CompTIA Network+ Study Guide

Exam N10-007

Todd Lammle

• Publisher: Sybex
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781119432258
• eBook ISBN: 9781119432265
• Edition: 4
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Certification Guides in Computer Science
• Index: Computer Science

To complement the CompTIA Network+ Study Guide: Exam N10-007, 4e, and the CompTIA Network+ Deluxe Study Guide: Exam N10-007, 4e, look at CompTIA Network+ Practice Tests: Exam N10-007 (9781119432128).

Todd Lammle's bestselling CompTIA Network+ Study Guide for the N10-007 exam!

CompTIA's Network+ certification tells the world you have the skills to install, configure, and troubleshoot today's basic networking hardware peripherals and protocols. First, however, you have to pass the exam! This detailed CompTIA Authorized study guide by networking guru Todd Lammle has everything you need to prepare for the CompTIA Network+ Exam N10-007.

Todd covers all exam objectives, explains key topics, offers plenty of practical examples, and draws upon his own invaluable 30 years of networking experience to help you learn. The Study Guide prepares you for Exam N10-007, the new CompTIA Network+ Exam:

• Covers all exam objectives including network technologies, network installation and configuration, network media and topologies, security, and much more
• Includes practical examples review questions, as well as access to practice exams and flashcards to reinforce learning
• Networking guru and expert author Todd Lammle offers valuable insights and tips drawn from real-world experience

Plus, receive one year of FREE access to a robust set of online interactive learning tools, including hundreds of sample practice questions, a pre-assessment test, bonus practice exams, and over 100 electronic flashcards. Prepare for the exam and enhance your career—starting now!

Chapter 1
Introduction to Networks

THE FOLLOWING COMPTIA NETWORK+ EXAM OBJECTIVES ARE COVERED IN THIS CHAPTER:

✓ 1.5 Compare and contrast the characteristics of network topologies, types, and technologies

• Wired topologies
  • Logical vs. physical
  • Star
  • Ring
  • Mesh
  • Bus CAN SAN

You’d have to work pretty hard these days to find someone who would argue when we say that our computers have become invaluable to us personally and professionally. Our society has become highly dependent on the resources they offer and on sharing them with each other. The ability to communicate with others—whether they’re in the same building or in some faraway land—completely hinges on our capacity to create and maintain solid, dependable networks.

And those vitally important networks come in all shapes and sizes—ranging from small and simple to humongous and super complicated. But whatever their flavor, they all need to be maintained properly, and to do that well, you have to understand networking basics. The various types of devices and technologies that are used to create networks, as well as how they work together, is what this book is about, and I’ll go through this critical information one step at a time with you. Understanding all of this will not only equip you with a rock-solid base to build on as you gain IT knowledge and grow in your career, it will also arm you with what you’ll need to ace the Network+ certification exam!

To find Todd Lammle CompTIA videos and practice questions, please see www.lammle.com/network+.

First Things First: What’s a Network?

The dictionary defines the word network as “a group or system of interconnected people or things.” Similarly, in the computer world, the term network means two or more connected computers that can share resources such as data and applications, office machines, an Internet connection, or some combination of these, as shown in Figure 1.1.

Figure 1.1 A basic network

Figure 1.1 shows a really basic network made up of only two host computers connected; they share resources such as files and even a printer hooked up to one of the hosts. These two hosts “talk” to each other using a computer language called binary code, which consists of lots of 1s and 0s in a specific order that describes exactly what they want to “say.”

Next, I’m going to tell you about local area networks, how they work, and even how we can connect LANs together. Then, later in this chapter, I’ll describe how to connect remote LANs together through something known as a wide area network.

The Local Area Network

Just as the name implies, a local area network (LAN) is usually restricted to spanning a particular geographic location such as an office building, a single department within a corporate office, or even a home office.

Back in the day, you couldn’t put more than 30 workstations on a LAN, and you had to cope with strict limitations on how far those machines could actually be from each other. Because of technological advances, all that’s changed now, and we’re not nearly as restricted in regard to both a LAN’s size and the distance a LAN can span. Even so, it’s still best to split a big LAN into smaller logical zones known as workgroups to make administration easier.

The meaning of the term workgroup in this context is slightly different than when the term is used in contrast to domains. In that context, a workgroup is a set of devices with no security association with one another (whereas in a domain they do have that association). In this context, we simply mean they physically are in the same network segment.

In a typical business environment, it’s a good idea to arrange your LAN’s workgroups along department divisions; for instance, you would create a workgroup for Accounting, another one for Sales, and maybe another for Marketing—you get the idea. Figure 1.2 shows two separate LANs, each as its own workgroup.

Figure 1.2 Two separate LANs (workgroups)

First, don’t stress about the devices labeled hub and switch—these are just connectivity devices that allow hosts to physically connect to resources on an LAN. Trust me; I’ll describe them to you in much more detail in Chapter 5, “Networking Devices.”

Anyway, back to the figure. Notice that there’s a Marketing workgroup and a Sales workgroup. These are LANs in their most basic form. Any device that connects to the Marketing LAN can access the resources of the Marketing LAN—in this case, the servers and printer.

There are two problems with this:

• You must be physically connected to a workgroup’s LAN to get the resources from it.
• You can’t get from one LAN to the other LAN and use its server data and printing resources remotely.

This is a typical network issue that’s easily resolved by using a cool device ca...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title page
• Copyright
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Introduction to Networks
• Chapter 2: The Open Systems Interconnection Specifications
• Chapter 3: Networking Topologies, Connectors, and Wiring Standards
• Chapter 4: The Current Ethernet Specifications
• Chapter 5: Networking Devices
• Chapter 6: Introduction to the Internet Protocol
• Chapter 7: IP Addressing
• Chapter 8: IP Subnetting, Troubleshooting IP, and Introduction to NAT
• Chapter 9: Introduction to IP Routing
• Chapter 10: Routing Protocols
• Chapter 11: Switching and Virtual LANs
• Chapter 12: Wireless Networking
• Chapter 13: Authentication and Access Control
• Chapter 14: Network Threats and Mitigation
• Chapter 15: Physical Security and Risk
• Chapter 16: Wide Area Networks
• Chapter 17: Troubleshooting Tools
• Chapter 18: Software and Hardware Tools
• Chapter 19: Network Troubleshooting
• Chapter 20: Management, Monitoring, and Optimization
• Appendix A: Answers to Written Labs
• Appendix B: Answers to Review Questions
• Appendix C: Subnetting Class A
• Index
• EULA