Devices, Applications, Protocols and Services

You have been hired as part of the networking team at UMGC.  After completing orientation and training, your manager calls you into a meeting to discuss your first project. The University is interested in creating a repository of networking knowledge based on research projects.  The research projects will be drafted by all employees, and you may select from a list of approved topics.  As a junior network engineer, you are asked to prepare a research project that best aligns with your interests.  The approved research topics include: Compare and contrast the characteristics of network topologies, types and technologies.  Summarize cloud concepts and their purposes. Explain devices, applications, protocols and services at their appropriate OSI layers. Explain the functions of network services. Explain the purposes of virtualization and network storage technologies. Compare and contrast business continuity and disaster recovery concepts. Explain common scanning, monitoring and patching processes and summarize their expected outputs. Explain authentication and access controls. Compare and contrast network policies and best practices. The research project represents a great opportunity to focus additional study towards a networking topic of your interest.  It is also an opportunity for you to gain further expertise about a particular aspect of networking fundamentals that you will be asked about in the certification exam. After speaking to your manager, you are excited about the research project, but realize you will have a busy schedule.  As you are working on the research project, you will also have to prepare for the CompTIA Network+ Certification exam.  To prepare, you will perform the activities and labs within the TestOut LabSim environment following the proposed weekly schedule.  One of the conditions of your employment at this University is that you obtain this certification within 60-days of being hired. Further details about the Network Research Project are provided below. Quality is valued over quantity, but quantity is necessary for a quality project submission.  It is estimated that 4 – 6 pages (not including the title page) would be necessary to address each Network Research Project (NRP) topic. Each Network Research Project (NRP) must have an Introduction.  The introduction should address the purpose of your project, and an overview of what you will convey to the reader.  It should summarize your research project in such a way that readers can rapidly become acquainted with the material.  Each NRP must also have a Conclusion.  The conclusion should summarize your findings in a succinct manner.  The conclusion will regurgitate key points of the research project for the reader.  The remaining format will be at your discretion.  It is suggested that you review the NRP details under each approved topic below, and outline the project accordingly.  You should maintain a consistent format throughout the entirety of the document.