Career and Technical Education: Information Technology Networking Overview

Business Operations and Legal Compliance

  • Competency 1.4.3: Verify compliance with security rules, regulations, and codes, including privacy, property, and access issues.

  • Competency 2.1.12: Adhere to system privacy security compliance regulations including:

    • Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

    • Payment Card Industry (PCI)

    • Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX)

    • Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

    • General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

    • European Union Data Protection Regulation (EUDPR)

Networking Fundamentals and Infrastructure

  • Network types: Local Area Networks (LANs), Wide Area Networks (WANs), Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), and Near Field Communication (NFC).

  • Transmission methods: Broadband and baseband (e.g., Ethernet).

  • Network topologies: Star, ring, tree, mesh, irregular, point-to-point (PTP), and point-to-multipoint (PTMP).

  • Storage techniques: Fiber channel, cloud, Fiber Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), Serial Attached SCSI (SAS), Network File Systems (NFS), Network Attached Storage/Server Message Blocks (NAS/SMB), and Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks (RAID).

  • Media types and standards: Coaxial, twisted pair, and fiber optic (single mode vs. multimode) using standards like CAT5,CAT5E,andCAT6+CAT5, CAT5E, and CAT6+.

  • Connector types: Bayonet Neill-Concelman (BNC), RJ-11, RJ-45, LC, ST, SC, and Duplex Multimode LC.

Information Security and Access Control

  • Core concepts: Differentiation between authentication and authorization.

  • Authentication techniques: Single factor, multifactor, biometrics, digital certificates, and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) cards.

  • Assurance and integrity: Digital signatures, hashing algorithms, and encryption.

  • Tunneling protocols for Virtual Private Networks (VPNs): Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP), Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol (SSTP), and Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP).

  • Network security appliances: Intrusion Prevention System (IPS), firewalls, Unified Threat Management (UTM), and Access Control Lists (ACLs).

  • Wireless security standards: Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), 802.1x802.1x, and Remote Authentication Dial In User Service (RADIUS).

Communication Models and Protocols

  • Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) standard: International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Standard 74987498 (7-layer model).

  • Comparison of OSI layers to the 4-layer Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) stack.

  • Essential protocols: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), Telecommunications Network (Telnet), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Domain Name System (DNS), Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Secure Shell (SSH), and Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP).

  • Protocol characteristics: Comparison of connection-oriented (TCP) and connectionless (UDP) protocols.

IP Addressing and Subnetting

  • Addressing schemes: Differentiation between IPv4IPv4 and IPv6IPv6.

  • Subnetting: Purpose of default versus custom subnet masks and the application of Variable Length Subnet Masking (VLSM).

  • Address ranges: Identification of ClassA,B,andCClass A, B, and C private address ranges and multicasting addresses.

  • Naming: Use of Fully Qualified Domain Names (FQDNs).

Advanced Connectivity and Cloud Systems

  • Wide Area Network (WAN) technologies: T1,T3,E1,E3T1, T3, E1, E3, Synchronous Optical Network (SONET), Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), DOCSIS (cable), and Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS).

  • Routing protocols: Border Gateway Routing Protocol (BGRP), Open Shortest Path First (OSPF), and Routing Information Protocol Version 2 (RIPv2).

  • Cloud service provisions: Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Security as a Service (SECaaS), and Everything as a Service (XaaS).

  • Industry standards: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).


  • Competency 1.4.3: Verify compliance with security rules, regulations, and codes, including privacy, property, and access issues.

  • Competency 2.1.12: Adhere to system privacy security compliance regulations, including:

    • Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

    • Payment Card Industry (PCI)

    • Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX)

    • Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

    • General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

    • European Union Data Protection Regulation (EUDPR)

Networking Fundamentals and Infrastructure

  • Network types: Local Area Networks (LANs), Wide Area Networks (WANs), Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), Near Field Communication (NFC).

  • Transmission methods: Broadband, baseband (e.g., Ethernet).

  • Network topologies: Star, ring, tree, mesh, irregular, point-to-point (PTP), point-to-multipoint (PTMP).

  • Storage techniques: Fiber channel, cloud, Fiber Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), Serial Attached SCSI (SAS), Network File Systems (NFS), Network Attached Storage/Server Message Blocks (NAS/SMB), Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks (RAID).

  • Media types and standards: Coaxial, twisted pair, fiber optic (single mode vs. multimode) using standards like CAT5,CAT5E,CAT6+CAT5, CAT5E, CAT6+.

  • Connector types: Bayonet Neill-Concelman (BNC), RJ-11, RJ-45, LC, ST, SC, Duplex Multimode LC.

Information Security and Access Control

  • Core concepts: Differentiation between authentication and authorization.

  • Authentication techniques: Single factor, multifactor, biometrics, digital certificates, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) cards.

  • Assurance and integrity: Digital signatures, hashing algorithms, encryption.

  • Tunneling protocols for VPNs: Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP), Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol (SSTP), Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP).

  • Network security appliances: Intrusion Prevention System (IPS), firewalls, Unified Threat Management (UTM), Access Control Lists (ACLs).

  • Wireless security standards: Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), 802.1x802.1x, Remote Authentication Dial In User Service (RADIUS).

Communication Models and Protocols

  • Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) standard: International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Standard 74987498 (7-layer model).

  • Comparison of OSI layers to TCP/IP stack.

  • Essential protocols: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), Telecommunications Network (Telnet), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Domain Name System (DNS), Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Secure Shell (SSH), Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP).

  • Protocol characteristics: Comparison of connection-oriented (TCP) and connectionless (UDP) protocols.

IP Addressing and Subnetting

  • Addressing schemes: Differentiation between IPv4IPv4 and IPv6IPv6.

  • Subnetting: Purpose of default vs. custom subnet masks and application of Variable Length Subnet Masking (VLSM).

  • Address ranges: Identification of ClassA,B,andCClass A, B, and C private address ranges and multicasting addresses.

  • Naming: Use of Fully Qualified Domain Names (FQDNs).

Advanced Connectivity and Cloud Systems

  • WAN technologies: T1,T3,E1,E3T1, T3, E1, E3, Synchronous Optical Network (SONET), Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), DOCSIS (cable), Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS).

  • Routing protocols: Border Gateway Routing Protocol (BGRP), Open Shortest Path First (OSPF), Routing Information Protocol Version 2 (RIPv2).

  • Cloud service provisions: Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Security as a Service (SECaaS), Everything as a Service (XaaS).

  • Industry standards: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).