Course description
Introduction to Networking: Home and Peer-to-Peer Networks is designed for students who have a basic understanding of personal computers and their applications. By teaching the fundamentals of data networking and communications, the course explains how to build and operate a small computer network, typically found in a customer’s home. In addition, the course identifies and describes the hardware, software, protocols and signals that are essential to understanding how data networks operate. The students are introduced to the Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) protocol and how the signals travel across the different layers of the protocol, carrying data from one device to another. Local Area Networks (LAN) and Wide Area Networks (WAN) are introduced along with Metro Ethernet, WiMAX, and Cellular technologies. Networking terminology and acronyms are defined and explained throughout the course, which illustrates how the same key principles and components form the foundation of all networks, from the smallest peer-to-peer network to the Internet.