Network management training teaches administrators about hardware, software, IP address distribution, and troubleshooting. Students learn about basic networking equipment, IP address systems, and how to distribute IP addresses. Troubleshooting involves using diagnostic tools to identify network issues and security vulnerabilities.
Computer networks have become increasingly important to modern business operations. From simple email communications to storing files on a company’s servers, companies need reliable and secure networks. Network administrators who manage these systems undergo network management training that usually involves learning about the physical hardware that builds networks, the software required for IP address distribution, and methods for securing and troubleshooting networks.
Students in network management training programs often start by learning about basic networking equipment. This can include the modem that establishes an Internet connection and the routers that distribute the signal to multiple machines. Routers not only share an Internet connection between different computers, but also connect the connected machines to a local area network (LAN). Creating a network with a small number of computers can be accomplished with a single router, but larger networks require network administrators to use network switches to connect many computers to a router.
Computers access machines, either on the local network or the greater Internet, using an IP address system. Each address is a unique number for a specific machine on the network. These numbers allow any machine to request data from another machine on the LAN. Network management training involves lessons on how a local network has multiple IP addresses for machines directly connected to it, while the entire network is only visible to the Internet through a single IP address. Network management students will learn to recognize the difference between IP addresses on a LAN and IP addresses for machines outside the network.
Network management training often requires students to learn how IP addresses are distributed, both across Internet-facing servers and local area networks. Internet servers have unique IP addresses, but they are usually linked to domain names that are easier for users to remember, such as wiseGEEK.com. On local area networks, these IP addresses are assigned either manually by a network administrator or automatically with Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) software. This software takes the form of a server program on network routers and a client program on individual machines. The client and server software work together to ensure that every machine on the local network has a unique IP address, which can save a network administrator a lot of work.
Any network administrator needs to know how to troubleshoot problems with the network itself. This involves learning how to use a variety of network diagnostic tools to discover the two parts of the network that are not working, as well as security vulnerabilities. This includes programs to check whether individual machines or network components respond to network connections, and applications that can map the path that data requests travel on a given network. With this component of network management training, administrators can often isolate the location and cause of problems to correct them.
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