Delivery: Online | Est. Length: 4 Seat Hours | Price: $250.00
Course Overview
The NCTI Introduction to Wide Area Networks (WAN) course broadens the technician’s horizon from the local network to the global infrastructure that connects cities, nations, and continents.
Data, voice, and video traffic must travel across vast distances reliably. This course breaks down the complex “alphabet soup” of transport technologies that make this possible. Students will explore the backbone protocols of the internet, including Synchronous Optical Networks (SONET) and Ethernet. You will gain a clear understanding of traffic engineering via Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) and learn how Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) create secure, encrypted tunnels over public infrastructure.
Who Should Attend:
- Network Technicians
- NOC (Network Operations Center) Staff
- Telecom Specialists
- IT Professionals transitioning to Carrier Networking
What You Will Learn
Upon completion, students will be able to differentiate between various packet-switched technologies and explain how WAN protocols work together to transport data globally.
Core Competencies:
- WAN Architecture: Identify the advantages and disadvantages of different WAN technologies, including Satellite Networks and fiber backbones.
- Transport Protocols: Discuss the role of SONET as a transport protocol and describe the characteristics that make Ethernet the dominant standard.
- Traffic Engineering: Explain how Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) improves upon legacy systems like Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM) and Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM).
- Network Security: Describe how Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) function, identifying the security methods used to protect data in transit.
- Packet Switching: Differentiate between types of packet-switched technologies and their applications in modern broadband.
Certification and Benefits
Expand Your Networking Scope
This course helps technicians understand what happens to the signal after it leaves the local headend or data center.
Additional Benefits:
- Certification Path: Credits apply toward the NCTI Telecom Specialist certification.
- Industry Recognition: Receive the NCTI Certificate of Graduation.
- Foundational Knowledge: Provides the prerequisite knowledge needed for advanced routing and switching training.
Course Outline
Module 1: Wide Area Networks Technologies
- Reviewing Communication Satellite Networks.
- SONET: Synchronous Optical Networks.
- Ethernet: The evolution of Ethernet in the WAN.
Module 2: Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)
- MPLS: Fundamentals and relation to ATM/TDM.
- VPN: Virtual Private Networks functionality and security.