ITEC350:  Introduction to Computer Networks 

Syllabus (all sections)

 

Instructor:                            Dr. Richard W. Tibbs http://www.radford.edu/~rwtibbs

Office:                                   230 Davis Hall (831-5780)

 

Office  hours:                      See www.radford.edu/~rwtibbs

 

Texts:              (Note if you buy these books online, get them early)                       

“Business Data Networks and Telecommunications,”  Panko, Prentice Hall. 6th ed., 2007. ISBN 0-13-221441-5

“Mastering Windows 2003 Server,”  Minasi et al,  Sybex 2004.ISBN 0-7821-4130-7

                                                “Advanced Guide to Linux Networking and Security,” Sawicki, Thomson, 2005 ISBN1-418-83539-0, 2005

 

Grades:                                 Four tests worth 100 points each will be given.  A 100 point lab project will also be assigned.   Grades will be given based on a straight percentage of points earned.   Homework is graded and is approximately 100 additional points that contribute to your score.  Homework must be submitted electronically through the WebCT system. You must put your name in the homework acknowledging the RU honor code, or you will not receive credit for any assignment!! Only if a student has enough points for an A in the class after the third exam, you must email me and request absence from the final exam.  Furthermore, regardless of your total score, you must take the final unless I give you permission not to. Otherwise, you will receive and F in ITEC350.  It is at the instructor’s sole discretion whether a student will be excused from the final. Furthermore, your allowed 5 absences. After that every 5 absences will lower your grade one letter.

                                                                                440 to ∞ pts ................. Grade = A

                                                                                380 to 439 pts ................. Grade = B

                                                                                320 to 379 pts ................. Grade = C

                                                                                260 to 319 pts ................. Grade = D

                                                                                    0 to 259 pts ................. Grade = F

 

Lab Project:        The class will be divided into teams of three people.  Each team will be assigned to a pod in the Information technology Networking Lab (Davis 214).  You will have three weeks to complete a project implementing numerous networking technologies including static and dynamic routing. Additional chapters from the Windows 2003 Server and Linux Networking books will be necessary references for the lab project. Note: If you copy or fail to return all of your Lab DVDs or CDs to me or you will receive an F in ITEC 350!

 

Course Notes:      You are responsible for material presented in course notes, on black/whiteboards, and the texts. I will keep all unclaimed homework and tests for one week past the end of the semester; then they will be discarded.

 

Attendance:          You should plan on attending all lectures. You are responsible for all material presented in class, all exercises completed in class and all announcements made in class.  If you miss a class you are responsible for finding out what you missed, e.g., homework assignments, a test dates announced, etc.  An attendance policy is in effect, and a signup sheet will be passed through class periods. (You get two weeks of missed classes. After the third week your grade will go down by one letter!! After the fourth week another letter grade, etc). Attendance, participation and appropriate conduct (etiquette) in class will affect your grade by an amount determined by the instructor at the end of the semester   It is your responsibility to know important dates on the academic calendar, such as last day to drop, and last day to withdraw.  See the online calendar on the RU web site.

 

Etiquette:              Please come to class on-time since class is disturbed by constant late arrivals. Turn off all cell phones, beepers, PDAs, etc. Talking or other disruptions in class can result in being asked to leave.

 

Honor Code:        By accepting admission to Radford University, each student makes a commitment to understand, support, and abide by the University Honor Code without compromise or exception.  Violations of academic integrity will not be tolerated.   This class will be conducted in strict observance of the Honor Code.  Refer to your Student Handbook for details.  In this class the student is expected to do all out of class programming assignments on their own, without help from other students. All violations will be reported.   All assignments are to be done independently unless I specifically say otherwise. The only exception to this is, of course, the lab project.

 

Special

Assistance:           Any student who needs special accommodations because of a disability should contact the instructor during the first week of classes to make arrangements.  Please do not wait to see if you will need special accommodations for this class;  let me know ASAP so that it does not become a major problem.  It is the responsibility of any student with a disability who requests a reasonable accommodation to contact the Disability Resource Office (831-6350). Contact will then be made by that office through the student to the instructor of this class. The instructor will then be happy to work with the student so that a reasonable accommodation of any disability can be made.  

Rationale

Information Systems and Computer Science majors  are increasingly obtaining jobs as network technicians, help desk technicians, systems integrators, and support personnel.   These positions often lead to jobs as network administrators, project directors, and system analysts for software implementation projects.   Successful performance in these roles requires an understanding of computer networks, network administration, client support, and network applications.  This is also why Networking is one of the suggested core or elective items listed in several model curricula, including the ACM/IEEE “CS2001” accreditation curriculum, the National Science Foundation’s ISCC’99 curriculum and the Data Processing Managers’ Association Model Curriculum for Information System programs.

 

Prerequisites

Approval of instructor, junior or senior standing, ITEC 220.

 

Laboratory Component

Lectures in the ITEC 350 course will be supported through lab exercises.  Lab exercises will be conducted in the general purpose computing labs to the extent possible within the University’s established network security policies.   Exercises which require configuration changes and levels of access not permitted in the general purpose labs will be conducted in the IT Networking lab in DA 214.  Students are also encouraged to conduct exercises in student residences on their own computers or even temporary networks. The laboratory exercise requires 100 points. You may do up to 20 extra points in hands-on electives.

 

Topical Syllabus (note that summer courses have fewer weeks -- adjust proportionally)

 

ITEC 350

Tentative Outline for Introduction to Computer Networking (formerly Networks I) 

 

 

Panko

Minasi

Sawicki

Approx. Week

Topic

Chapters

Chap.s

Chap.s

1

Introduction, First Pass Overview, Why Network?

1

 1,2,

1

2

IP & HW Addressing, IP Subnetting, ARP

Mod. A (549-550), 2, pp. Ch.10 478-480, my PPTs

6 p.198-214

1, 2

3

Topologies, DNS, OSI protocol layers

my PPTs, p.369-370

7 p.360-377

3

3

ICMP, Initialization, DHCP

my PPTs

7

3

3, 4

 Switching, HW addressing, Routing/IOS

 pp.16-22,49-51, 213-219, Ch.10 483-490

 

2

4

Routing – Tables and Forwarding algorithm

8 pp.350-366

 

2,6

5

TEST 1 (approx.)

 

 

 

5

Routing – Routing protocols

Mod..A 544-549, my PPTs

 

6

6

NAT, Access Control Lists

pp.51-53 my  PPTs, 9

 

1,11

7

Transport/Sockets/Ports/TCP/UDP/PAT

Ch.8 376-388, my PPTs

6

Browse all Chapters

7,8

TCP Flow Control

 Mod. A 531-543, my  PPTs

 

 

8

UDP & Multimedia

my PPTs

 

4

9

TEST 2 (approx.)

 

 

 

 

--------- Spring Break (approx) -----------

 

 

 

10

 User and Group Mgmt, authentication

my PPTs

8,15

9

10

File, Print, and Directory Services

p.44,66-72,89-91 PPTs

2,9,11

4,5

11

Clients and Terminal Services

my PPTs

12,14

 

12

Mgmt (SNMP)

10

18, 20

4,12

12

SNMP, Security

10, 9, 9a,

 

7,8

13

Security

 my PPTs!!!

 

7,8,9,10,11,12

13

Applications:  HTTP/FTP/EMAIL

11

17 

3,4,5,6

13/14

TEST 3 (approx.)

 

 

 

 

---------- Thanksgiving (approx) --------

 

 

 

15

Data Transmission/Digital Data, Media

3, my PPTs, Mod. B

 

2

15, 16

Layer2/MAC/Ethernet/

Ch. 4

 

2

16

Telephony, WAN Technologies, Review

6,6a,7,7a, Mod. C

 

 

Final

2-Hour Final Exam