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Domain 1: Network Technologies

In the 2005 version of the Network+ certification exam, the objectives started out with Media and Topologies, a look at network topologies, 802.2, cable standards, cable connectors, cable media, network components, and wireless. The 2008 objectives will move much of that material to the second domain and instead focus the first domain on the underlying networking technology such as common networking protocols, IP addressing, routing, and wireless.

This reorganization of material focuses more attention on having the candidate understand underlying networking principles which we believe will make for better certified individuals.

As we mentioned in the introduction, the final objectives for the Network+ 2008 certification exam have not been set in stone, so we are going to make some educated assumptions in each domain as to what CompTIA will cover based on what we know about their networking exams. Learnthat.com is not affiliated with CompTIA and this material is produced independently of CompTIA.

In this section, we are going to specifically look at:

1.       Common networking protocols, e.g. TCP, FTP, UDP, TCP/IP, DHCP, TFTP, DNS, HTTP, HTTPS, ARP, SIP (VoIP), RTP (VoIP), SSH, POP3, IMAP, etc.

2.       Identifying IP and MAC Addressing Formats

3.       Addressing Technologies: subnetting, classful vs classless, NAT, PAT, SNAT, public vs private, DHCP

4.       Addressing Schemes: unicast, multicast, broadcast

5.       Common IPv4 and IPv6 Routing Protocols

6.       Routing and Routing Tables

7.       Wireless Communication Standards

In the sections after this, we will build on this foundational networking knowledge so you can fully understand the concepts necessary to pass either the Network+ 2005 or the Network+ 2008 exam.