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Lecture #26 - Revision

What's Been Covered?

Throughout the semester we have covered topics which primarily relate to IP routing, although we have also looked at some advanced networking topics. In summary we have covered the following areas:

  • Internet structure and network topology.
  • Routing basics and router configuration.
  • Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR).
  • IP address allocation, subnetting and summarisation.
  • Access lists, distribution lists and packet filtering.
  • Static routing.
  • Dynamic routing protocols, path determination, metrics.
  • Interior routing - RIP, IGRP, EIGRP and OSPF.
  • Exterior routing - BGPv4.
  • Route redistribution.
  • Congestion control.
  • The nature of Internet traffic.
  • Quality of Service (QoS).
  • Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6).
  • Virtual LANs (VLANs).
  • Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and firewalls.
  • Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS).
  • Multicasting.
  • Router Management.

About the Exam

The exam is currently scheduled for the 22nd June 2009 at 9am and is to be held at the Osborne Hall - please confirm the exam time and venue with the examination timetable closer to the date. The exam is worth 60% of your overall mark in this subject.

The exam consists of six (6) equally weighted questions, all of which add up to 120 marks - you should attempt all of them! The question topics are as follows:

  1. Routing Basics - network topology, IP addressing, subnetting, routing principles, router configuration, etc.
  2. Interior Routing (RIP) - RIPv1/RIPv2, distance vector routing, authentication, RIP configuration, multicast addressing, etc.
  3. Interior Routing (OSPF) - OSPFv2, link state routing, OSPF concepts/design, Dijkstra's SPF algorithm, route redistribution, etc.
  4. Exterior Routing - BGPv4, path vector routing, BGP configuration, route summarisation, etc
  5. Traffic Engineering - Internet traffic characteristics, QoS, congestion control, VLAN, MPLS, VPN, multicasting, etc.
  6. Cisco Access Controls - access lists, distribution lists, packet filtering, etc.

You will be asked to provide example configuration entries and/or changes, as you would issue at an IOS prompt. A summarised list of the more useful Cisco IOS commands provided as an appendix to the exam.

What's not on the Exam!

There are a number of topics that are not examinable and are therefore not on the exam. These include:

Pretty much everything else that has been covered in lectures is examinable and is or maybe included on the examination.

Studying for the Exam

Studying for the exam should be fairly straight forward:

  • Revise your laboratory work - make sure you understand what you did!
  • Go back over all of the lecture notes.
  • Have a look at past exams - the 2008 exam is in the same format to this year's exam and contains similar content. Ensure that you can answer all of the questions it contains! It is worth having a look over older exams, although they include some material that we either haven't covered and/or won't be examining.

Where to From Here?

If you're seriously interested in pursuing a career as a network engineering, network administrator or in the internetworking field, you might like consider doing some of the following:

  • Setup your own network laboratory at home - there are plenty of cheap secondhand routers available on eBay (look for 2500 series, 2600 series or 1700 series). You'll most likely want something that has multiple Ethernet ports. Otherwise get some entry level PCs, add some network cards and install OpenBSD.
  • Have a play with some VLAN configurations. You can do this either on Cisco routers, OpenBSD routers or Cisco switches.
  • Get yourself familiar with IPv6 - setup IPv6 on your home network, maybe even get a tunnel setup via the AARNet broker service. If IPv6 deployment proceeds over the next couple of years, people with IPv6 knowledge and skills will be highly sort after!
  • If you want to work with Cisco gear you may want to consider undertaking an industry qualification such as the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) and Cisco Certified Network Engineer (CCNE). Some places won't employ you without this extra piece of paper.