
Introduces the course, describes the content, introduces Morrell and describes the course overview.
Build a solid networking foundation by studying fundamentals and layered models, including the oocyte model and the DCP IP model, through a postal mail analogy.
Explore the three major network components: devices, intermediary devices, and network media, and how end-user devices interact with switches, routers, and copper, fiber, or wireless media.
Explore encapsulation across the layered model by showing how data gains headers and trailers at each layer, forming segments, frames, and destination routing information.
Explore layer 2 data link concepts: frame encapsulation of layer 3 packets, LLC and MAC sublayers, MAC addressing, and error detection across Ethernet and Wi-Fi.
Explore data link standards and ethernet frame formats defined by IEEE and ITU, covering 802.3 and 802.2, VLAN tagging, and CRC-based frame integrity.
Compare managed and unmanaged switches, review components and initial configuration, including VLANs, trunks, QoS, and console or web interfaces; implement security by changing credentials and restricting IP access.
Learn how switches provide quality of service to prioritize voice and video, apply bandwidth and storm control, and use port mirroring for traffic analysis with Wireshark.
Explore managed switches, their configurability via the command line interface, web interface, or SNMP, covering VLAN assignments, spanning tree, trunking, QoS, bandwidth control, and optional layer 3 routing.
Explore Morrell's managed switch models, 8–48 ports, with gigabit and 10 gig uplinks, SFP or copper options, and PoE; includes industrial series for rugged environments and enterprise VLANs with QoS.
Configure and manage virtual LANs to segment networks, assign VLAN IDs to access ports, and extend VLANs across switches using GVRP, with security practices to disable default VLAN.
The Morrell Switching and Network Architecture Certification (MSNAC) course is designed to provide you with the fundamental knowledge necessary to understand, design and implement a small to medium sized enterprise network with basic to intermediate switching functionality. The TCP/IP and the OSI model are used extensively in approaching and understanding the networking concepts being communicated.
The course is centered on switching, so the Data Link Layer, and to a lesser extent the Physical Layer, are the primary focus of the course and are covered in depth. Concepts such as switching, VLANs, trunks, QoS, STP and Link Aggregation are just some of the topics that are covered within the domain of Layer Two.
Upper layers are also reviewed including the Network Layer, where IP addressing, subnetting and routing are explained, the Transport layer, which includes concepts such as segmentation and session tracking, as well as the Application Layer, where several commonly used Application Layer protocols are examined and explained.
A whole module is dedicated to reviewing and understanding network architecture and design concepts as well as business considerations and how to translate and map business needs to technical design criteria.
Although this course is centered on the Morrell line of switches and networking equipment, it is by no means limited to Morrell devices. The concepts learned in this course can be applied to networks regardless of which vendor’s equipment is being used.
The course is separated into twenty modules, each of which is further subdivided into several submodules which are presented as single videos. At the end of most modules, there is a short quiz with five to ten questions testing your understanding of the concepts described. The following lists the modules included in this course with a brief description of each: