.

Course Materials:

OSI - TCP/IP models and how they are related

CCNA 1 - Module 2 Study Guide (.pdf)