After taking this course, you should be able to:

• Identify the components of a computer network and describe their basic characteristics
• Understand the model of host-to-host communication
• Describe the features and functions of the Cisco
• Internetwork Operating System (IOS®) software
• Describe LANs and the role of switches within LANs
• Describe Ethernet as the network access layer of TCP/IP and describe the operation of switches
• Install a switch and perform the initial configuration
• Describe the TCP/IP Internet layer, IPv4, its addressing scheme, and subnetting
• Describe the TCP/IP Transport layer and Application layer
• Explore functions of routing
• Implement basic configuration on a Cisco router
• Explain host-to-host communications across switches and routers
• Identify and resolve common switched network issues and common problems associated with IPv4 addressing
• Describe IPv6 main features and addresses, and configure and verify basic IPv6 connectivity
• Describe the operation, benefits, and limitations of static routing
• Describe, implement, and verify virtual local area networks (VLANs) and trunks

• Explain how Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) and Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP) work
• Configure link aggregation using EtherChannel
• Describe the purpose of Layer 3 redundancy protocols
• Describe basic WAN and VPN concepts
• Describe the operation of access control lists (ACLs) and their applications in the network
• Configure Internet access using Dynamic Host
• Configuration Protocol (DHCP) clients and explain and configure network address translation (NAT) on Cisco routers
• Describe basic quality of service (QoS) concepts
• Describe the concepts of wireless networks, which types of wireless networks can be built, and how to use Wireless LAN Controllers (WLCs)
• Describe network and device architectures and introduce virtualization
• Introduce the concept of network programmability and Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and describe smart network management solutions such as Cisco
  DNA Center™, Software-Defined Access (SD-Access), and Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN)
• Configure basic IOS system monitoring tools
• Describe the management of Cisco devices
• Describe the current security threat landscape
• Describe threat defense technologies
• Implement a basic security configuration of the device
• Describe the application and configuration of inter-VLAN routing
• Explain the basics of dynamic routing protocols and describe components and terms of
• Open Shortest Path First (OSPF)