CompTIA Network+ N10-008

Explore networking fundamentals, terminology, and key models like the OSSI model in the DoD framework, TCP/IP topologies, cables and connectors, Ethernet and IP protocols, and data center to cloud connectivity.

Create and test a basic network in packet tracer by linking two devices with cables, configure 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.1.2, enable http, and browse the server page to show two networks.

Explore common networking terms, including ip address, mac address, interfaces, and protocols; discover how ip addresses change across networks and how sockets, ports, and addresses identify unique connections.

Explore ports and sockets in Windows using ipconfig and netstat to observe listening versus established TCP and UDP connections, including IPv4 and IPv6 addresses and bound ports.

Explore the osi model from layer seven to the physical, learning how data units are named (pdu) and encapsulated, with tcp/udp roles, handshake, and practical layer responsibilities.

Explore the DOD model mapping to the TCP/IP suite and contrast connection oriented TCP with connection less UDP, IP, and ICMP across the four layers.

Use Wireshark to capture traffic and inspect the network layers in action, filter for HTTP, and follow the TCP stream to view the client–server exchange.

Analyze tcp handshakes with wireshark, tracing three-way and four-way exchanges, including syn, syn-ack, ack, and fin. Learn to filter by ip.addr and inspect window size, ports, and sequence numbers.

Observe UDP in action by running a DNS query and response in Wireshark. It shows no handshake as DNS uses UDP on port 53 for IPv4 and IPv6.

Explore IP in action by examining IPv4 and IPv6 headers, using Wireshark to capture, filter, and analyze source and destination addresses, TTL (hop limit), and TCP payloads.

Explore how ARP maps IP to MAC addresses by clearing the ARP cache, forcing a layer-2 broadcast via ping, and analyzing ARP requests and ARP replies with Wireshark.

Capture multicast traffic with wireshark to observe igmp membership reports and queries as devices join IPv4 multicast groups such as 224.0.0.251.

Explore network topologies by distinguishing physical versus logical layouts and illustrating point to point connections among two nodes, then describe bus, star, ring, dual ring, mesh, and hybrid topologies.

Explain local, metropolitan, and wide area networks, plus pan, campus, man, can, and san, with wlan and ethernet backbones.

Explore baseband and broadband concepts, MPLS fundamentals, and the evolution to software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) with centralized control, orchestration, and edge connectivity for flexible, high-quality networks.

Understand how the control plane creates a virtual network overlay with VPN tunnels over the forwarding plane, enabling SD-WAN routing with dynamic, best-path selection and end-to-end control.

Explore networks and terminology, compare OSCE model to DOD model, and review TCP IP core protocol suite and network topologies to build a foundation for the next module.

Explore ethernet standards, copper and fiber optic cable types, connectors, media converters, transceivers, and cable management, with practical guidance on base speeds, distances, and wave division multiplexing.

Explore copper cable types for local area networks, including utp, stp, coaxial, and twinax, with shielding and category ratings. Differentiate network speed in bits per second from storage in bytes.

Explore how fiber optic cables transmit light through a glass core with cladding, avoiding electrical interference in LAN backbones. Distinguish multimode and single-mode fibers and their wavelengths.

Explains common network connectors, including RJ-45 and RJ-11, wiring standards (TIA 568 A/B) and straight-through vs crossover cables, plus basic fiber optic connectors and fusion splicing.

Practice selecting the right cable in packet tracer by connecting routers, PCs, and switches and verifying link lights. Use crossover or straight-through cables for similar or dissimilar devices.

Explore media converters and transceivers to translate fiber optic to twisted pair, understand SFP, SFP+, QSFP, and QSFP28 modules, and choose compatible fiber and RJ-45 options by wavelength and distance.

Explore cable management by detailing patch panels, 110 blocks, and fiber patch panels, and learn terminating raw cable with punch down tools and color codes.

Review cables and connectors, Ethernet standards, fibre optic, twisted pair, twin ax, coaxial cable management, transceivers, and media converters. We will revisit these topics in greater detail in future sessions.

Explore IPv4 basics, including 32-bit addresses, octets, subnet masks, cidr notation, and private versus public ranges, with gateways, arp, nat, dhcp, apipa, and loopback.

Explore ip packet types and interfaces, including unicast, multicast, and broadcast, plus IPv6 concepts like global unicast, link local, anycast, loopback, and subinterfaces for router on a stick.

Configure client ip settings in Windows 10, switching between dhcp and static ip, and specify ipv4 details like subnet mask, default gateway, and dns in adapter properties.

Master the binary numbering system and its role in IPv4 addressing. Translate binary octets to decimal and decode subnet masks like 255.255.255.0 to identify networks.

Explore classful and classless addressing in IPv4, identify the five address classes (A–E), their default masks, and how CIDR and VLSM optimize public, private, loopback, and multicast addresses.

Master IPv4 subnetting using the delta method: start with a /24, decide subnets, move the mask, and compute subnet IDs and host ranges with the delta, binary, and dotted-decimal masks.

Count in binary to verify subnet calculator; moving mask from /24 to /25, /26, and /27 yields 2, 4, and 8 subnets, with 32 hosts after subtracting network and broadcast.

Learn to find subnet IDs by moving the mask from /24 to /25, using a 128 delta to create subnets 192.168.1.0 and 192.168.1.128 and determine their hosts and broadcast addresses.

Practice subnetting the class C network 192.168.1.0/24 into two /25 subnets using Packet Tracer, configuring a two-interface router (fa0/0 and fa0/1) and hosts to verify via ping.

The delta guides subnetting in a network design, splitting 192.168.1.0/24 into /25 segments with router links, subnet IDs, first legitimate hosts, and broadcasts, plus scope guidance.

Demonstrates subnetting 192.168.1.0/24 into four /26 subnets using the delta method; assigns gateways 192.168.1.1, 192.168.1.65, 192.168.1.129, 192.168.1.193 and verifies connectivity across all subnets.

Learn to subnet by hosts, determining host bits and masks to deliver required addresses per location. Include subnet and broadcast, with examples using /28, /27, and /30.

Explore subnetting beyond the fourth octet, learning to move the mask across octets, calculate the delta, determine subnet IDs, and manage large subnet ranges with practical examples.

Learn supernetting to aggregate multiple networks by moving the mask left, creating larger subnets, fewer networks, and simplified router tables through route aggregation.

Master supernetting by learning to group subnets into pairs, fours, or eights with zero or incremental starts, reduce masks from 24 to 23, 22, and beyond, using a subnet calculator.

Master IPv6 addressing with 128-bit hexadecimal addresses, colon-separated groups, and slash-64 prefixes. Explore global, unique local, and link-local unicast, plus address assignment, subnetting, and neighbor discovery basics.

Explore transition mechanisms from IPv4 to IPv6, including tunneling IPv6 inside IPv4, 6 to 4, 6 RDA rapid deployment, isotope, dual stack, and IPv6-to-IPv4 translation.

Review IPv4 and IPv6 basics, packet and interface types, binary concepts, and CIDR-driven subnetting and supernetting, with classful versus classless addressing and IPv6 transition mechanisms.

Explore common layer seven remote control protocols, including the Microsoft remote desktop protocol (RTP) for remote administration, noting Telnet (port 23) versus SSH/SCP/SFTP (port 22) and VNC (5900/5800).

Explore file sharing protocols like smb/cifs and smb 3.0 on tcp 445, samba for linux, ftp and tftp basics, and nfs with port mapper.

Explore web protocols, focusing on http and https, the stateless http methods such as get and post, and how URLs, hostnames, ports, and paths enable web communication.

Explore the email protocols, detailing smtp for sending, pop3 and imap for retrieval, and dns mx lookups, with encryption options and a web front end for accessing mail.

Learn how database protocols use SQL to interface with relational databases, configure remote connections over TCP ports, and how networks support SQL servers like SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, and SQLite.

Explore voice protocols in modern networks, focusing on session initiation protocol (SIP) for establishing and managing VoIP calls, and real-time transport protocol (RTP) for carrying voice and video over UDP.

Centralize network monitoring using syslog, Windows event log subscriptions, and SNP to collect logs and metrics from diverse devices. Configure alerts, traps, and dashboards with a MIB and OID approach.

Explore layer seven protocols that enable remote control, file and print, web, email, database, voice, and security services, with a preview of deeper dives in the next module.

Learn how DHCP dynamically assigns IP addresses via scopes, pools, leases, and options (default gateway, DNS server, domain name), plus exclusions and reservations, and how IP helpers relay across subnets.

Configure a DHCP server in Packet Tracer, enable the DHCP service, and hand out addresses from a 192.168.1.100/24 pool to clients via a hub and sniffer.

Configure a dhcp relay agent on the router to forward dhcp requests across subnets, set up two dhcp scopes on the server, and verify client leases from both sides.

Explore how the domain name system maps names to addresses using a hierarchical namespace with root servers, top level domains, delegation, zone transfers, and authoritative and caching DNS servers.

Set up a DNS server in a DHCP network, create A records for two web servers, and verify name resolution with browser access across subnets.

Configure dns by creating A records and CNAME aliases to map multiple names to one server, and update IP with A records.

Learn how the network time protocol (ntp) uses udp 123 to synchronize clocks from stratum 0 to 15, supporting universal time coordinate and Kerberos-driven authentication in an Active Directory environment.

Understand data center network architecture from the classic three-tier model, including access, distribution, core, spine-and-leaf, sdn control planes, central controllers, and vlan routing.

Explore cloud concepts, including public, private, hybrid, and community clouds, the SaaS, IaaS, and PaaS models, and connectivity and elasticity for scalable, pay-as-you-go services.

Explore essential network services and fundamental infrastructure components, including DHC, P and DNS, and network time. Preview data center architecture and cloud concepts as you move to the next module.

Explore the physical components that move data across a network, including NICs, MAC addresses, MTU limits, and how switches, routers, and VLANs shape collision and broadcast domains.

Explore repeaters and hubs as layer one devices that extend cable and Wi-Fi signals, amplifying and regenerating data, and explain collision and broadcast domains in half-duplex networks.

Bridge and switch operate as layer two devices using MAC addresses to forward frames between media. Explore forwarding decisions, unknown unicast flooding, micro segmentation, port density, and PoE options.

Connect devices with fixed and modular switches, using copper and fiber ports and uplinks, and count collision domains per port while maintaining one broadcast domain.

Explore how routers act as layer three devices, using route tables to forward IP packets, perform header rewrites, and serve as default gateways alongside layer three switches and VLANs.

Identify key security devices like firewalls, DMZs, ACLs, and proxies, and explain how they filter traffic, perform port forwarding, and enable VPN and intrusion detection and prevention systems.

Modems are layer one devices that translate ethernet signals to connect your network with telcos, ISPs, or cellular networks; cables, DSL, and cellular options include MiFi and built-in wi-fi routers.

Explore networking devices such as repeaters, hubs, bridges, switches, routers, multilayer switches, security devices, and modems as the module moves to the next topic.

Identify and secure common ip devices on networks, including voip phones, ip pbx, voip gateways, network printers, pacs/pax devices, ip cameras, and hvac controllers, with vlans and ip management.

Introduce the internet of things, where everyday devices connect via wireless networks and unique identifiers, highlighting security risks, weak passwords, and the need for regular updates.

Program IoT devices by configuring a registration server, smoke detector, and monitoring PC; observe sensor data, adjust alarm thresholds in JavaScript or Python, and compare alert behaviors.

Explore how industrial control systems use PLCs, sensors, and actuators to monitor and control processes, while SCADA provides centralized supervision, data historian, and remote field connectivity.

Explore new concepts around IP devices, the internet of things, and industrial control systems, and preview the next module as this unit wraps up.

Learn routing basics: how routers move IP traffic across single and multi-hop paths, implement static and dynamic routing with route tables and metrics, and apply a default gateway.

Configure static routes across two routers and switches. Assign ip addressing and default gateways, verify with show ip route and traceroute, and save the router configuration.

Resolve the IP to MAC on the same network using DNS and ARP; the switch floods the ARP request until the MAC is learned.

Learn how a packet crosses a single router between networks using MAC addresses, ARP, and default gateway logic. IP addresses stay the same end-to-end while MAC addresses change per hop.

Follow how IP routing across multiple hops relays packets through routers, decrements TTL each hop, and updates layer 2 MAC addresses while end-to-end IPs remain unchanged.

Apply static routes in a multi-router topology, configure masks and next hops, and verify connectivity with ping, traceroute, and show ip route, including default routes, for CompTIA Network+ N10-008 learners.

Explain how a router selects the best path using administrative distance and the metric, maintains the route table, and compare routing protocols like RIP, OSPF, ERP, and BGP.

Compare rip v1 and v2, noting classful masks, broadcast updates, and hop-count metrics. Describe rip v2 enhancements, including multicast updates, subnet mask awareness, optional authentication, and ipv6 rip next generation.

OSPF operates as a layer 3, link-state interior gateway routing protocol, using multicast to propagate changes and organize routers into areas with a backbone area for fast convergence.

Explore EIGRP, a hybrid interior gateway protocol that uses a complex metric from bandwidth, delay, load, reliability, and MTU, enabling fast convergence and loop avoidance with Cisco's dual algorithm.

Explore bgp, the exterior gateway protocol that uses path vectors over tcp to route between autonomous systems, with manual peer configuration, network announcements, and considerations of convergence, security, and scalability.

Master NAT and PAT concepts to translate private inside addresses to public outside addresses. Learn about address pools, static mappings, and publishing internal hosts with Cisco examples.

Enable bandwidth management and QoS with traffic shaping and DSCP/diffserv to protect voice and video real-time applications, while reducing delay, jitter, and packet loss across devices.

Explore Ethernet basics and switching concepts, covering MAC addresses, Ethernet II framing, MTU and jumbo frames, VLAN tagging and trunking, VLAN routing, contention management, and switch port configuration.

Switches forward frames via a dynamic MAC address table, offer store-and-forward, fragment-free, or cut-through switching, and use spanning tree to prevent loops by root bridge election.

Learn how a switch dynamically learns mac addresses, builds its mac table, and verifies entries by connecting six pcs, pinging hosts, and mapping mac addresses to ip addresses in topology.

VLANs create logical, broadcast-domain segments by grouping switch ports into separate networks across switches. Use routing between VLANs via a router, per-VLAN subnets, and trunk links to manage cross-VLAN communication.

Learn to create vlan two and vlan three on two switches, assign access ports per the diagram, configure pc ips with ip config, and verify connectivity with ping.

Learn how vlan trunking extends vlans across switches with 802.1Q tagging on trunk links, while access ports stay untagged and trunk links carry traffic from all vlans.

Explore why and how to route between VLANs using routers and multilayer switches, including router on a stick and VLAN interfaces as default gateways.

Configure inter-VLAN routing with a distribution switch and a layer-3 switch, set VLAN interfaces with /29 IP addresses, enable ip routing, and verify connectivity across VLANs via trunk links.

Explore contention management in Ethernet switching, including CSMA/CD and collisions, and how switches divide collision domains. Learn how VLANs and routers prevent broadcast propagation by segmenting broadcast domains.

Configure switch ports for speed, auto-negotiation, duplex, and access or trunk modes to assign VLANs and carry tagged traffic; enable port mirroring, security, and lacp.