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Where can I learn the basics of data communication networking?
I've always been interested in the telecom industry, and am pretty tech saavy. I've been unemployed for way too long, and have decided to become a SMB network consultant. The one area that I need to learn more is in the area of data communications and networking. Where do you suggest someone like myself picking up the basics? Are there specific books, or even better yet, webinars that would help me get more familiar with data communication networking?
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2 Answers
As you undoubtedly know, 95+% of the SMB networks you're going to run into will be using Microsoft, Cisco, and/or Linux products. All three domains are fairly well supported with introductory training resources (example, Linux training is provided by Red Hat http://www.redhat.com/training/). The fastest way to get started is to dive into one or more online training programs provided by these vendors. These are two- to four-week classes. You decide how much you want to learn and how deep to go in each domain. You decide how much you're willing to invest to get the baseline knowledge you need to start helping clients. Being able to state you're "certified" will go a long way to helping you land your first client.
At minimum, you'll need to be able to design and set up a basic local area network (wired and wireless), set up and configure laptop or desktop systems, set up and configure some kind of server, and set up firewall protection. Then you'll need to establish a high-speed data service from an Internet service provider, and configure the local network to talk to the Internet from behind the firewall. You'll also probably be setting up various off-premises services and resources, like web servers, application servers, and backup services that reside at a service provider's facility.
The first few clients will help you refine your training -- you'll probably get asked to help with some specific problem, and that'll tell you what else you need to learn about.
There aren't many popular books that will give you the background you need. Barnes & Noble and Amazon have a mess of "introduction to business networks" books, but only a few provide actual certification-level content, and you'll get that from a virtual training course. So the real decision for you is whether to get this knowledge completely by self-study, or to get training from a vendor (and pay for those classes). If you can spend the time required for self-study, make sure the texts you buy offer a path to certification.
To add to Paul's post, pick up a CCNA Study Book (Cisco) as it teaches you the basics and fundamentals of networking and gets you to start thinking in layers and protocols at each layer. This is important. There are a few network simulation tools out there that can help too.
Also pick up some books or research on the internet topics such as Windows and Linux networking.
Hopefully from there you can expand to different technologies however master the fundamentals (layers and protocols). Hope that helps!!
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