Network Fundamentals
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Course Introduction

 

Core Standards of the Course

Strand 1
Networking Concepts

Standard 1
Understand the purposes and uses of ports and protocols.

1. Protocols and ports
   
   • SSH 22
   • DNS 53
   • SMTP 25
   • SFTP 22
   • FTP 20, 21
   • TFTP 69
   • TELNET 23
   • DHCP 67, 68
   • HTTP 80
   • HTTPS 443
   • SNMP 161
   • RDP 3389
   • NTP 123
   • SIP 5060, 5061
   • SMB 445
   • POP 110
   • IMAP 143
   • LDAP 389
   • LDAPS 636
   • H.323 1720
2. Protocol types
   
   • ICMP
   • UDP
   • TCP
   • IP
3. Connection-oriented vs. connectionless
   

Standard 2
Identify devices, applications, protocols and services and which layer of the OSI model they operate at.

1. Layer 1 - Physical
   
2. Layer 2 - Data link
   
3. Layer 3 - Network
   
4. Layer 4 - Transport
   
5. Layer 5 - Session
   
6. Layer 6 - Presentation
   
7. Layer 7 - Application
   

Standard 3
Identify the characteristics of routing and switching.

1. Properties of network traffic
   
   • Broadcast domains
   • CSMA/CD
   • CSMA/CA
   • Collision domains
   • Protocol data units
   • MTU
   • Broadcast
   • Multicast
   • Unicast
2. Segmentation and interface properties
   
   • VLANs
   • Trunking (802.1q)
   • Tagging and untagging ports
   • Port mirroring
   • Switching loops/spanning tree
   • PoE and PoE+ (802.3af, 802.3at)
   • DMZ
   • MAC Table
   • ARP table
3. Routing
   
   • Routing protocols (IPv4 and IPv6)
     • Distance-vector routing protocols
       • RIP
       • EIGRP
     • Link-state routing protocols
       • OSPF
       • Hybrid
       • BGP
   • Routing types
     • Static
     • Dynamic
     • Default
4. IPv6 concepts
   
   • Addressing
   • Tunneling
   • Dual stack
   • Router advertisement
   • Neighbor discovery
5. Performance concepts
   
   • Traffic shaping
   • QoS
   • Diffserv
   • CoS
6. NAT/PAT
   
7. Port Forwarding
   
8. Access control list
   
9. Distributed switching
   
10. Packet-switched vs. circuit-switched network
    
11. Software-defined networking
    

Standard 4
Demonstrate the configuration of appropriate IP addressing components.

1. Private vs. public
   
2. Loopback and reserved
   
3. Default gateway
   
4. Virtual IP
   
5. Subnet mask
   
6. Subnetting
   
   • Classful
     • Classes A, B, C, D, and E
   • Classless
     • VLSM
     • CIDR notation (IPv4 vs. IPv6)
7. Address assignments
   
   • DHCP
   • DHCPv6
   • Static
   • APIPA
   • EUI64
   • IP reservations

Standard 5
Understand network topologies, types, and technologies.

1. Wired topologies
   
   • Logical vs. physical
   • Star
   • Ring
   • Mesh
   • Bus
2. Wireless topologies
   
   • Mesh
   • Ad hoc
   • Infrastructure
3. Types
   
   • LAN
   • WLAN
   • MAN
   • WAN
   • CAN
   • SAN
   • PAN
4. Technologies that facilitate the Internet of Things (IoT)
   
   • Z-Wave
   • Ant+
   • Bluetooth
   • NFC
   • IR
   • RFID
   • 802.11

Standard 6
Understand wireless technologies and configurations.

1. 802.11 standards
   
   • a
   • b
   • g
   • n
   • ac
2. Cellular
   
   • GSM
   • TDMA
   • CDMA
3. Frequencies
   
   • 2.4GHz
   • 5.0GHz
4. Speed and distance requirements
   
5. Channel bandwidth
   
6. Channel bonding
   
7. MIMO/MU-MIMO
   
8. Unidirectional/omnidirectional
   
9. Site surveys
   

Standard 7
Understand cloud concepts and their purpose.

1. Types of services
   
   • SaaS
   • PaaS
   • IaaS
2. Cloud delivery models
   
   • Private
   • Public
   • Hybrid
3. Connectivity methods
   
4. Security implications/considerations
   
5. Relationship between local and cloud resources
   

Standard 8
Understand the functions of network services.

1. DNS service
   
   • Record types
     • A, AAA
     • TXT (SPF, DKIM)
     • SRV
     • MX
     • CNAME
     • NS
     • PTR
   • Internal vs. external DNS
   • DNSSEC
   • Third-party/cloud-hosted DNS
   • Hierarchy
   • Forward vs. reverse zone
2. DHCP service
   
   • MAC reservations
   • Pools
   • IP exclusions
   • Scope options
   • Lease time
   • TTL
   • DHCP relay/IP helper
3. NTP
   
4. IPAM
   

Strand 2
Infrastructure

Standard 1
Understand appropriate network cabling solutions.

1. Media types
   
   • Cooper
     • UTP
     • STP
     • Coaxial
   • Fiber
     • Single-mode
     • Multimode
2. Plenum vs. PVC
   
3. Connector types
   
   • Cooper
     • RJ-45
     • RJ-11
     • BNC
     • DB-9
     • DB-25
     • F-type
   • Fiber
     • LC
     • ST
     • SC
       • APC
       • UPC
       • MTRJ
4. Transceivers
   
   • SFP
   • GBIC
   • SFP+
   • QSFP
   • Characteristics of fiber transceivers
     • Bidirectional
     • Duplex
5. Termination points
   
   • 66 block
   • 110 block
   • Patch panel
   • Fiber distribution panel
6. Copper cable standards
   
   • Cat 3
   • Cat 5
   • Cat 5e
   • Cat 6
   • Cat 6a
   • Cat 7
   • Cat 8
   • RG-6
   • RG-59
7. Copper termination standards
   
   • TIA/EIA 568a
   • TIA/EIA 568b
   • Crossover
   • Straight-through
8. Ethernet deployment standards
   
   • 100BaseT
   • 1000BaseT
   • 1000BaseLX
   • 1000BaseSX
   • 10GBaseT

Standard 2
Diagram the appropriate placement of networking devices on a network.

1. Firewall
   
2. Router
   
3. Switch
   
4. Hub
   
5. Bridge
   
6. Modems
   
7. Wireless access point
   
8. Media converter
   
9. Wireless range extender
   
10. VoIP endpoint
    

Standard 3
Identify the use cases for advanced networking devices.

1. Multilayer switch
   
2. Layer 3 Switch
   
3. Wireless controller
   
4. Load balancer
   
5. IDS/IPS
   
6. Proxy server
   
7. Reverse Proxy server
   
8. VPN concentrator
   
9. AAA/RADIUS server
   
10. UTM appliance
    
11. NGFW/Layer 7 firewall
    
12. VoIP PBX
    
13. VoIP gateway
    
14. Content filter
    

Standard 4
Identify the purposes of virtualization and network storage technologies.

1. Virtual networking components
   
   • Virtual switch
   • Virtual firewall
   • Virtual NIC
   • Virtual router
   • Hypervisor
2. Network storage types
   
   • NAS
   • SAN
   • JBOD
3. Connection type
   
   • FCoE
   • Fiber Channel
   • iSCSI
   • InfiniBand
4. Jumbo frame
   

Standard 5
Understand WAN technologies.

1. Service type
   
   • ISDN
   • - T1/T3
   • - E1/E3
   • - OC-3 - OC-192
   • DSL
   • Metropolitan Ethernet
   • Cable broadband
   • Dial-up
   • PRI
2. Transmission mediums
   
   • Satellite
   • Copper
   • Fiber
   • Wireless
3. Characteristics of service
   
   • MPLS
   • ATM
   • Frame relay
   • PPPoE
   • PPP
   • DMVPN
   • SIP trunk
4. Termination
   
   • Demarcation point
   • CSU/DSU
   • Smart jack

Strand 3
Network Operations

Standard 1
Create appropriate documentation and diagrams to manage the network.

1. Diagram symbols
   
2. Standard operating procedures/work instructions
   
3. Logical vs. physical diagrams
   
4. Rack diagrams
   
5. Change management documentation
   
6. Wiring and port locations
   
7. IDF/MDF documentation
   
8. Labeling
   
9. Network configuration and performance baselines
   
10. Inventory management
    

Standard 2
Understand business continuity and disaster recovery concepts.

1. Availability concepts
   
   • Fault tolerance
   • High availability
   • Load balancing
   • NIC teaming
   • Port aggregation
   • Clustering
   • Power management
     • Battery backups/UPS
     • Power generators
     • Dual power supplies
     • Redundant circuits
2. Recovery
   
   • Cold sites
   • Warm sites
   • Hot sites
   • Backups
     • Full
     • Differential
     • Incremental
   • Snapshots
3. MTTR
   
4. MTBF
   
5. SLA requirements
   

Standard 3
Understand common scanning, monitoring and patching processes and summarizetheir expected outputs.

1. Processes
   
   • Log reviewing
   • Port scanning
   • Vulnerability scanning
   • Patch management
     • Rollback
   • Reviewing baselines
   • Packet/traffic analysis
2. Event management
   
   • Notifications
   • Alerts
   • SIEM
3. SNMP monitors
   
   • MIB
4. Metrics
   
   • Error rate
   • Utilization
   • Packet drops
   • Bandwidth/throughput

Standard 4
Identity remote access methods.

1. VPN
   
   • IPSec
   • SSL/TLS/DTLS
   • Site-to-site
   • Client-to-site
2. RDP
   
3. SSH
   
4. VNC
   
5. Telnet
   
6. HTTPS/management URL
   
7. Remote file access
   
   • FTP/FTPS
   • SFTP
   • TFTP
8. Out-of-band management
   
   • Modem
   • Console router

Standard 5
Identify enterprise network policies and best practices.

1. Privileged user agreement
   
2. Password policy
   
3. On-boarding/off-boarding procedures
   
4. Licensing restrictions
   
5. International export controls
   
6. Data loss prevention
   
7. Remote access policies
   
8. Incident response policies
   
9. BYOD
   
10. AUP
    
11. NDA
    
12. System life cycle
    
    • Asset disposal
13. Safety procedures and policies
    

Strand 4
Network Security

Standard 1
Understand the purpose of physical security devices.

1. Detection
   
   • Motion detection
   • Video surveillance
   • Asset tracking tags
   • Tamper detection
2. Prevention
   
   • Badges
   • Biometrics
   • Smart cards
   • Key fob
   • Locks

Standard 2
Explain authentication and access controls.

1. Authorization, authentication, and accounting
   
   • RADIUS
   • TACACS+
   • Kerberos
   • Single sign-on
   • Local authentication
   • LDAP
   • Certificates
   • Auditing and logging
2. Multifactor authentication
   
   • Something you know
   • Something you have
   • Something you are
   • Somewhere you are
   • Something you do
3. Access control
   
   • 802.1x
   • NAC
   • Port security
   • MAC filtering
   • Captive portal
   • Access control lists

Standard 3
Understand basic wireless network security protocols.

1. WPA
   
2. WPA2
   
3. TKIP-RC4
   
4. CCMP-AES
   
5. Authentication and authorization
   
   • EAP
     • PEAP
     • EAP-FAST
     • EAP-TLS
   • Shared or open
   • Preshared key
   • MAC filtering
6. Geofencing
   

Standard 4
Identify common networking attacks.

1. DoS
   
   • Reflective
   • Amplified
   • Distributed
2. Social engineering
   
3. Insider threat
   
4. Logic bomb
   
5. Rogue access point
   
6. Evil twin
   
7. War-driving
   
8. Phishing
   
9. Pharming
   
10. Ransomware
    
11. DNS poisoning
    
12. ARP poisoning
    
13. Spoofing
    
14. Deauthentication
    
15. Brute force
    
16. VLAN hopping
    
17. Man-in-the-middle
    
18. Exploits vs. vulnerabilities
    

Standard 5
Understand network device hardening.

1. Changing default credentials
   
2. Avoiding common passwords
   
3. Upgrading firmware
   
4. Patching and updates
   
5. File hashing
   
6. Disabling unnecessary services
   
7. Using secure protocols
   
8. Generating new keys
   
9. Disabling unused ports
   
   • IP ports
   • Device ports (physical and virtual)

Standard 6
Explain common mitigation techniques and their purpose.

1. Signature management
   
2. Device hardening
   
3. Change native VLAN
   
4. Switch port protection
   
   • Spanning tree
   • Flood guard
   • BPDU guard
   • Root guard
   • DHCP snooping
5. Network segmentation
   
   • DMZ
   • VLAN
6. Privileged user account
   
7. File integrity monitoring
   
8. Role separation
   
9. Restricting access via ACLs
   
10. Honeypot/honeynet
    
11. Penetration testing
    

Strand 5
Network Troubleshooting and Tools

Standard 1
Understand network troubleshooting methodology.

1. Identify the problem
   
   • Gather information
   • Duplicate the problem, if possible
   • Question users
   • Identify symptoms
   • Determine if anything has changed
   • Approach multiple problems individually
2. Establish a theory of probable cause
   
   • Question the obvious
   • Consider multiple approaches
     • Top-to-bottom/bottom-to-top OSI model
     • Divide and conquer
3. Test the theory to determine the cause
   
   • Once the theory is confirmed, determine the next steps to resolve the problem
   • If the theory is not confirmed, reestablish a new theory or escalate
4. Establish a plan of action to resolve the problem and identify potential effects
   
5. Implement the solution or escalate as necessary
   
6. Verify full system functionality and, if applicable, implement preventive measures
   
7. Document findings, actions, and outcomes
   

Standard 2
Demonstrate the use of appropriate networking tools.

1. Hardware tools
   
   • Crimper
   • Cable tester
   • Punchdown tool
   • OTDR
   • Light meter
   • Tone generator
   • Loopback adapter
   • Multimeter
   • Spectrum analyzer
2. Tunneling and encryption:
   
   • Packet sniffer
   • Port scanner
   • Protocol analyzer
   • WiFi analyzer
   • Bandwidth speed tester
   • Command line
     • ping
     • tracert, traceroute
     • nslookup
     • ipconfig
     • ifconfig
     • iptables
     • netstat
     • tcpdump
     • pathping
     • nmap
     • route
     • arp
     • dig

Standard 3
Identify troubleshooting methods for common wired connectivity and performance issues.

1. Attenuation
   
2. Latency
   
3. Jitter
   
4. Crosstalk
   
5. EMI
   
6. Open/short
   
7. Incorrect pin-out
   
8. Incorrect cable type
   
9. Bad port
   
10. Transceiver mismatch
    
11. TX/RX reverse
    
12. Duplex/speed mismatch
    
13. Damaged cables
    
14. Bent pins
    
15. Bottlenecks
    
16. VLAN mismatch
    
17. Network connection LED status indicators
    

Standard 4
Identity troubleshooting methods for common wireless connectivity and performance issues.

1. Reflection
   
2. Refraction
   
3. Absorption
   
4. Latency
   
5. Jitter
   
6. Attenuation
   
7. Incorrect antenna type
   
8. Interference
   
9. Incorrect antenna placement
   
10. Channel overlap
    
11. Overcapacity
    
12. Distance limitations
    
13. Frequency mismatch
    
14. Wrong SSID
    
15. Wrong passphrase
    
16. Security type mismatch
    
17. Power levels
    
18. Signal-to-noise ratio
    

Standard 5
Identity troubleshooting methods for common network service issues.

1. Names not resolving
   
2. Incorrect gateway
   
3. Incorrect netmask
   
4. Duplicate IP addresses
   
5. Duplicate MAC addresses
   
6. Expired IP address
   
7. Rogue DHCP server
   
8. Untrusted SSL certificate
   
9. Incorrect time
   
10. Exhausted DHCP scope
    
11. Blocked TCP/UDP ports
    
12. Incorrect host-based firewall settings
    
13. Incorrect ACL settings
    
14. Unresponsive service
    
15. Hardware failure
    

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