Networking

The fourth module in this course was networking, or at least a brief introduction into it...the learning objectives were as follows:

• To recognise the positive and negative impacts of the Internet such as privacy & security
• To understand the basics of computer networking
• To understand the basics of how data travels across the Internet

To begin with I learnt the basics of networking, including that the Internet is just a giant network of interconnected client or server computers. I learnt that data is sent in packets and that both an IP address and MAC address are required to enable the transfer of data.

I was introduced to networking hardware, learning that computers connect to a router using either ethernet, fibre optic or WiFi and that a router is used to connect different devices together & route traffic. It routes traffic by making use of network protocols such as TCP/IP which are responsible for delivering packets and ensuring they are delivered reliably. I also learnt how the Web utilises DNS - an internet protocol that uses domain names to map to specific IP addresses.

I then explored some history of the Internet, from the first computer to the creation of the World Wide Web, and the impact it has had in enabling globalisation. I also learnt the Internet is continuously evolving in smarter ways as can be seen with the Internet of Things, however with this comes concerns surrounding privacy and security as cyberattacks continue to become more sophisticated.

I found this module quite engaging with regards to learning the basic principles of networks and how they function although it was not as in depth as I was expecting...I guess that's because it's just a set up for the next course in my certification - the bits and bytes of networking! I'm looking forward to this entire course as I feel this is where my knowledge will really start to grow!!

Dave