Chapter 1

Network Administration Definition

Network administration aims to manage, monitor, maintain, secure, and service an organization’s
network. However, the specific tasks and procedures may vary depending on the size and type of
an organization.

Network administration consist of the following:-

Network administration primarily consists of, but isn’t limited to, network monitoring, network
management, and maintaining network quality and security.

Network monitoring is essential to monitor unusual traffic patterns, the health of the network
infrastructure, and devices connected to the network. It helps detect abnormal activity, network
issues, or excessive bandwidth consumption early on and take preventative and remedial actions
to uphold the network quality and security.

Network management encompasses multiple administrative functions, including network

planning, implementation, and configuration. It involves:

 Re-planning the network based on changing organizational requirements

 Implementing the network for maximum efficiency
 Configuring various networking and security protocols
 Applying security patches and updating the firmware of the networking infrastructure,
such as routers, hubs, switches, and firewalls
 Assessing the network for weaknesses
 Evaluating quality and capacity to increase or decrease network capacity and manage
resource wastage

Network security employs various techniques to ensure a network is secure. For example, it
uses multiple tools such as firewalls, intrusion detection or prevention systems, and anti-malware
software to prevent or detect malicious activity in the network.

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 Network administration goals
Network administration aims to ensure a reliable, secure network conducive to business
operations.

Generally, network administration goals include:

 Maintain a resilient, high-quality network

 Plan and improve network capacity to enable seamless network access and operations
 Leverage networking tools for network systems administration and better network
Administration control
 Track and document relevant changes
 Evaluate possible risks and orchestrate effective mitigations
 Prevent activities compromising or using the network as an attack vector
 Identify and mitigate intrusions to avoid security breaches

Network administration key areas

Networks administration consists of 5 key areas:

1. Fault management: Monitors the network infrastructure to identify and address issues
potentially affecting the network. It uses standard protocols such as Simple Network
Management Protocol (SNMP) to monitor network infrastructure.
2. Configuration management: Tracks configuration and related changes of network components,
including switches, firewalls, hubs, and routers. As unplanned changes can affect the network
drastically and potentially cause downtime, it’s essential to streamline, track, and manage
configuration changes.
3. Account management: Tracks network utilization to bill and estimate the usage of various
departments of an organization. In smaller organizations, billing may be irrelevant. However,
monitoring utilization helps spot specific trends and inefficiencies.
4. Performance management: Focuses on maintaining service levels needed for efficient
operations. It collects various metrics and analytical data to continually assess network
performance, including response times, packet loss, and link utilization.

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5. Security management: Aims to ensure only authorized activity and authenticated devices and
users can access the network. It employs several disciplines such as threat management, intrusion
detection, and firewall management. It also collects and analyzes relevant network information to
detect and block malicious or suspicious activity.

Roles of Network administrator .

A network administrator typically manages an organization’s network and is responsible for:

 Installing, monitoring, troubleshooting, and upgrading network infrastructure, including

both hardware and software components
 monitoring network activity
 implementing optimization techniques to improve network efficiency and utilization
 managing and granting network access to users and endpoint devices

 In smaller organizations, the responsibilities of a network administrator also include:

 distributing software upgrades efficiently using tools such as Windows Server Update
Services (WSUS)
 planning and executing routine backups
 managing and distributing licenses and maintaining compliance with licensing
agreements
 installing new software applications and hardware appliances

There is a wide range of professional IT software on the market that helps network
administrators in their daily tasks. One of the most widely used software are remote access and
management tools which allows network administrators to control computers remotely. It is a
useful tool for network administrators in small companies because it can help them to provide
remote support to users, manage user accounts and monitor network activity.

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Qualities of Network Administrator
Network administrators must have a wide range of skills to be successful. In addition to being
patient and having excellent technical skills, they must also be good problem solvers and have
strong interpersonal skills. They must also be enthusiastic about learning new things and be
able to work well in a team. Finally, attention to detail is also important.
1. Patience
One of the most important skills for a network administrator is patience. With the constantly
changing technology landscape, it is important to be able to stay calm and collected when
things go wrong. When troubleshooting network issues, it is important to be able to take a step
back and methodically go through each possibility until the issue is resolved. It can be a
frustrating process, but it is important to maintain a sense of calm to resolve the issue as
quickly as possible.
2. IT and technical skills
Of course, technical skills are a must for any network administrator. With the ever-changing
landscape of technology, it is important to be able to keep up with the latest trends and
developments. It means being able to quickly learn new software and hardware, as well as
being able to troubleshoot issues that may arise.
3. Problem-solving skills
Another important skill for network administrators is the ability to solve problems. When
something goes wrong with a network, it is important to be able to identify the problem and
find a solution quickly. It often requires being able to think outside the box and come up with
creative solutions. Problem-solving skills can be developed by working on puzzles and
brainteasers, as well as taking on challenging projects.
4. Interpersonal skills
Interpersonal skills are also important for network administrators. With the ever-growing
trend of remote work, it is important to be able to communicate effectively with team
members who may be located in different parts of the world. It includes being able to use
different communication tools, as well as being able to resolve conflict. Interpersonal skills
can be developed by taking communication courses as well as practicing active listening.
5. Enthusiasm

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Another important skill for network administrators is enthusiasm. With the constantly
changing landscape of technology, it is important to be excited about learning new things.
This enthusiasm will not only make it easier to learn new technologies, but it will also make it
more fun. Enthusiasm can be developed by setting goals and taking on challenges.

6. Team working skills

Team working skills are also important for network administrators. With the ever-growing
trend of remote work, it is important to be able to effectively work with team members who
may be located in different parts of the world. This includes being able to use different
collaboration tools, as well as being able to resolve conflict. Teamworking skills can be
developed by taking teamwork courses, as well as practicing active listening.
7. Initiative
Another important skill for network administrators is initiative. With the constantly changing
landscape of technology, it is important to be able to take the initiative in learning new things.
This means being proactive in seeking out new technologies and being willing to experiment
with new solutions. The initiative can be developed by setting goals and taking on challenges.
8. Attention to detail
Finally, attention to detail is an important skill for network administrators. Attention to detail
can be developed by taking communication courses as well as practicing active listening.

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 Chapter 2

Network Security Threats

Network security threats have become very common and widespread. Most companies are
vulnerable to these threats and it is not a matter of if they will be impacted by it, but rather when
they will be impacted.
According to Global Application and Network Security Report 2018-19, the average cost of
cleaning up a cyber attack was estimated to be $1.1 million.

Types of Network Security Threats

Network threats and attacks can take many different forms. The most common types of network
security threats are as follows:
Denial of Service (DoS) Attacks
Denial of Service attacks is a series of attacks in which the hackers try to misuse the legitimate
services. Hackers can use DoS attacks to ensure that the users or organization cannot access the
services of a resource which they would normally expect to use. DoS attacks are quite common
and consist of a significant proportion of entire network attacks globally. The most common and
standard method employed by the hackers for attempting a DoS attack is to simply overload the
resources with a large number of illegitimate requests for service which can make the system
crash.
Instinctive Force Attacks
Instinctive force attack is a powerful way of gaining access to a network. In this method of
network attack, hackers try to breach the network security by using a trial and error method to
guess the system’s password. The attack software uses all possible combinations to figure out the
password for a computer or network server. This method does not employ any innovative way to
crack the password.

Identity Spoofing
Identity spoofing is also commonly known as IP address forgery. The hackers obtain access to
user’s IP address and makes necessary changes to the packet headers which makes the regular
host appear to be the source. Hackers can also make use of specially designed programs which

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can construct IP packets that appear to originate from valid addresses within the company
intranet.
SSL/TSL Attacks
Transport Layer Security (TSL) is a mechanism which ensures safety and integrity of data being
transmitted between the server and the client. It provides strong authentication for both the
parties. The purpose of an SSL/TSL attack is to spy on and intercept the sensitive data exchange
which takes place between the server and client. The attackers are able to gain access to the
sensitive data and unencrypted information. SSL/TSL attacks are common forms of network
threats and account for nearly 6% of all the analyzed network attacks.
Phishing Attacks
Phishing attacks have become quite common in the recent times. Hackers or unscrupulous
elements create fake email address or websites which appear as the authentic address or website
to the end user. The hacker sends emails by using the name of the business which is perceived as
authentic communication by the recipient. The recipients are urged to click on malicious links
which leads them to fake and potentially dangerous websites. The hackers can easily obtain the
login and other sensitive information of the end users on their websites and use this data for their
advantage.

Features of a Good Network Solution

Network solutions provide protection to your networks from different types of potential attacks
and threats. Some of the key features of a good network solution are as follows:

Identify and Detect Threats

Network threats can manifest in the form of targeted attacks and can be designed to circumvent
the technologies and solutions which are in place for identifying and blocking them. once these
malicious elements are inside your network, you will need to develop a clear understanding of
the individual attack components to address them. It is always beneficial to identify and detect
the potential threats earlier which helps you to prevent the attack. A good network solution does
the same and provides you better protection.

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Monitor and Respond Continuously
Network threats and attacks have become inevitable. It is highly likely that organizations will
face network threats at some point in time. It is important for a good network solution to identify
the potential threats and limit their impact on the business. in order to counter network threats,
network solutions should be proactive and respond quickly and continuously once the network
threat and security incident has been identified.
Prevent Attacks
Hackers are getting smarter by the day. They are evolving fast and the malware being planted by
them keeps on changing its source code dynamically. This makes them difficult to detect and
counter against effectively. An ideal network solution should take note of this ever-evolving
source code of malware and should have an adaptive architecture which keeps evolves
dynamically with the changing environment. This ensures that the network solution is providing
you protection against dynamic malware and similar threats.
Network Integration
There are different network solutions available in the market with different features and due to
the complexities of network threats, one solution may not be sufficient. A flexible and good
network solution should offer excellent compatibility and integration with other security tools
from different vendors. This ensures that all the different network solutions and tools used by
you, integrate together and work as a single protection system providing you robust protection
from potential attacks and intrusions on your networks.

Cyber security protects data which we save on the internet. This data could be our online
banking information, medical or financial information, even our private photographs.
However, cyber security is not always easy to implement. There are many challenges that come
with access to the internet

How do I benefit from network security?

Digitization has transformed our world. How we live, work, play, and learn have all changed.
Every organization that wants to deliver the services that customers and employees demand must
protect its network. Network security also helps you protect proprietary information from attack.
Ultimately it protects your reputation.

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 What Is Network Security?

Network security is any activity designed to protect the usability and integrity of your network
and data.
 It includes both hardware and software technologies
 It targets a variety of threats
 It stops them from entering or spreading on your network
 Effective network security manages access to the network

Types of network security

Firewalls
Firewalls put up a barrier between your trusted internal network and un trusted outside networks,
such as the Internet. They use a set of defined rules to allow or block traffic. A firewall can be
hardware, software, or both. Cisco offers unified threat management (UTM) devices and threat-
focused firewalls.

Email security
Email gateways are the number one threat vector for a security breach. Attackers use personal
information and social engineering tactics to build sophisticated phishing campaigns to deceive
recipients and send them to sites serving up malware. An email security application blocks
incoming attacks and controls outbound messages to prevent the loss of sensitive data.

Anti-virus and anti-malware software

"Malware," short for "malicious software," includes viruses, worms, Trojans, ransom ware, and
spyware. Sometimes malware will infect a network but lie dormant for days or even weeks.
The best anti malware programs not only scan for malware upon entry, but also continuously
track files afterward to find anomalies, remove malware, and fix damage.

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Network segmentation
Software-defined segmentation puts network traffic into different classifications and
makes enforcing security policies easier. Ideally, the classifications are based on endpoint
identity, not mere IP addresses. You can assign access rights based on role, location, and more so
that the right level of access is given to the right people and suspicious devices are contained and
remediated.

Access control
Not every user should have access to your network. To keep out potential attackers, you need to
recognize each user and each device. Then you can enforce your security policies. You can block
noncompliant endpoint devices or give them only limited access. This process is network access
control (NAC).

Application security
Any software you use to run your business needs to be protected, whether your IT staff builds it
or whether you buy it. Unfortunately, any application may contain holes, or vulnerabilities, that
attackers can use to infiltrate your network. Application security encompasses the hardware,
software, and processes you use to close those holes.

Behavioral analytics
To detect abnormal network behavior, you must know what normal behavior looks like.
Behavioral analytics tools automatically discern activities that deviate from the norm. Your
security team can then better identify indicators of compromise that pose a potential problem and
quickly remediate threats.

Cloud security
Cloud security is a broad set of technologies, policies, and applications applied to defend online
IP, services, applications, and other imperative data. It helps you better manage your security by
shielding users against threats anywhere they access the Internet and securing your data and
applications in the cloud.

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Data loss prevention
Organizations must make sure that their staff does not send sensitive information outside the
network. Data loss prevention, or DLP, technologies can stop people from uploading,
forwarding, or even printing critical information in an unsafe manner.

Intrusion prevention systems

An intrusion prevention system (IPS) scans network traffic to actively block attacks. Secure
IPS appliances do this by correlating huge amounts of global threat intelligence to not only block
malicious activity but also track the progression of suspect files and malware across the network
to prevent the spread of outbreaks and re infection.

Mobile device security

Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting mobile devices and apps. Within the next 3 years, 90
percent of IT organizations may support corporate applications on personal mobile devices. Of
course, you need to control which devices can access your network. You will also need to
configure their connections to keep network traffic private.

Security information and event management

SIEM products pull together the information that your security staff needs to identify and
respond to threats. These products come in various forms, including physical and virtual
appliances and server software.

VPN
A virtual private network encrypts the connection from an endpoint to a network, often over the
Internet. Typically, a remote-access VPN uses IPsec or Secure Sockets Layer to authenticate the
communication between device and network.

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Web security
A web security solution will control your staff’s web use, block web-based threats, and deny
access to malicious websites. It will protect your web gateway on site or in the cloud. "Web
security" also refers to the steps you take to protect your own website.

Wireless security
Wireless networks are not as secure as wired ones. Without stringent security measures,
installing a wireless LAN can be like putting Ethernet ports everywhere, including the parking
lot. To prevent an exploit from taking hold, you need products specifically designed to protect a
wireless network.
We live in an age of information. Businesses these days are more digitally advanced than ever,
and as technology improves, organizations’ security postures must be enhanced as well. Now,
with many devices communicating with each other over wired, wireless, or cellular networks,
network security is an important concept. In this article, we will explore what is network security
and its key features.

What are the different types of Network Security?

 Access Control
 Application Security
 Firewalls
 Virtual Private Networks(VPN)
 Behavioral Analytics
 Wireless Security
 Intrusion Prevention System

Chapter 3
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Network Troubleshooting Techniques
If you’ve just started working in IT at a company, it’s only a matter of time before a network
problem comes up and everyone’s calling you to solve it. The longer it takes to identify the issue,
the more emails you’ll get from staff or clients, asking you why the problem isn’t solved yet.
How to Troubleshoot a Network.
Issues can arise at numerous points along the network.
Before you start trying to troubleshoot any issue, you want to have a clear understanding of what
the problem is, how it came up, who it’s affecting, and how long it’s been going on. By gathering
the right information and clarifying the problem, you’ll have a much better chance of resolving
the issue quickly, without wasting time trying unnecessary fixes.
I always start troubleshooting using these simple network troubleshooting steps to help diagnose
and refine the issue.
1. Check the hardware. When you’re beginning the troubleshooting process, check all
your hardware to make sure it’s connected properly, turned on, and working. If a cord has
come loose or somebody has switched off an important router, this could be the problem
behind your networking issues. There’s no point in going through the process of
troubleshooting network issues if all you need to do is plug a cord in. Make sure all
switches are in the correct positions and haven’t been bumped accidentally.
Next, turn the hardware off and back on again. This is the mainstay of IT troubleshooting,
and while it might sound simplistic, often it really does solve the problem. Power cycling
your modem, router, and PC can solve simple issues—just be sure to leave each device
off for at least 60 seconds before you turn it back on.
2. Use ipconfig. Open the command prompt and type “ipconfig” (without the quotes) into
the terminal. The Default Gateway (listed last) is your router’s IP. Your computer’s IP
address is the number next to “IP Address.” If your computer’s IP address starts with
169, the computer is not receiving a valid IP address. If it starts with anything other than
169, your computer is being allocated a valid IP address from your router.
Try typing in “ipconfig /release” followed by “ipconfig /renew” to get rid of your current
IP address and request a new one. This will in some cases solve the problem. If you still

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 can’t get a valid IP from your router, try plugging your computer straight into the modem
using an ethernet cable. If it works, the problem lies with the router.
3. Use ping and tracert. If your router is working fine, and you have an IP address starting
with something other than 192, the problem’s most likely located between your router
and the internet. At this point, it’s time to use the ping tool. Try sending a ping to a well-
known, large server, such as Google, to see if it can connect with your router. You can
ping Google DNS servers by opening the command prompt and typing “ping 8.8.8.8”;
you can also add “-t” to the end (ping 8.8.8.8 -t) to get it to keep pinging the servers while
you troubleshoot. If the pings fail to send, the command prompt will return basic
information about the issue.
You can use the tracert command to do the same thing, by typing “tracert 8.8.8.8”; this
will show you each step, or “hop,” between your router and the Google DNS servers.
You can see where along the pathway the error is arising. If the error comes up early
along the pathway, the issue is more likely somewhere in your local network.
4. Perform a DNS check. Use the command “nslookup” to determine whether there’s a
problem with the server you’re trying to connect to. If you perform a DNS check on, for
example, google.com and receive results such as “Timed Out,” “Server Failure,”
“Refused,” “No Response from Server,” or “Network Is Unreachable,” it may indicate
the problem originates in the DNS server for your destination. (You can also use
nslookup to check your own DNS server.)
5. Contact the ISP. If all of the above turn up no problems, try contacting your internet
service provider to see if they’re having issues. You can also look up outage maps and
related information on a smartphone to see if others in your area are having the same
problem.
6. Check on virus and malware protection. Next, make sure your virus and malware tools
are running correctly, and they haven’t flagged anything that could be affecting part of
your network and stopping it from functioning.
7. Review database logs. Review all your database logs to make sure the databases are
functioning as expected. If your network is working but your database is full or
malfunctioning, it could be causing problems that flow on and affect your network
performance.

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Network Troubleshooting Best Practices
To make troubleshooting as efficient and painless as possible, it’s also important to have some
best practices in place. As you work through the steps to try to solve network issues, following
these network troubleshooting best practices can help streamline the process and avoid
unnecessary or redundant efforts.

1. Collect information. To best support your end users, you first need to make sure you’re
clear on what the problem is. Collect enough information from both the people who are
experiencing network issues and the network itself, so you can replicate or diagnose the
problem. Take care not to mistake symptoms for the root cause, as what initially looks
like the problem could be part of a larger issue.
2. Customize logs. Make sure your event and security logs are customized to provide you
with information to support your troubleshooting efforts. Each log should have a clear
description of which items or events are being logged, the date and time, and information
on the source of the log (MAC or IP address).
3. Check access and security. Ensure no access or security issues have come up by
checking all access permissions are as they should be, and nobody has accidentally
altered a sensitive part of the network they weren’t supposed to be able to touch. Check
all firewalls, antivirus software, and malware software to ensure they’re working
correctly, and no security issues are affecting your users’ ability to work.
4. Follow an escalation framework. There’s nothing worse than going to the IT help desk
and being directed to another person, who then directs you to another person, who directs
you to yet another. Have a clear escalation framework of who is responsible for which
issues, including the final person in the chain who can be approached for resolution. All
your end users should know who they can go to about a given issue, so time isn’t wasted
talking to five different people who cannot fix the problem.
5. Use monitoring tools. Troubleshooting can be done manually but can become time-
consuming if you go through each step. When you have a bunch of people knocking on
your office door or sending you frantic emails, it can be overwhelming to try to find the
problem, let alone fix it. In business and enterprise situations, it’s best to use monitoring
tools to make sure you’re getting all the relevant network information and aren’t missing
anything vital, not to mention avoiding exposing the company to unnecessary risk.

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My preferred monitoring software is SolarWinds® Network Performance Monitor (NPM). It’s a
well-designed tool with features to support network troubleshooting issues in an efficient and
thorough way. It allows you to clearly baseline your network behavior, so

Network administrator tools and software

Network administrators use various networking software and tools to optimally perform network
operations, including compliance, automation, configuration, real-time monitoring and alerting,
network inventory management, performance management, and vulnerability assessment.

Due to the increasing number of networking components in an organization’s network, it

becomes difficult to manage the network manually, which is also error-prone. By
implementing basic and advanced tools, network administrators can automate several tasks and
focus on more value-adding tasks needing their attention.

Difference between a network administrator

and a network engineer.
A network administrator focuses on the day-to-day aspects of managing and maintaining a
network; whereas, a network engineer focuses on network engineering aspects, specifically the
lifecycle of a network and its design and strategic implementation.

In a larger enterprise, a network engineer may oversee a team of network administrators and
collaborate with them to solve network issues and improve overall utilization and efficiency.
Similarly, the roles and responsibilities of network administrators and engineers may overlap, but
the differences are outlined below.

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Network Administrator:

 Is responsible for managing and maintaining the network in real time

 Ensures the network is secure by blocking suspicious activity and mitigating the risk of
security breaches
 Implements security programs based on hardware and software
 Manages on-site networking servers responsible for business operations
 Ensures network integrity and resilience to maintain service levels
 Tests the network to uncover weaknesses and mitigate them
 Monitors and tracks utilization
 Applies utilization, authentication, and authorization policies to maintain the quality and
security of the network

Network Engineer:

 Designs network architecture and develops the entire network based on an organization’s
Requirements
 Plans and implements both wired and wireless networks
 Broadly manages the underlying network equipment
 Strategically ensures network performance is as desired
 Researches and introduces better technologies and implements them into the network
lifecycle
 Collaborates with network administrators to manage and remediate network issues

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Top Network Performance Monitoring Tools

Network performance monitoring tools can allow network professionals to have a real-time
overview of an entire network so they can better troubleshoot problems and reduce downtime.
Adopting world-class network performance monitoring software with dashboards, alerts, and
other key features can help you save money and time while boosting productivity. Below, we’ve
listed what we feel are the best options and what they can offer IT teams for networks of all
sizes.
If you’d like to jump ahead to a top pick for the best tool, take a look at SolarWinds® Network
Performance Monitor (NPM). We believe it’s an easy-to-use, affordable option built to provide
detailed reporting, data-driven insights, and customizable alerts to help keep your network
healthy.
Network Performance Monitoring

What is network performance monitoring? Put simply, it’s the practice of routinely monitoring
all the components within an organization’s network to track, measure, and troubleshoot
performance issues, failures, or deficiencies.
To bolster performance, many enterprise networks use network performance monitoring
software to automate the most time-consuming and labor-intensive areas of network monitoring.
These tools help maximize time, increase productivity, and uncover key insights teams might
overlook with manual network monitoring.

Benefits of Network Performance Monitoring Software

Staff and Budget
With the adoption of numerous new devices and apps coupled with the fact many organizations
are adopting work-from-home or hybrid work models most networks may require highly trained
network professionals to maintain the network, configure new users, respond to support calls,
and plan and support network expansions and changes. Network performance monitoring
software can help maintain or even reduce headcount, which offers a directly quantifiable return.
In many cases, these tools can also give network professionals more time to work on more

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complex projects, which significantly reduces costs and drives increased revenue and
productivity.

Decreased Network Downtime

Network downtime is a major productivity killer. You can directly quantify downtime not only
by calculating the cost of time a network professional spends troubleshooting and resolving the
cause of the downtime but by factoring in the loss of employee productivity, revenue, and the
lost goodwill associated with downtime. Adopting toolswith automated, customized alerts can be
an effective way to help an organization not lose revenue to downtime.
Decreased Support Calls
Though it’s a great idea to have a help desk dedicated to resolving network- and device-related
issues, an overwhelming number of support calls may be an indicator the network has recurring
problems. Some network performance software can provide historical data around these
problems, which can make these types of issues easier to address and less likely to occur in the
future.
Additionally, network performance monitoring tools can often alert network management and
support teams of problems before users even notice issues and generate support calls. The cost of
support calls can be easily calculated by looking at the number of calls per week, the time to
resolve a support call, and the cost per hour of support time. By reducing the number of support
calls through proactive monitoring and management of the network, you can directly improve
cost savings.
Decreased Time to Resolution
Time to resolution is defined as the time spent resolving an issue once support teams are notified.
Longer time to resolution means an organization is paying more for the support it takes to
address problems and for the downtime and decreased productivity. Network monitoring
software can come with real-time diagnostic data and often includes dynamic network maps,
which can be incredibly useful in resolving issues quickly and identifying issues before they
become problems.

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 How Can Automated Monitoring Tools Optimize Network
Performance?
The best network performance monitoring software tools are built to aid network professionals in
improving the performance of a network by providing total visibility into the entire network.
Getting a clear view of exactly what’s happening in a network—including higher bandwidth
usage, bottlenecks, and configuration—is the first step in maintaining a healthy network.
Network performance monitoring tools can help with a range of operations, including
discovering network devices and performing cross-stack network data correlation, uncovering
connections using hop-by-hop analysis, and measuring overall large-scale network health.
Armed with this useful data, network professionals and support teams are much better equipped
to troubleshoot and resolve network performance issues. Using this information, teams can more
easily make sure networks are configured properly, isolate the root causes of network problems,
identify and eliminate bottlenecks, drill down on resource usage, and much more.

Features Of Network Performance Monitoring Software.

A major focus of a network performance monitoring tool should be to collect long-term data
from a network and displaying it for analysis in easy-to-read ways. In contrast to active and
passive network monitoring systems, performance monitors are typically focused on the longer
term. We feel the best tools will offer these main features:
Discovery
A best-in-class solution should automatically search for all devices and applications within a
network.
Monitoring
Once devices and applications are discovered, they should be constantly monitored across all
network devices, applications, and wireless access points, with special attention paid to critical
metrics like uptime or disk space.

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Visualization or Mapping
A network performance monitoring tool should visually recreate the connections between
elements within a network to provide end-to-end visibility and improve analysis.
Alerting
Network performance monitoring tools should come equipped with customizable alerts so the
right person is alerted as issues arise and they can solve problems on the fly and reduce
downtime.
Reporting
As issues and problems arise, it’s important for network performance monitoring tools to be able
to generate and archive reports of network performance to establish baselines.

Analysis
The best network performance monitoring tools should offer additional features to aid in
troubleshooting and help network administrators drill down to the root causes of recurring
issues.

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Examples of Network Performance Monitoring Tools.

1. SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor

© 2022 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC.

Built for networks of all sizes, NPM is designed to be powerful,

affordable, easy to use, and easy to maintain. This network

performance monitoring software can

help network professionals quickly detect, diagnose, and resolve network performance problems
and outages. It offers automated alerts that can help you ensure issues don’t go overlooked. You
can also drill down on metrics using the NetPath™ hop-by-hop analysis tool and PerfStack™ for
cross-stack metric comparison. When you’re monitoring to troubleshoot issues, we believe this
level of detail makes a difference.
NPM is built with over a hundred prebuilt reports designed to help teams configure and monitor
networks out of the box. Because every network is different, NPM also comes with plenty of

22
customization and automation options. SolarWinds can also help networks adapting to changing
environments, as they offer on-premises, cloud, and hybrid solutions.

2. SolarWinds ip Monitor

We feel SolarWinds ipMonitor® is another cost-effective solution for organizations looking for a
quick network performance monitoring tool. Designed to monitor up/down time and
performance for the most critical IT areas—including networks, servers, VMware hosts, and
applications—the automated discovery process in ipMonitor also comes with built-in
recommendations about the most critical elements of devices and applications to monitor. You
can use its automated alerts and maps for greater monitoring insights.

23
3. N-able Remote Monitoring and Management

For
managed service providers, which are responsible for monitoring hundreds of networks at once,
Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) can help users provide reliable service for a vast
number of networks. In addition to performing the most critical network performance monitoring
tasks, such as extremely detailed reporting, RMM is also built to provide quick and secure
remote access capabilities, including documentation and password management.

4. Paessler PRTG

24
For organizations new to network monitoring tools, we think PRTG is a good choice for
monitoring bandwidth usage and uptime. The tool can also provide reliable data around switches,
servers, and routers. PRTG monitors all types of servers in real time with regard to availability,
accessibility, capacity, and overall reliability.

5. Manage Engine Op Manager

We believe this is another good on-premises network performance monitoring software for those
looking purely for on-premises solutions and using Windows or Linux operating systems.

Primarily used by mid-sized companies, OpManager has been praised for its email and SMS
alert system. However, some users report its interface can be difficult to use.
Designed to provide a scalable solution for businesses of any size, OP5 Monitor is free for the
first 20 devices. OP5 Monitor remains a favorite open-source solution for its automatic alerts and
robust reporting tools.

25
 Chapter 4

Networks Design Issues

A number of design issues exist for the layer to layer approach of computer networks. Some of
the main design issues are as follows −

Reliability

Network channels and components may be unreliable, resulting in loss of bits while data transfer.
So, an important design issue is to make sure that the information transferred is not distorted.

Scalability

Networks are continuously evolving. The sizes are continually increasing leading to congestion.
Also, when new technologies are applied to the added components, it may lead to incompatibility
issues. Hence, the design should be done so that the networks are scalable and can accommodate
such additions and alterations.

Addressing

At a particular time, innumerable messages are being transferred between large

numbers of computers. So, a naming or addressing system should exist so that
each layer can identify the sender and receivers of each message.

Error Control

Unreliable channels introduce a number of errors in the data streams that are
communicated. So, the layers need to agree upon common error detection and
error correction methods so as to protect data packets while they are
transferred.

Flow Control

If the rate at which data is produced by the sender is higher than the rate at which data is received
by the receiver, there are chances of overflowing the receiver. So, a proper flow control
mechanism needs to be implemented.

26
Resource Allocation

Computer networks provide services in the form of network resources to the end users. The
main design issue is to allocate and de allocate resources to processes. The allocation/de
allocation should occur so that minimal interference among the hosts occurs and there is optimal
usage of the resources.

Statistical Multiplexing

It is not feasible to allocate a dedicated path for each message while it is being transferred from
the source to the destination. So, the data channel needs to be multiplexed, so as to allocate a
fraction of the bandwidth or time to each host.

Routing

There may be multiple paths from the source to the destination. Routing involves choosing an
optimal path among all possible paths, in terms of cost and time. There are several routing
algorithms that are used in network systems.

Security

A major factor of data communication is to defend it against threats like eavesdropping and
surreptitious alteration of messages. So, there should be adequate mechanisms to prevent
unauthorized access to data through authentication.

27
As the internet has become an increasingly integral part of our lives, the need for some one to
manage and oversee all data moving in and out of networks has become increasingly pressing.
The network administrator is a person responsible for ensuring that all the data moving in and
out of a network is doing so smoothly and efficiently. Or A network administrator is an IT
expert who manages an organization’s network.
QUALITIES OF A NETWORK ADMIN
 The network administrator must possess a high level of technological knowledge and is
most commonly the highest level of technical staff within a given organization.
 They work closely with network engineers to design and implement new network
infrastructure and are always on hand to troubleshoot any issues that may arise.
 infrastructure and are always on hand to troubleshoot any issues that may arise.
 The role of a network administrator is crucial in today's world, and they play a vital
part in keeping our internet-connected and running smoothly.
 They are responsible for a computer network's overall health and maintenance.
It includes ensuring that all devices on the network are properly configured and
connected, that the network is running smoothly, and that users have access to the
resources they need.
 In larger organizations, they may also manage network security, provide user support,
and train new users.
 A network administrator or network admin typically has a deep knowledge of
networking concepts and technologies.
 They are often responsible for designing and implementing networks and ensuring that
they are properly maintained and secure.
 Network administrators must be able to work with various technologies and
understand how they interact with each other.
 In larger organizations, multiple network administrators may be responsible for a
different part of the network. For example, one network administrator may be
responsible for the data network, while another may be responsible for the voice
network. In smaller organizations, the network administrator may be responsible for
the entire network.

28
 The job of a network administrator can be both challenging and rewarding. It is a fast-
paced environment where new technologies are constantly being introduced. As a
network administrator, you will have the opportunity to work with cutting-edge
technologies and help shape the future of the network.

How To Become a Network Administrator?

To become a network administrator, you will need the following:
A degree in computer science or a related field will give you the technical knowledge and
skills needed to become a successful network administrator.
1. Network administrators typically start careers in entry-level positions, such as network
technicians or support specialists. With experience, they can move up to lead network
administrator or manager of network operations. With proper education and training, they
can enjoy a rewarding career in the exciting field of information technology.
2. The first step to becoming a network administrator is to complete a degree program in
computer science or a related field. It will give you the technical knowledge and skills
you need to be successful in this career. Once you have completed your degree, you
should consider pursuing certification from a professional organization, such as the
CISCO.
3. After you have completed your degree and obtained certification, you should start
applying for jobs. Many network administrators start their careers in entry-level
positions, such as network technicians or support specialists. You can also look for jobs
such as network engineer or systems administrator.
4. As you gain experience, you can move up in your career to become a lead network
administrator or a manager of network operations. With experience, you may also have
the opportunity to pursue advanced certification, such as the TOGAF Prep course and
ITIL foundation certification.

29
Roles and Responsibilities of a Network Administrator
So, what is a network administrator's role? As a network administrator, it is your
responsibility to ensure that the network is up and running properly and that it is secure from
outside threats. To do this, you must deeply understand network protocols and architecture.
You must also be able to troubleshoot network problems and have the skills to resolve them
quickly.
1. A network administrator is responsible for installing, configuring, and maintaining an
organization's network infrastructure. It includes ensuring that the network is up and
running properly and secure from outside threats. They must deeply understand network
protocols and architecture to effectively manage the network.
2. They must be able to troubleshoot network problems and have the skills to resolve them
quickly. It requires a strong understanding of the network and how it functions. The
administrator must be able to identify the root cause of the problem and take steps to
resolve it.
3. They must be able to communicate effectively with users and other IT staff to resolve
network issues. It includes being able to explain technical concepts in layman's terms and
able to provide clear instructions on how to resolve problems.
4. They must have the ability to create and maintain documentation for the network. This
documentation must be accurate and up-to-date to be useful. The administrator must also
be able to create network diagrams that illustrate the network's architecture.
5. They must have the ability to plan and implement network upgrades and expansion
projects. It includes assessing the needs of the network and determining what upgrades
are necessary. The administrator must also be able to create project plans and manage the
budget for the project.
6. They must be able to monitor network performance and identify potential bottlenecks. It
requires a strong understanding of network monitoring tools and how to interpret the data
they provide. The administrator must be able to identify when the network is
underperforming and take steps to resolve the issue.
7. They must be able to work with vendors to resolve hardware and software issues. This
includes opening and managing support tickets and working with vendors to resolve
problems. The administrator must also be able to negotiate service-level agreements with
vendors.

30
 8. They must be able to train users on the use of network resources. It includes creating
training materials and delivering them engagingly and effectively. The administrator
must also be able to answer questions from users and help them resolve problems.
9. They must be able to provide Tier 3 technical support for network users. It includes
troubleshooting complex problems and providing detailed instructions on how to resolve
them. The administrator must also be able to escalate problems to vendors when
necessary.
10. They must work effectively in a team environment. It includes being able to
communicate well with other members of the team and being able to collaborate on
projects. The administrator must also be able to take direction from a supervisor and
work independently when necessary.

What is Network Security?

Network Security protects your network and data from breaches, intrusions and other threats.
This is a vast and overarching term that describes hardware and software solutions as well as
processes or rules and configurations relating to network use, accessibility, and overall threat
protection.

Network Security involves access control, virus and antivirus software, application security,
network analytics, types of network-related security (endpoint, web, wireless), firewalls,
VPN encryption and more.

Benefits of Network Security

Network Security is vital in protecting client data and information, keeping shared data
secure and ensuring reliable access and network performance as well as protection from
cyber threats. A well designed network security solution reduces overhead expenses and
safeguards organizations from costly losses that occur from a data breach or other security
incident. Ensuring legitimate access to systems, applications and data enables business
operations and delivery of services and products to customers.

Types of Network Security Protections

31
Firewall

Firewalls control incoming and outgoing traffic on networks, with predetermined security rules.
Firewalls keep out unfriendly traffic and is a necessary part of daily computing. Network
Security relies heavily on Firewalls, and especially Next Generation Firewalls, which focus on
blocking malware and application-layer attacks.

Network Segmentation

Network segmentation defines boundaries between network segments where assets within the
group have a common function, risk or role within an organization. For instance, the perimeter
gateway segments a company network from the Internet. Potential threats outside the network
are prevented, ensuring that an organization’s sensitive data remains inside. Organizations can go
further by defining additional internal boundaries within their network, which can provide
improved security and access control.

What is Access Control?

Access control defines the people or groups and the devices that have access to network
applications and systems thereby denying unsanctioned access, and maybe threats. Integrations
with Identity and Access Management (IAM) products can strongly identify the user and
Role-based Access Control (RBAC) policies ensure the person and device are authorized
access to the asset.

Remote Access VPN

Remote access VPN provides remote and secure access to a company network to
individual hosts or clients, such as telecommuters, mobile users, and extranet
consumers. Each host typically has VPN client software loaded or uses a web-
based client. Privacy and integrity of sensitive information is ensured through multi-
factor authentication, endpoint compliance scanning, and encryption of all
transmitted data.

Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)

32
The zero trust security model states that a user should only have the access and
permissions that they require to fulfill their role. This is a very different approach
from that provided by traditional security solutions, like VPNs, that grant a user full
access to the target network. Zero trust network access (ZTNA) also known
as software-defined perimeter (SDP) solutions permits granular access to an
organization’s applications from users who require that access to perform their
duties.

Email Security
Email security refers to any processes, products, and services designed to protect
your email accounts and email content safe from external threats. Most email
service providers have built-in email security features designed to keep you secure,
but these may not be enough to stop cybercriminals from accessing your
information.

Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

Data loss prevention (DLP) is a cybersecurity methodology that combines
technology and best practices to prevent the exposure of sensitive information
outside of an organization, especially regulated data such as personally identifiable
information (PII) and compliance related data: HIPAA, SOX, PCI DSS, etc.

Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS)

IPS technologies can detect or prevent network security attacks such as brute force
attacks, Denial of Service (DoS) attacks and exploits of known vulnerabilities. A
vulnerability is a weakness for instance in a software system and an exploit is an
attack that leverages that vulnerability to gain control of that system. When an
exploit is announced, there is often a window of opportunity for attackers to exploit
that vulnerability before the security patch is applied. An Intrusion Prevention
System can be used in these cases to quickly block these attacks.

33
 Sandboxing
Sandboxing is a cybersecurity practice where you run code or open files in a safe,
isolated environment on a host machine that mimics end-user operating
environments. Sandboxing observes the files or code as they are opened and looks
for malicious behavior to prevent threats from getting on the network. For example
malware in files such as PDF, Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint can be safely
detected and blocked before the files reach an unsuspecting end user.

Hyper scale Network Security

Hyper scale is the ability of an architecture to scale appropriately, as increased
demand is added to the system. This solution includes rapid deployment and scaling
up or down to meet changes in network security demands. By tightly integrating
networking and compute resources in a software-defined system, it is possible to
fully utilize all hardware resources available in a clustering solution.

Cloud Network Security

Applications and workloads are no longer exclusively hosted on-premises in a local
data center. Protecting the modern data center requires greater flexibility and
innovation to keep pace with the migration of application workloads to the cloud.
Software-defined Networking (SDN) and Software-defined Wide Area Network (SD-
WAN) solutions enable network security solutions in private, public, hybrid and
cloud-hosted Firewall-as-a-Service (FWaaS) deployments.

Robust Network Security Will

Protect Against
 Virus: A virus is a malicious, downloadable file that can lay dormant that replicates
itself by changing other computer programs with its own code. Once it spreads those
files are infected and can spread from one computer to another, and/or corrupt or
destroy network data.

34
 Worms: Can slow down computer networks by eating up bandwidth as well as the
slow the efficiency of your computer to process data. A worm is a
standalone malware that can propagate and work independently of other files, where
a virus needs a host program to spread.

 Trojan: A trojan is a backdoor program that creates an entryway for malicious users
to access the computer system by using what looks like a real program, but quickly
turns out to be harmful. A trojan virus can delete files, activate other malware hidden
on your computer network, such as a virus and steal valuable data.

 Spyware: Much like its name, spyware is a computer virus that gathers information
about a person or organization without their express knowledge and may send the
information gathered to a third party without the consumer’s consent.

 Adware: Can redirect your search requests to advertising websites and collect
marketing data about you in the process so that customized advertisements will be
displayed based on your search and buying history.

 Ransomware: This is a type of trojan cyberware that is designed to gain money

from the person or organization’s computer on which it is installed by encrypting
data so that it is unusable, blocking access to the user’s system.

Types of network security software and tools

The choice of security policies and tools varies from network to network and changes over
time. Strong security often involves using multiple approaches, known as layered
security or defense in depth to give organizations as many security controls as possible. The
following are some commonly used types of network security tools and software:

 Access control. This method limits access to network applications and systems to a
specific group of users and devices. These systems deny access to users and devices not
already sanctioned.

 Antivirus and antimalware. Antivirus and antimalware are software designed to detect,
remove or prevent viruses and malware, such as Trojan horses, ransomware and
spyware, from infecting a computer and, consequently, a network.

35
 Application security. It is crucial to monitor and protect applications that organizations
use to run their businesses. This is true whether an organization creates that application
or buys it, as modern malware threats often target open source code and containers
that organizations use to build software and applications.

 Behavioral analytics. This method analyzes network behavior and automatically detects
and alerts organizations to abnormal activities.

 Cloud security. Cloud providers often sell add-on cloud security tools that provide
security capabilities in their cloud. The cloud provider manages the security of its overall
infrastructure and offers tools for the user to protect their instances within the overall
cloud infrastructure. For example, Amazon Web Services provides security groups that
control the incoming and outgoing traffic associated with an application or resource.

 Data loss prevention (DLP). These tools monitor data in use, in motion and at rest to
detect and prevent data breaches. DLP often classifies the most important and at-risk
data and trains employees in best practices to protect that data. For instance, not
sending important files as attachments in emails is one such best practice.

 Email security. Email is one of the most vulnerable points in a network. Employees
become victims of phishing and malware attacks when they click on email links that
secretly download malicious software. Email is also an insecure method of sending files
and sensitive data that employees unwittingly engage in.

 Firewall. Software or firmware inspects incoming and outgoing traffic to prevent

unauthorized network access. Firewalls are some of the most widely used security tools.
They are positioned in multiple areas on the network. Next-generation firewalls offer
increased protection against application-layer attacks and advanced malware defense
with inline deep packet inspection.

 Intrusion detection system (IDS). An IDS detects unauthorized access attempts and flags
them as potentially dangerous but does not remove them. An IDS and an intrusion
prevention system (IPS) are often used in combination with a firewall.

 Intrusion prevention system. IPSes are designed to prevent intrusions by detecting and
blocking unauthorized attempts to access a network.

 Mobile device security. Business applications for smart phones and other mobile
devices have made these devices an important part of network security. Monitoring and
36
 controlling which mobile devices access a network and what they do once connected to
a network is crucial for modern network security.

 Multifactor authentication (MFA). MFA is an easy-to-employ and increasingly popular

network security solution that requires two or more factors to verify a user's identity. An
example of this is Google Authenticator, an app which generates unique security codes
that a user enters alongside their password to verify their identity.

 Network segmentation. Organizations with large networks and network traffic often
use network segmentation to break a network into smaller, easier-to-manage segments.
This approach gives organizations more control of and increased visibility into traffic
flow. Industrial network security is a subset of network segmentation, providing
increased visibility into industrial control systems (ICSes). ICSes are more at risk to cyber
threats because of increased integration with the cloud.

 Sandboxing. This approach lets organizations scan for malware by opening a file in an
isolated environment before granting it access to the network. Once opened in
a sandbox, an organization can observe whether the file acts in a malicious way or
shows any indications of malware.

 Security information and event management (SIEM). This security management

technique logs data from applications and network hardware and monitors for
suspicious behavior. When an anomaly is detected, the SIEM system alerts the
organization and takes other appropriate action.

 Software-defined perimeter (SDP). An SDP is a security method that sits on top of the
network it protects, concealing it from attackers and unauthorized users. It uses identity
criteria to limit access to resources and forms a virtual boundary around networked
resources.

 Virtual private network (VPN). A VPN secures the connection from an endpoint to an
organization's network. It uses tunneling protocols to encrypt information that is sent
over a less secure network. Remote access VPNs let employees access their company
network remotely.

 Web security. This practice controls employee web use on an organization's network
and devices, including blocking certain threats and websites, while also protecting the
integrity of an organization's websites themselves.

37
 Wireless security. Wireless networks are one of the riskiest parts of a network and
require stringent protections and monitoring. It's important to follow wireless security
best practices, such as segmenting Wi-Fi users by service set identifiers, or SSIDs, and
using 802.1X authentication. Good monitoring and auditing tools are also needed to
ensure wireless network security.

 Workload security. When organizations balance workloads among multiple devices

across cloud and hybrid environments, they increase the potential attack surfaces.
Workload security measures and secure load balancers are crucial to protecting the data
contained in these workloads.

 Zero-trust network access. Similar to network access control, zero-trust network access
only grants a user the access they must have do their job. It blocks all other permissions.

Benefits of network security

The following are the main benefits of network security:

 Functionality. Network security ensures the ongoing high performance of the networks
that businesses and individual users rely on.

 Privacy and security. Many organizations handle user data and must ensure the
confidentiality, integrity and availability of data on a network, known as the CIA triad.
Network security prevents the security breaches that can expose PII and other sensitive
information, damage a business's reputation and result in financial losses.

 Intellectual property protection. Intellectual property is key to many companies' ability

to compete. Securing access to intellectual property related to products, services and
business strategies helps organizations maintain their competitive edge.

 Compliance. Complying with data security and privacy regulations, such as HIPAA and
GDPR, is legally required in many countries. Secure networks are a key part of adhering
to these mandates.
Challenges of network security

38
Network security involves a number of challenges, including the following:

 Evolving network attack methods. The biggest network security challenge is the rate at
which cyber attacks evolve. Threat actors and their methods constantly change as
technology changes. For example, new technology, such as blockchain, has led to new
types of malware attacks, such as cryptojacking. As a result, network security defense
strategies must adapt to these new threats.

 User adherence. As mentioned, security is every network user's responsibility. It can be

difficult for organizations to ensure that everyone is adhering to network security best
practices, while simultaneously evolving those strategies to address the newest threats.

 Remote and mobile access. More companies are adopting bring your own
device policies, which means a more distributed and complex network of devices for
organizations to protect. Remote work is also more prevalent. This makes wireless
security more important, as users are more likely to be using a personal or public
network when accessing company networks.

 Third-party partners. Cloud providers, managed security services and security product
vendors often get access to an organization's network, opening new potential
vulnerabilities.

39
 Organizati
ons face several challenges when instituting network security strategies.

Network layers and security

Networks contain layers, as represented by the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model.
Data passes through these layers as it travels among devices, and different cyber threats
target different layers. Therefore, each layer in the stack must be secured for the network to
be considered secure.

This table matches the OSI levels to the corresponding type of network security.

Layers (ISO 7498-1) ISO 7498-2 Security Model

Application Authentication

40
 Layers (ISO 7498-1) ISO 7498-2 Security Model

Presentation Access control

Session Nonrepudiation

Transport Data integrity

Network Confidentiality

Data Link Assurance and availability

Physical Notarization and signature

Notice that the third layer from the bottom is called Network, but network security does not
apply only to this layer. Every device in a computer network functions on multiple layers
when processing information. Given that, each layer must be secure for the network to be
considered secure. In other words, the word network in this definition of network security
refers broadly to the corporate infrastructure as a whole, not just the network layer.

For example, some people may make the distinction between cloud security and network
security. Cloud security includes application security and container security, which exist
41
outside of the network layer of the OSI model. However, those cloud functions can still be
considered part of the overall corporate network, and securing them is part of network
security.

The
defense-in-depth strategy involves multiple layers of security.

Network security jobs and certifications

Jobs related to network security include the following:

 Chief information security officers (CISOs) are one of the highest-paying positions in
network security. CISOs are responsible for developing and implementing an overall
information security program.

 Penetration testers, or pen testers, are hired to break into a corporate network to
expose vulnerabilities. This can be automated or performed manually by employees or
third-party pen testing-as-a-service providers.

 Security engineers focus on quality control within the IT infrastructure.

 Security architects plan, analyze, design and test an organization's IT infrastructure.

 Security analysts analyze and plan security strategy, as well as perform security audits.

Some certifications for careers in network security are the following:

42
 EC-Council's Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH);

 Global Information Assurance Certification Security Essentials (GSEC);

 ISACA's Certified Information Security Manager (CISM);

 ISACA's Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA);

 (ISC)2 Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP); and

 (ISC)2 Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP).

Network security is fundamental to a strong cybersecurity strategy. Read more about the best
cloud security certifications and the steps to map a successful cybersecurity career.

This was last updated in October 2022

Next Steps
12 types of wireless network attacks and how to prevent them

Network security management best practices and challenges

Continue Reading About network security

 The ultimate guide to cybersecurity planning for businesses

 Top cybersecurity online courses

 Explore essential elements of network security

 Shadow IoT poses growing threat to network security

 Endpoint security vs. network security: Why both matter

What is network configuration?

43
Network configuration is the process of assigning network settings, policies, flows, and controls. In
a virtual network, it’s easier to make network configuration changes because physical network devices
appliances are replaced by software, removing the need for extensive manual configuration.

Network configuration can also be automated and managed via a centralized configuration manager
network configuration manager, further reducing manual IT workload and making it easier to:

 Maintain a network
 Make configuration changes
 Relaunch devices
 Track and report data
Some network configuration basics include switch/router configuration, host configuration, software and
firewall configuration, and network topology which can be controlled through rest APIs.

The Modern Network Framework

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Why is network configuration important?

The right network configuration is essential to supporting the flow of traffic through a network, and it can
also support and enhance network security and improve network stability. In addition, the use of
network configuration management manager and or configuration tools can provide a number of benefits,
including:

 Automated data tracking and reporting, allowing administrators to spot any

configuration changes and potential threats or issues
 An easy way to make bulk changes, such as a blanket password change in a
situation where passwords are compromised
 The means to swiftly roll back network settings to a previous configuration
 Reduced downtime, thanks to increased visibility and the ability to quickly
identify changes
 Streamlined maintenance and repair of network devices (physical or virtual)
and connections
 The ability to relaunch a device when it fails, thanks to centralized storage
management of device configurations
What is zero-configuration networking?
44
Zero-configuration networking refers to a set of technologies that allow network administrators to set up a
network and connect devices without having to manually configure each device’s network settings.

This is particularly useful for allowing end users to easily connect to the network. However, for an
administrator of an enterprise network, there are advantages to actively configure and monitor the
network rather than relying on default settings.

What are network topologies?

Different types of network configuration in computer networks are commonly referred to as network
topologies. A network topology describes how the nodes or devices (physical or virtual) in a network are
arranged and how they communicate with each other.

Network topology can be physical (referring to where physical devices are placed in relation to each
other) or logical (referring to how data is transmitted through the network, including any virtual or cloud
resources). When choosing a network topology, an organization must consider the size of its network, its
performance requirements and the flow of its traffic, among other factors.

Common network topologies include:

Bus: Every node in the network is connected along a linear path. This simple topology is used most often
for small networks.

Ring: Nodes are connected in a loop, and traffic may flow in one direction or in both directions. Ring
networks tend to be cost-effective, but not as scalable or stable as other network topologies.

Star: A central node connects to all other nodes in the network. This is a common and stable topology
that’s often used for local area networks (LANs).

Mesh: Nodes are linked in such a way that multiple paths between nodes are possible. This type of
network topology increases the resiliency of the network, but also increases cost. A network may be fully
meshed (all nodes connecting to all other nodes) or partially meshed (only some nodes having multiple
connections to other nodes).

Spine-Leaf (Tree): Multiple star topologies are connected together in a larger star configuration.

Hybrid: A combination of other topologies are used together within one network.

How can you check your network configuration?

In a command-line environment, the commands ipconfig (for Windows network configuration)
and ifconfig (for Linux network configuration, as well as Mac OSX and other Linux-like environments)

45
allow you to view information about your network configuration and to configure your networsk
interface.

With a network configuration manager or with APIs, you can check and set up the network configuration
in a centralized software interface, allowing you to more easily configure, monitor and administer your
network. A network configuration manager also enables the use of automation to make policy changes
and updates.

How to configure a network switch and router?

When setting up a network switch and router, it’s important to customize settings and apply all necessary
configurations to ensure that your network will work properly. Some of the configurable settings on a
network switch and router include:

 IP address—for identification
 Password—for added security
 Channel and band selection—to improve performance
 Default gateway—to make the device visible to network management tools
 Neighbor discovery—for added visibility
 Correct time—for proper troubleshooting and detailed error logs
A network configuration manager is the easiest way to perform network switch configuration and apply
these settings consistently to every device on your enterprise network.

What is network monitoring?

Network monitoring is a function of network management that monitors a network and alerts network
administrators to potential issues. The thresholds or conditions for alerting the administrator can be
configured based on network traffic flow and business needs. When issues do occur, networking
configuration management allows the administrator to quickly correct the problem by modifying the
configuration or adding more network resources.

Advantages and Disadvantages of

Subnetting

What is Subnetting?

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Subnetting is a process of separating a single physical network into several
logical subnetworks (subnets).

 A network segment and a host segment make up an IP address subnets

formed by extracting bits from an IP address's host component and
establishing several smaller sub-networks within a more extensive
network.
 Subnetting enables a business to expand its network without securing a
new network number from its Internet Service Provider (ISP). Subnetting
reduces network traffic while also hiding network complexity.
 Subnetting is required when a single network number must be distributed
across multiple parts of a local area network.
 Subnets were created to alleviate the scarcity of IP addresses on the
Internet.
 A subnet mask is part of every IP address. The subnet mask known as
the default subnet mask is included in all class types. The subnet mask
specifies the kind and amount of IP addresses required for a specific local
network. The default gateway is the firewall or router.

The following is the default subnet mask −

 255.0.0.0 is the class A address.

 255.255.0.0 is the class B address.
 255.255.255.0 is the class C address.
A network administrator can subnet a single Class A, Class B, or Class C network
number into smaller portions via sub netting. Subnets can be subnetted again to
create sub-subnets.

Advantages of Sub netting

Some of the benefits of partitioning a network into subnets are as follows −

 It reduces network traffic by lowering the number of broadcasts sent out.

 It helps overcome limitations in a local area network (LAN), such as the
maximum number of allowed hosts.
 It allows people to connect to a work network from their homes without
having to open the entire network.

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  It protects one network from the intrusion of another. For example, the
Developer department's code must not be accessible by any other
department in an organization.
 Some subnets may require higher network priority than others. A sales
department, for example, may need to host webcasts or video
conferences.
 Maintenance is simple in the case of small networks.

Disadvantages of Sub netting

Sub netting has certain drawbacks in addition to its benefits −

 To reach a Process in a single network, there are only three steps −

o Source Host to Destination Network,
o Destination Network to Destination Host, and then
o Destination Host to Process.
 Subnetting, on the other hand, necessitates four phases for Inter Network
Communication. The steps are −
o Source Host to Destination Network,
o Destination Network to appropriate Subnet,
o Subnet to Host, and finally,
o Host to Process

t Mask
Computer NetworkCommunicationInformation Technology

Subnetting
Subnetting is the technique of dividing a huge network into many smaller parts,
these logical divisions in an IP network reduce the network traffic and also
achieve better performance of the network path. This is used in large
organizations when many host devices are connected to a single network where
the routing process is carried out during traffic and also increases security. Each
device connected to the subnet communicates with one another by using
routers.

An IP address is used to classify devices on the network which has two parts, the
first part represents a network of the address and the second represents the

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(host part)device connected within the network. Thousands of devices or hosts
can be connected to the same network and the respective IP addresses may
create complex routes during high network traffic, this is where subnetting
comes in, it limits the usage of IP addresses to a few hosts. So, data can reach
the destination without visiting other routes. When IP addresses use subnetting
the target address can be attained by identifying the network, subnet, and host.

Functions of Subnet mask

The subnet mask consists of a 32-bit address that separates the network and
host address. This identifies which portion of the IP address fits into the network
part and which fits into the host part. The values of the subnet mask determine
how many hosts can be present on the subnet. This contains 1’s and 0’s bits
with network bits initialized to 1 and host bits initialized to 0. It is used internally
by the routers or switches to send the packets to the target node within the
connected local network path.

Two types of subnet masks are available

 Default subnet mask which is provided by the network classes of A, B, and

C
 The custom subnet mask is designed by the network administrators to
combine more devices into a single network. Network.

Role of subnet mask

IP addressing uses five ranges of network classes where Class A can handle up
to 16 million hosts, Class B holds up to 65,534 hosts and Class C supports 254
hosts. The other two classes D and E are reserved for multitasking and research
sectors.

Default subnet masks are provided by network classes of Class A, B, and C.

Class A range: 255.0.0.0 ,Class B range: 255.255.0.0 and Class C range :

255.255.255.0

 Class A subnet defines the initial eight bits for the network part and the
rest of the 24 bits represent the IP address’s host part. Consider an

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 example IP address:10.26.82.43 As per the default mask range of Class A,
the given IP address can be divided into network and host portions.
 10.0.0.0 represents the network address and 26.82.43 defines the host
address.
 Class B subnets have a network address with 16 bits and the rest of 16
bits for the host address. Consider the IP address:128.22.45.17 Here
network portion will be 128.22.0.0 and the host address is 45.17
 Class C subnet mask has initial 24 bits for the network node and the rest 8
bits for the host portion within the network. Consider the host IP
address:192.168.8.2 then 192.168.8.0 defines the network portion and
the host address is 2.

Consider an example of a packet that has a destination address of 200.1.4.18

here router has to identify the subnet where this given destination IP belongs, it
is done using the subnet mask.

To identify which network the destination address belongs to, a bitwise AND
operation has to be done for the binary values as below −

The binary representation of 255.255.18.22

=11111111.11111111.00010010.00010110
The binary representation of 200.1.4.18
=11001000.00000001.00000100.00010010
Bitwise AND(&) =11001000.00000001.00000000.00010010

This can be given in decimal form as 200.1.0.18. After this process, the router
will forward the data packet through an interface internally. Routing tables are
constructed by the router after transmission, value in the table gets updated.
The matching interface will be identified with the help of a routing table. If there
is no match on the network address with the routing table the data packets are
forwarded to the default entry 0.0.0.0

The Source node decides whether the destination node is at the local network or
remote when it wants to make communication with the target node. The initial
node uses a subnet mask to get details of local and remote networks. AND
operation is performed between the subnet mask and source IP this AND
operation is repeated for the destination IP address also.

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After AND operation, if the result is the same on the source and destination
node then it implies both lie on the same network, if values are different then
either of the nodes is located on a remote network.

Conclusion
Subnetting reduces collision and network traffic thereby providing better
performance. This provides full control to the IT administrators on monitoring
data packets, enabling or upgrading router devices, reduce traffic over the
network. The Subnet mask addresses are needed to identify between the host
and network address so the routers match the data packets to the target node
and find the best route for data transmission between the sender and receiver
interface

convert binary to decimal and

decimal to binary

Binary is the simplest kind of number system that uses only two digits of 0 and 1 (i.e.
value of base 2). Since digital electronics have only these two states (either 0 or 1), so
binary number is most preferred in modern computer engineer, networking and
communication specialists, and other professionals.

Whereas Decimal number is most familiar number system to the general public. It is
base 10 which has only 10 symbols: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9.

Since number numbers are type of positional number system. That means weight of the
positions from right to left are as 20, 21, 22, 23... and so on for the integer part and
weight of the positions from left to right are as 2 -1, 2-2, 2-3, 2-4... and so on for the
fractional part.

Example:

Convert binary number 11001010 into decimal number.

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= (11001010)2

= 1 x 27 + 1 x 26 + 0 x 25 + 0 x 24 + 1 x 23 + 0 x 22 + 1 x 21 + 0 x 20

= 128 + 64 + 0 + 0 + 8 + 0 + 2 + 0

= (202)10

Convert Binary to Decimal?

Binary is the simplest kind of number system that uses only two digits of 0 and
1 (i.e. value of base 2). Since digital electronics have only these two states
(either 0 or 1), so binary number is most preferred in modern computer
engineer, networking and communication specialists, and other professionals.
Whereas Decimal number is most familiar number system to the general public.
It is base 10 which has only 10 symbols: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9.

Conversion from Binary to Decimal number system

There are mainly two methods to convert a binary number into decimal
number − using positional notation, and using doubling. These methods are
explained are as following below.

Using Positional Notation

Since number numbers are type of positional number system. That means
weight of the positions from right to left are as 2 0, 21, 22, 23... and so on for the
integer part and weight of the positions from left to right are as 2 -1, 2-2, 2-3, 2-4...
and so on for the fractional part.

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 Most Significant Binary Point Least Significant Bit
Bit (MSB) (LSB)

22 21 20 2-1 2-2 2-3

4 2 1 0.5 0.25 0.125

Assume any unsigned binary number is b nb(n-1) ... b1b0.b-1b-2 ... b(m-1)bm. Then the
decimal number is equal to the sum of binary digits (b n) times their power of 2
(2n), i.e., bnb(n-1) ... b1b0.b-1b-2 ... b(m-1)bm = bnx2n+b(n-1)x2(n-1)+ ... +b1x21+bx020+b-
x2-1+b-22-2+ ...
1

This is simple algorithm where you have to multiply positional value of binary
with their digit and get the sum of these steps.

Example-1 − Convert binary number 11001010 into decimal number. Since

there is no binary point here and no fractional part. So,

Binary to decimal is,

= (11001010)2
= 1x27+1x26+0x25+0x24+1x23+0x22+1x21+0x20
= 128+64+0+0+8+0+2+0
= (202)10

Example-2 − Convert binary number 1010.1011 into decimal number. Since

there is a binary point here with fractional part. So,

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Binary to decimal is,

= (1010.1011)2
= 1x23+0x22+1x21+0x20+1x2-1+0x2-2+1x2-3+1x2-4
= 8+0+2+0+0.5+0+0.125+0.0625
= (10.6875)10

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