Networking Reflective Journal Week 2

This week in networking we mainly covered network protocols; see below for topics covered:

Protocols

Protocols are predefined manners or sets of rules by which functions or services are performed.

The four main protocols are;
TCP/IPIPX/SPX/NETBIOS AND APPLETALK

NetBEUI;
network basic input output system.

Protocols commonly used

http - hypertext transfer protocol - file transer on the web

tcp/ip - transmission control protocol/internet protocol- the suite of communications protocols used to connect hosts on the Internet.

FTP - file transfer protocol - the protocol for exchanging files over the Internet. FTP works in the same way as HTTP for transferring Web pages from a server to a user's browser and SMTP for transferring electronic mail across the Internet in that, like these technologies, FTP uses the Internet's TCP/IP protocols to enable data transfer.FTP is most commonly used to download a file from a server using the Internet or to upload a file to a server (e.g., uploading a Web page file to a server).

POP - post office protocol - a protocol used to retrieve e-mail from a mail server. Most e-mail applications (sometimes called an e-mail client) use the POP protocol, although some can use the newer IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol).

UDP - user datagram protocol - Fills a critical niche in the TCP/IP protocol suite, allowing many applications to work at their best when using TCP would be less than ideal. UDP is an unreliable, connectionless protocol. It does not check for errors, or even to see if the transmitted data was received. However, because it does not provide these services, it has lower overhead and is thus faster than TCP. UDP will provide better throughput on a reliable network.
Others are;

DHCP
IPXSPX
SMTP
IMAP
SSH
HTTPS

Although some of this "went a little over my head", I found the lesson gave me a good initial overview of network protocols. I now feel confident that I will be able to really grasp the fundamentals necessary to become a proficient network adminstrator or engineer.

The second half of the lecture was dedicated to successfully installing Windows Server 2000 and then restoring data to the computer used for the install. obviously, being able to install server software is a vital part of the networking process.

Reflective Journal Week 1

This was the first lesson of the second semester and the start of "Network Installation" with Steven. I found this to be a very informative lecture with a refreshing interactive approach to teaching methods.
The main topics covered were the different layers of the OSI Model.

The levels are as follows and work in either order, depending on whether the user is the sender or receiver of data flow.

Application

Presentation

Session

Transport

Network

Data Link

Physical

We also covered general networking revision including a basic definition of networking and what networks are used for.

A network is bundle of computers and devices connected to each other (nodes).

Some uses for computer networks are as follows.

Security.
Sharing of data.
Communication.
Sharing of peripherals.
Space saving.
Back-ups.
Easy installation of applications to multiple devices.