Pre-requisites Networking Concepts and Cyber Security (COMP40002)

On this module you will learn why routing and switching are considered as part of the core of networking. Once the network is designed well for these technologies other features such as security can then be built upon this. This course will look in detail at the choices within routing and switching to see why design decisions are made and for you to understand these choices. The switching will look at layer 3 switching which is now increasingly being used inside of networks due to the throughput and additional features which can be offered over the traditional layer 2 technology. The emphasis of this course will be from the viewpoint of a medium to large scale organisation. This course will embed in the Cisco CCNP SWITCH and CCNP ROUTE academy certifications.

1. ASSESS CRITICALLY THE MECHANISMS AND ARCHITECTURAL PRINCIPLES OF NETWORK COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS
Knowledge and Understanding,
Analysis

2. DEMONSTRATE CRITICAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE MAIN FUNCTIONS OF THE OSI DATA-LINK LAYER: SWITCHING AND REDUNDANT PATHS. IN ADDITION UNDERSTAND THE FUNCTION OF THE NETWORK LAYER: IGP & EGP ROUTING PROTOCOLS, LOAD BALANCING, REDUNDANT ARCHITECTURE AND SCALABLE ADDRESS SCHEMES.
Knowledge and Understanding,
Analysis,
Problem Solving

3. DEMONSTRATE SYSTEMATIC UNDERSTANDING AND AN ABILITY TO CRITICALLY ASSESS DIFFERENT LAN TECHNOLOGIES, INCLUDING ETHERNET WITH SUPPORT FOR VOICE TRAFFIC AND SECURE TRAFFIC. Analysis,
Communication

4. EVALUATE CRITICALLY THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE PHYSICAL CORE OF A COMPUTER NETWORK AND THE DEPLOYMENT OF SWITCHES, ROUTERS, GATEWAYS AND VLANS.
Analysis,
Communication

A written examination, length 2 hours weighted at 50% (Learning Outcomes 1, 2 and 4).

A portfolio weighted at 50% (Learning Outcomes 2 and 3). This will consist of a 1.5 hour practical test to apply the students understanding in practical lab-based solutions for routing and switching scenarios

The routing aspect of this course will look at the scalable, secure and reliable transfer of Layer 3 information within a commercial network. There are a number of protocols and design techniques that the student will have practical experience of using, in addition to understanding the benefits and consequences of each of these. The course will look at the Interior Protocols used within a company and the Exterior protocols used to communicate between autonomous systems. Additionally, and increasingly important is the use of switching technology which is layer 3 aware, we will also be looking at this to see why this is now so widely used in networks. The course will also look at the design of networks through hierarchical considerations and redundancy to ensure the continued operation in the event of a technical failure

The lectures given will cover the theoretical content of the course giving the students the information required to build sound knowledge to explore later practically. Tutorial sessions will be carried out in the networking labs. The tutorial sessions will be used to allow the student to experiment on equipment and to supplement their understanding through additional practical examples of using a particular technology.

There will be 26 lecture hours and 52 practical hours. Additionally, to this we will expect students to spend their self-study time working in the labs to supplement their knowledge.

Wendell and Odom, (2014), CCNP Routing and Switching ROUTE 300-101 Official Cert Guide, Cisco Press, ISBN 1587205599

Hucanby, (2015) CCNP Routing and Switching SWITCH 300-115 Official Cert Guide, ISBN 1587205602

Zhang and Bartell, (2016), BGP Design and Implementation, Cisco Press, ISBN 1587144700

Specialist networking labs.

Note - To teach this module the tutor must have successfully completed the CCNP Route and Switch instructor course.

1. ASSESS CRITICALLY THE MECHANISMS AND ARCHITECTURAL PRINCIPLES OF NETWORK COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS
2. DEMONSTRATE CRITICAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE MAIN FUNCTIONS OF THE OSI DATA-LINK LAYER: SWITCHING AND REDUNDANT PATHS. IN ADDITION UNDERSTAND THE FUNCTION OF THE NETWORK LAYER: IGP & EGP ROUTING PROTOCOLS, LOAD BALANCING, REDUNDANT ARCHITECTURE AND SCALABLE ADDRESS SCHEMES.
3. DEMONSTRATE SYSTEMATIC UNDERSTANDING AND AN ABILITY TO CRITICALLY ASSESS DIFFERENT LAN TECHNOLOGIES, INCLUDING ETHERNET WITH SUPPORT FOR VOICE TRAFFIC AND SECURE TRAFFIC.
4. EVALUATE CRITICALLY THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE PHYSICAL CORE OF A COMPUTER NETWORK AND THE DEPLOYMENT OF SWITCHES, ROUTERS, GATEWAYS AND VLANS.