Microsoft Networking Fundamentals

Define computer networks as two connected devices sharing resources, with physical connections—wired or wireless—and the logical connection that transports data.

Explore client-server and peer-to-peer architectures and categorize networks by size—from local area networks, campus area networks, metropolitan area networks, to wide area networks, with Active Directory-based centralized authentication.

Explore the three fundamental networking rules, including using the tcp/ip protocol suite, delivering data uncorrupted with tcp and udp, and identifying data origins with ip and mac addresses.

Explore the OSI model, TCP/IP, IP addresses, MAC addresses, and networking protocols in this introductory primer, laying the groundwork for deeper study in the course.

Explore how computer networks rely on rules called protocols, distinguishing logical TCP/IP protocols from physical Ethernet, with examples like HTTP, POP3, SMTP, IMAP, and FTP.

Explore the OSI model, a seven-layer conceptual framework that separates host layers from media layers and tracks data from application to physical, with routing and switching, contrasted with TCP/IP.

Explore the four-layer TCP/IP model, the de facto standard powering the internet, and how it maps to the OSI host and network layers.

Identify mac addresses as physical, layer two addresses burned into a network card’s ROM; they are 48 bits in hex, with the first three bytes forming the OUI.

Explore IP version 4 basics, including dotted decimal and binary forms, eight-bit octets, and 32-bit addresses. View them with ipconfig as part of a broader IPv4 and IPv6 study.

Explain why ip addresses are logical and used for routing. Contrast with mac addresses, physical, burned into the network interface card, for local network communication at the data link layer.

Explore how Ethernet defines the physical and data link layers for local area networks, including cabling, speeds, connectors, and the roles of twisted pair and fiber optic media.

Compare half duplex and full duplex modes and explain how auto negotiation and Windows speed and duplex settings affect NIC connectivity.

Explore physical and logical network topologies, comparing the actual layout with how data moves through networks using protocols and rules such as Ethernet and CCMA/K and CCMA/CD.

Explore the four physical topologies—bus, ring, star, and mesh—and see how a physical network map of cables, patch panels, switches, and terminators guides planning and troubleshooting.

Explore a broad overview of common networking devices, including hubs, switches, routers, firewalls, and other devices, with later sections revisiting each device for deeper learning.

Understand how a network interface card enables devices from laptops to servers to communicate on a network, whether via wired twisted pair, fiber optics, or wireless radio frequencies.

Hubs connect devices within a network and act as multiport repeaters, flooding data to all ports, making them less efficient and less secure than switches.

Switches memorize mac addresses in a mac address table and forward traffic to destination port, reducing collision domains and establishing switches as the de facto standard for local area networks.

Compare hubs and switches: hubs broadcast to all ports, while switches learn mac addresses via a mac address table and forward frames to the correct port, boosting throughput and security.

Explore how a wireless access point acts as a dedicated bridge, extending the wired network to wireless devices, and review 802.11 standards and encryption like WEP, WPA, and WPA two.

Explore how routers connect networks, compare static and dynamic routing, and use routing protocols to select paths across subnets and ISPs, guided by IP addresses and MACs within networks.

Learn how firewalls protect your network from malicious internet activity, using rule sets to control traffic. Distinguish network-based and host-based firewalls and recognize built-in Windows firewall options.

Explore how the dynamic host configuration protocol automatically assigns ip addresses and related information, subnet masks, dns server details, and default gateways via leases in Windows Server environments.

Explore network cabling fundamentals, including Ethernet, twisted pair copper cabling, fibre optic cabling, and platinum rated cabling, in this section introduction.

Explore coaxial, twisted pair, and fiber optic cabling and when each is used. Twisted pair remains the common home standard, while fiber optic enables high speed and long distance links.

Ethernet fundamentals cover IEEE 802.3 cabling types: coaxial, twisted pair, and fiber, baseband versus broadband, CSMA/CD access, and 10/100/1000 base naming conventions.

Explore twisted pair copper cabling with four color-coded RJ-45 pairs, how twisting reduces EMI and crosstalk, shielded vs unshielded options, and the 100-meter maximum before signal attenuation.

Explore 568a and 568b copper wiring standards and the straight-through and crossover cables. Learn how autosense and autocorrect affect pinouts on modern gear and older equipment.

Explore the plenum space and the need for plenum rated cables in building design. Non plenum PVC cables can release toxic fumes, while teflon jackets reduce risk.

Explore fiber optic network cabling, using light signals through glass or plastic cores to deliver high bandwidth over long distances, with EMI immunity and enhanced security.

Take a deep dive into the Aussie model, with a dedicated lecture for each layer in this section, exploring the model's structure and how its layers interact.

Explore the OSI model's application layer as the gateway to protocols like IMAP, POP3, SMTP, HTTP, and HTTPS, enabling email and web communication across local and remote networks.

Explore the OSI model's presentation layer, which ensures data from one system's application layer is readable on another by handling code conversion, data representation, encryption, and compression.

Explain how the session layer sets up, manages, and tears down user sessions between applications. Illustrate how it keeps data from different sessions separate when multiple tabs are open.

Explore how the transport layer segments data, provides end-to-end connection and reliability, and reassembles it in order across the network, highlighting TCP versus UDP.

Explore the network layer's routing role and how it adds ip addresses to form a packet, while contrasting ip and mac addresses.

Explore how the data link layer converts packets into frames, uses MAC addresses to deliver data within a local area network, and supports switches through a MAC address table.

Explore the OSI model's physical layer, where bits travel over electrical and fibre media, cabling, jacks, and patch panels with binary signaling and Ethernet 802.3 encoding.

Explore an introduction to tcp/ip, its basics, and four sections covering the network, transport, and application layers with key protocols.

Compare the four-layer TCP/IP model with the OSI model, explain why TCP/IP is the most common protocol on Internet and local networks, and highlight IP addressing, routing, and key protocols.

Explore the Internet, transport, and application layers, including ARP, IPv4/IPv6, ICMP, TCP/UDP with port concepts, and common protocols, plus basics of Ethernet and network troubleshooting in Windows.

Explore unicast, multicast, and broadcast on tcp/ip networks, distinguishing 1-to-1, 1-to-many, and 1-to-all communication and noting multicast groups, switches, and hubs.

Explore carrier sense multiple access (csma/cd) and csma/ca in wired and wireless tcp/ip networks, and contrast token ring's token-based single access with collision detection and avoidance.

Explore how ARP resolves an IP address to a MAC address and how reverse ARP identifies the IP from a MAC, illustrating ARP's role on local networks.

Explore how the internet protocol governs IPv4 and IPv6 in the internet layer, detailing routing, routing tables, and how data moves across networks.

Explore IPv6 as the next generation internet protocol, its 128-bit address space, and how it replaces IPv4 to prevent address exhaustion, noting an unimplemented IPv5.

Explore ICMP and the ping command to diagnose network connectivity through echo requests and replies, distinguish destination unreachable scenarios, and use these tools for IT operations.

Explore the transmission control protocol (tcp), a connection-oriented transport layer that delivers data reliably through a three-way handshake, checksums, and sequence numbers, with UDP offering a best-effort alternative.

Learn about the user datagram protocol (udp), a best-effort, unreliable transport that foregoes the three-way handshake and retransmission, used for real-time voice, video streams, and dns lookups.

Differentiate physical ports from logical ports and learn how logical ports map packets to protocols such as dns, http, smtp, ftp, pop3, and telnet, alongside ip and mac addresses.