NVCC COLLEGE-WIDE COURSE CONTENT SUMMARY
IST 206 - NETWORK SERVICING (3 CR.)

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Focuses on servicing and maintaining local area networks (LANs). Teaches network installation, basic network trouble shooting, installation of file servers and workstations, upgrading of network software, configuring of network boards and cables, and diagnosing common network problems. As part of a networking curriculum, presents some of the material needed for network engineer certification. Lecture 3 hours per week.

GENERAL COURSE PURPOSE

The purpose of this course is to instruct the student with hands-on experience on how to monitor, identify, and troubleshoot various network problems within heterogeneous network architecture environments. The student will learn preventative maintenance and monitoring procedures, which ensure the stability of network operations. The student will be instructed on how, in the event of network failure, to troubleshoot network issues in the areas of topology (architecture issues), print services, access services, main servers, and workstation failures. This course may focus on Microsoft NT products, but it also relates features and interrelationships with other products suchas Novell NetWare and Linux.

ENTRY LEVEL COMPETENCIES

Prerequisites are IST 203 - "Administration of Local Area Networks" and IST 216  - "Personal Computer Hardware Troubleshooting".  Students must be able to read and write at a college level.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will have a working knowledge of LAN technology and be able to:

A. install and diagnose server software
B. configure and troubleshoot at the physical and data link layers
C. configure and troubleshoot at the network and transport layers
D. perform monitoring and server optimization
E. describe network storage devices
F. troubleshoot printers
G. explain server and client disaster recovery MAJOR TOPICS TO BE INCLUDED
A. Installing and Diagnosing Server Software
1. Hardware requirements
2. Software requirements
3. Information required for installation
4. Installation files, terms, steps
5. Server configuration files
6. Installation and diagnostics of server operating system
7. Identifying and resolving driver issues
8. Identifying and resolving IRQ conflicts
9. Client configuration
10. Compatible client types
11. Construction of a bootable floppy disk
B. Physical and Data Link Layer Configuration and Troubleshooting
1. Network card installation configuration and diagnostics
2. Network performance monitoring
3. Knowledge of using protocol stack to aid diagnostics
4. Knowledge of diagnostic tools
C. Network and Transport Layer Configuration and Troubleshooting
1. Configuring a server as a router
2. Gateways
3. Ping
4. Tracert
5. Proxy Servers
D. Maintaining and Diagnosing Network and Server Performance
1. Defining performance components
2. Evaluating server statistics
3. Performance monitoring tools
4. Troubleshooting performance problems
5. Optimizing performance
E. Network Storage Devices
1. Disk interface types
2. Hard drive physical installation
3. Hard drive configuration
4. RAID
5. Redundancy (mirroring, duplexing)
F. Network Printing
1. Network printing review
2. Printer connection standards (Serial/Parallel/USB and Net card)
3. Physical problems with printers
4. Working with print servers and print queues
5. Working with remote printers
6. Printer configuration and drivers
7. Printer utilities
G. Disaster Recovery
1. Backing up and restoring server data
2. Backup strategies
3. Disaster recovery strategies and options
4. Fire backups vs. Image backups
5. Use of MS-DOS based network clients for server recover
6. Use of disk images software
EXTRA TOPICS (optional)
A. Diagnostic Tools
B. Internet Access Software
C. Upgrade of Server Software
D. Upgrade of Client Workstation Software
E. Viruses
F. Back Office Server Architecture
Revised 02/01
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