 Course OverviewThe course focuses on the theoretical and practical aspects of Local Area Networks (LANs). The theory will be covered during the very early part of the quarter followed by hands-on training during the rest of the quarter. Many of the concepts relating to the functional aspects of both wide area and local area networks will be reinforced with lab exercises. Practical applications of different business network infrastructures, directory management, client-server networks, server virtualization, network security and application servers such as Telnet server, web server, FTP server and media servers will be covered in the course.
The contents of the course are based partly on various topics covered in the Microsoft's curriculum for certification. Further information on Microsoft certification can be obtained at the following link:
http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/cert-windowsserver.aspx#tab2
OutcomeAt the end of the quarter, the students would be able to:
Weekly Plan
|
| Component | Contribution |
| Midterm Examination 1 | 20% |
| Midterm Examination 2 | 25% |
| Final Examination | 40% |
| Project Presentation | 15% |
| Total | 100% |
Please note that the above percentages are provided only as a guideline. The actual percentages may vary marginally from the stated percentages depending on the number of questions given in the examinations and the emphasis placed on the class project.
Examinations
ExaminationsStudents are required to carry a valid student ID with them at all times both during regular class meetings and during examinations.
There will be three examinations conducted made up of two mid-term examinations and a final examination.
Mid-Term Examinations
The two mid-term examinations will be held on the fourth week and seventh week respectively. For the night classes, the examination will begin at 8:00 p.m. and end at 9:30 p.m. For the classes that meet twice a week during the day time, the examinations will be held on the second class meeting of the fourth week and seventh week respectively. In this case, the examination will commence at the beginning of the class meeting and span the entire duration of the class.
The tests will be composed primarily of multiple-choice questions. The number of questions will vary between 75 and 125 depending on the material covered prior to the examination. Two Scantrons are therefore recommended for the examination. In each examination, the focus will be on material covered from the time the last examination was conducted. In other words, the examination is in not cumulative. Both mid-term examinations are closed-book examinations with the exception of a cheat-sheet allowed to be used as a reference.
Final Examination
The final examination will be held on the date and time printed on the Class Schedule. The duration is 2 hours and 30 minutes. Emphasis will be placed on the material covered after the last mid-term examination. Although unlikely, the examination may also include an essay component in addition to the section containing multiple-choice questions. The number of multiple-choice questions will be in the neighborhood of 100 to 125, again depending on the material covered during the period following the second examination.
Two Scantrons are therefore required for the final examination. The number of essay questions, if present, will vary between 2 and 4. The final examination will also be a closed-book examination with the exception of a cheat-sheet to be used as a reference.
Examination Schedule
| Examination | Week | Time | Coverage |
| Midterm 1 | 4th | - During the 2nd class meeting of the week for classes that meet twice a week - From 8:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. for the classes meeting in the night |
Weeks 1-3 |
| Midterm 2 | 7th | As above. | Weeks 4-6 |
| Final | 11th | As printed in the schedule | Weeks 7-10 |
Policy on Make-up Examination
A make-up examination will not be conducted except under extreme and compelling circumstances of personal distress. Unfortunate incidents relating to you or to an immediate family member may be considered only with appropriate documentation. Excuses will not be accepted during the week immediately preceding the midterm or final examinations. Any request for the assignment of an incomplete grade during this period will be denied.
In the extreme event that a make-up examination is conducted, the penalties assigned due to the delay in conducting the examination will be as follows:
| Examination Delay | Penalty |
| 1 Week | 15% |
| 2 Weeks or more | 25% |
An examination will not be conducted prior to the scheduled examination dates and times. There will not be a make-up examination conducted for the final examination.
Delivery of Instruction
The delivery of instruction will be partly based on a DVD produced by the instructor. It will be distributed free of charge in the class. The students are required to return the DVD immediately after they make one legal copy for personal use.
This evolving website will also play an important role in disseminating course related information. The in-class meetings may be reduced by a certain percentage of time to enable the students to take full advantage of Technology Mediated Learning (TML). TML will be facilitated by the use of audio and video learning aides.
References
The primary reference is the course material contained in this website and the multimedia course material produced by the instructor. The course material is also presented in the form of PowerPoint slides posted under the web page entitled Lectures on this website.
Links to references are also posted under the web pages consisting of learning material for each week. Websites hosted by computer magazines and companies involved with network related hardware such as CISCO and Microsoft are also recommended as references.
Text Book
To be announced in class.
Summary
Electronic Delivery of Instruction
- Information about the course will largely be disseminated through this website
- Course slides for each week of lecture are available on this website for downloading
- The DVD produced by the instructor containing the multimedia modules will be used as important teaching material
- The DVD will be distributed in the class to the students free of charge and the DVDs should be returned to the instructor after making one legal copy for personal use
- Students are required to bring a headphone with a volume control to each class meeting
- A USB flash disk with a minimum of 16G Bytes of storage space is recommended for downloading newer multimedia lecture modules
- Duration of class meetings may be reduced by an appropriate time period to facilitate Technology Mediated Learning (TML)
Examinations and Grading
- The cumulative grade is composed of individual grades from the three examinations and the project
- The letter grade is assigned based on a curve representing the distribution of the cumulative scores of the students
- The midterm examinations will be held on the 4th and 7th weeks of the quarter respectively
- The final examination will be held on the date and time printed in the class schedule
- A cheat-sheet is allowed for both the mid-term and the final examinations
- A make-up examination is not normally offered
Class Project
- A group project or an individual project is to be completed where the end result would be a group presentation and the submission of the slides used in the presentation
- Those opting to do individual projects are also required to present their projects and submit either a project report or a written paper depending on the type of project chosen
- The project presentations are scheduled for the ninth and tenth weeks of the quarter
- The project report will be composed of a collection of slides prepared for the presentation of the project, subject to changes suggested by the instructor during the presentation
- The project reports are to be submitted in electronic form immediately after the presentation is completed, unless asked to add further details to the slides by the instructor
- The project report where additions and changes are suggested are to be submitted not later than the day of the final examination
(C) Nanda Ganesan, Ph.D., All Rights Reserved.