Chapter 1, The OSI Reference Model and the TCP/IP Stack, covers both the OSI reference model and TCP/IP stack, and the purpose of network port numbers, protocols, and network design (topologies). Furthermore, the reader will be introduced to IP addressing and subnetting, the fundamentals of routing and switching concepts, and cloud technologies.
Chapter 2, Network Ports, Protocols, and Topologies, discusses the importance of network ports on a system and the different protocols that are used in networks. The reader will also learn about network design using diagrams that are known as network topologies.
Chapter 3, Ethernet, explains the fundamentals of Ethernet and its importance on a network. This chapter also covers the sub-layers of Ethernet and how each sub-layer interacts with other components and protocols on the network.
Chapter 4, Understanding IPv4 and IPv6, delves into the different classes of IP addressing and their assignments. The second half of this chapter will teach the reader how to break down an IP address block into smaller subnetworks for better efficiency.
Chapter 5, Routing and Switching Concepts, covers the properties of network traffic, segmentation, network performance concepts, how traffic is routed between networks, and how switching works.
Chapter 6, Wireless and Cloud Technologies, explains the fundamentals of wireless technologies and configurations. The second half of this chapter will discuss cloud technologies and their uses.
Chapter 7, Network Components, describes the different types of wired media and their connectors and determines the appropriate placement of networking devices on a network.
Chapter 8, Network Virtualization and WAN Technologies, helps the reader to understand how virtualization technologies can be used in a network infrastructure and its benefits, while exploring network storage technologies and wide-area network technologies and concepts.
Chapter 9, Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Concepts, focuses on network uptime and ensuring a high availability of network resources. It provides an insight into business continuity and disaster recovery concepts, ensuring that proper network documentation and topology diagrams are available and secured. Concluding this chapter, the reader will be able to use appropriate tools to scan and monitor a network to prevent and mitigate security risks.
Chapter 10, Network Identity Management and Policies, discusses how access works on a network and introduces methods for ensuring that it is secure for users and organizations. We will then dive into discussing identity management, policies, and best practices.
Chapter 11, Network Security Concepts, focuses primarily on understanding the different types of cybersecurity threats and network attacks, securing a wireless and wired network infrastructure using best practices and mitigation techniques.
Chapter 12, TCP/IP Security, focuses on the vulnerabilities in the TCP/IP design and how an attacker can take advantage of weaknesses in the layers of the TCP/IP stack to leverage an attack and exploit these vulnerabilities further. The reader will learn how to adopt best practices and apply security to the TCP/IP stack.
Chapter 13, Organizational Security, covers a number of aspects of organizational security, providing the reader with information on physical security concepts, such as the purpose of physical devices and access control methods and concepts. This is important when it comes to helping to restrict unauthorized access to the physical network infrastructure and its components.
Chapter 14, Troubleshooting a Network, teaches the reader how to troubleshoot using a systematic approach involving a variety of methods, using the appropriate network security tools to identify and mitigate various network security threats, and troubleshooting both a wired and wireless network infrastructure and network services.