(1) The basic components of a network, i.e. hardware, software, and channels
(2) The benefits of networking
(3) The difference between synchronous and asynchronous communication
(4) The different types of communication media/channels, their advantages, disadvantages, and why to choose one over another
(5) The types of telecommunications carriers, the various services they offer, and the differences and benefits among those services
(6) The three basic data processing strategies: centralized, decentralized, and distributed
(7) What a network topology is and how the major types are arranged
(8) How a computer determines when it’s okay to broadcast a signal and what happens if signals collide
(9) How transmission errors are detected using parity bits
(10) The various architectures relating clients to hosts (servers), what differentiates them and what their advantages and disadvantages are
(11) The differences between analog and digital signals, where they are used, and how they are converted
(12) What the OSI model is
(13) The major communications protocols and where they are used
(14) The uses of the various network hardware components (e.g. NICs, routers, hubs, bridges, etc.)
(15) The benefits of Electronic Data Interchange and its importance to certain companies
(16) Terms such as: telecommunications, data communications, telecommunications medium, serial, parallel, simplex, half-duplex, full-duplex, protocol, electronic software distribution, videoconferencing, sneakernet, peer-to-peer, client, server, node, packet, attenuation, network analyzer, network monitor, multiplexer (mux), modem, LAN, WAN
(1) The basic concept of the Internet: what it is, how it works, and how to access it.
(2) The various services made possible by the Internet and what they do
(3) The differences among the Internet, intranets, extranets, and outernets
(4) How Internet sites are addressed and why
(5) The components of a web server address
(6) The role routers play on the Internet and what they do
(7) How and where web pages are stored and accessed
(8) What a search engine is and how it works and why not all search engines return the same results
(9) The benefits of a virtual private network
(10) The difference between the Internet and the World Wide Web
(11) The purpose of packet switching
(12) What happens in a denial of service attack
(13) How domain names are translated into IP addresses
(14) What an IP address looks like and how it’s used
(15) What cookies are and how they work
(16) What push technology provides
(17) What the traceroute process does
(18) Terms such as: meta-tags, spiders, threads, packets, URL, HTTP, HTML, WWW, firewall, digital signature, encryption, ISP, IPP, applet, backbone, hypertext, browser