Network Basics Companion Guide is the official supplemental textbook for the Network Basics course in the Cisco® Networking Academy® CCNA® Routing and Switching curriculum.

Using a top-down OSI model approach, the course introduces the architecture, structure, functions, components, and models of the Internet and computer networks. The principles of IP addressing and fundamentals of Ethernet concepts, media, and operations are introduced to provide a foundation for the curriculum. By the end of the course, you will be able to build simple LANs, perform basic configurations for  routers and switches, and implement IP addressing schemes.

The Companion Guide is designed as a portable desk reference to use anytime, anywhere to reinforce the material from the course and organize your time.

The book’s features help you focus on important concepts to succeed in this course:

Chapter Objectives—Review core concepts by answering the focus questions listed at the beginning of each chapter.

Key Terms—Refer to the lists of networking vocabulary introduced and highlighted in context in each chapter.

Glossary—Consult the comprehensive Glossary with more than 250 terms.

Summary of Activities and Labs—Maximize your study time with this complete list of all associated practice exercises at the end of each chapter.

Check Your Understanding—Evaluate your readiness with the end-ofchapter questions that match the style of questions you see in the online course quizzes. The answer key explains each answer.

How To—Look for this icon to study the steps you need to learn to performcertain tasks.

Interactive Activities—Reinforce your understanding of topics with more than 50 different exercises from the online course identified throughout the book with this icon.

Videos—Watch the videos embedded within the online course.

Packet Tracer Activities—Explore and visualize networking concepts using Packet Tracer exercises interspersed throughout the chapters.

Hands-on Labs—Work through all 68 course labs and Class Activities that are included in the course and published in the separate Lab Manual.

Antoon (Tony) W. Rufi is Campus Director of Academic Affairs, ECPI University, Newport News, Virginia. Tony is a networking professional who retired from the U.S. Air Force in June 2000 after 29 years. He worked on communication systems. Since retirement, Tony has worked for ECPI University teaching a variety of networking courses. The courses he has led include CCNA, CCNP, and Fundamentals of Network Security in the Cisco Academy at ECPI University, as well as numerous courses in the university’s Cloud Computing program. Tony is a PhD candidate, Applied Management and Decision Science, with an Information Systems Management specialty at Walden University.

Rick McDonald is an Associate Professor in the Information Systems department at the University of Alaska Southeast, in Ketchikan, Alaska, where he teaches computer and networking courses. He specializes in developing and delivering networking courses via e-learning. Rick worked in the airline industry for several years before returning to full-time teaching. He taught CCNA and CCNP courses in North Carolina before moving to Alaska in 2003.

Chapter 1 Exploring the Network

Chapter 2 Configuring a Network Operating System

Chapter 3 Network Protocols and Communications

Chapter 4 Application Layer

Chapter 5 Transport Layer

Chapter 6 Network Layer

Chapter 7 IP Addressing

Chapter 8 Subnetting IP Networks

Chapter 9 Network Access

Chapter 10 Ethernet

Chapter 11 It’s a Network