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STUDY GUIDE · GKU 4

Networking study guide (Information Technology)

This unit is written for the person who has to make a network work and keep it working. The first part builds the foundations an IT technician uses every day: the OSI and TCP/IP models as a map for locating a fault, IPv4 addresses, masks and gateways, the devices that join a network and what each one does to a frame, the kinds of network and how they are arranged, and the cables, fibre and radio that carry the bits. It ends with a step-by-step method for a host that cannot connect. The second part is network management: how SNMP, syslog, flow export and NETCONF let one station watch and configure hundreds of devices, the tools and routines of a working network team (baselines, thresholds, configuration backups, packet capture), and the problems that recur in practice — connectivity failures, bandwidth bottlenecks and failing hardware — with a method for each. Every section opens with a quick-revision card, and the worked examples run from easy to exam level.

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Structured by the official ETEC subject standard for this topic: every listed topic and learning outcome, with formulas, figures and worked examples. The full sections are available to members in the app.

SKU 4.1 · Foundations of networking

  1. The OSI and TCP/IP models, protocols and standards

    What a protocol and a standard are and who writes them, the seven OSI layers and the four TCP/IP layers, the name of the data unit at each layer, what encapsulation adds in bytes, and which headers change at every router.

  2. IPv4 addresses, masks, gateways and DHCP

    The four settings every host needs, how a host decides between delivering locally and sending to its gateway, subnet arithmetic and an office addressing plan, private and special addresses, how DHCP hands out addresses and what a 169.254 address tells you.

  3. Network hardware and devices

    What a NIC, repeater, hub, bridge, switch, access point, router, layer 3 switch, firewall and modem each do, the layer each works at, how a switch learns MAC addresses, and how to count collision and broadcast domains.

  4. Network types and architecture

    PAN, LAN, WLAN, MAN, WAN and SAN; physical topologies; client-server against peer-to-peer; the hierarchical campus design; and the WAN services a branch can buy.

  5. Network media: copper, fibre and wireless

    Twisted-pair categories and their length and speed limits, straight-through and crossover wiring, coaxial cable, multimode and single-mode fibre, Wi-Fi standards, bands and channels, and the decibel arithmetic behind a fibre loss budget and a weak Wi-Fi signal.

  6. Diagnosing connectivity and performance on a LAN

    A bottom-up procedure for a host that cannot connect: the link, the IP configuration, a ladder of ping tests, name resolution and the application port; how to read ipconfig and ping output; and the usual causes of a slow but working connection.

SKU 4.2 · Network management

  1. Network management architectures, protocols and standards

    The FCAPS areas, the manager-agent architecture, SNMP messages, ports, MIBs and versions with SNMPv3's security levels, syslog severities, flow export, NETCONF and YANG, out-of-band management, and how to turn an SNMP octet counter into a utilisation without being fooled by a wrap.

  2. Network management tools and techniques

    What a working network team actually does: poll the devices and draw trends, set alert thresholds from a baseline instead of a guess, keep versioned configuration backups and a change record, capture packets and flow records when counters are not enough, and document addresses and ports so the next person can act.

  3. Common network problems and troubleshooting methods

    A repeatable method for the three families of fault — connectivity, bandwidth and hardware — with the evidence each leaves: link flaps and CRC errors, a saturated uplink, a broadcast storm, a duplicate address, and a failing power supply or transceiver; plus availability arithmetic for redundant parts and the discipline of changing one thing at a time.

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