Notice
As part of Phase 3 of our return to campus plan, most units will now run tutorials, seminars and other small group activities on campus, and most will keep an online version available to those students unable to return or those who choose to continue their studies online.
To check the availability of face-to-face and online activities for your unit, please go to timetable viewer. To check detailed information on unit assessments visit your unit's iLearn space or consult your unit convenor.
Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Convenor and Lecturer
Damian Jurd
Contact via Contact via email
4 Research Park Drive
By Appointment (via email)
Super Tutor
Carl Svensson
Contact via Contact via email
4 Research Park Drive
By Appointment (via email)
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Credit points |
Credit points
10
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Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
(COMP1000 or COMP115) or (COMP1350 or ISYS114)
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Corequisites |
Corequisites
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Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
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Unit description |
Unit description
This unit introduces basic data communication concepts, theory and practice within the context of the use of communication networks in organisations. Topics include:
Practical work includes basic network hardware set up and protocol performance in a specialised laboratory using dedicated switching and routing equipment. This unit does not presume any knowledge of programming nor is there any programming work in the unit. |
Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
For all your assignments, and for your professional life in the future, you are encouraged to
Late work will not be accepted. Develop good working habits and manage your time well. If your contributions are seriously affected by illness or misadventure you do your utmost to submit a request for special consideration before the due date, do not email the unit convenor directly.
Due: Weekly (starting week 2) Weighting: 10%
The practical work in this unit makes up 10% of your mark. The practical work is divided up into ten weekly practical classes.
To receive your marks you must attend the practical section and demonstrate your completion of the practical exercises to your practical supervisor. Earning the marks will require not only successful completion of the exercises, but submission of appropriate documentation, as outlined in the question sheets. You must complete the practical session in the week it is allocated.
Each practical contributes 1% of your total mark for the unit.
Practical classess will commence during week 2 of the semester. Students must be enrolled in two practical classes: Practical_1 and Practical_2.
Practical_1 will utilise specialised networking equipment located in an specialised laboratory whereas Practical_2 will be conducted in a regular computing laboratory.
The student cohort has been divided into two streams:
Students in streams 1 though 15 will attend thier Practical_1 in weeks 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and Practical_2 in weeks 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13.
Students in streams 16 though 30 will attend thier Practical_1 in weeks 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and Practical_2 in weeks 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12.
Note that while the practical material is structured against the lecture material, you need to keep in mind that there will not always be a one to one mapping between the practical exercises and the lecture topics. This is because you need some practical sessions to get acquainted to new tools and devices thereby limiting the number of practical time slots available to experiment with technologies discussed in some lectures.
Assignment work must be written clearly, with good grammar, correct word usage, correct punctuation, and lack of spelling errors. Poor or bad expression will be penalised, Wherever required, all written work must be properly referenced and conform to standard stylistic conventions.
Due: Mid-semester break Weighting: 15%
The first assignment tests your understanding of local area networks, routing, and IP addressing.
Due: Week 12 Weighting: 15%
The second assignment tests your understanding of selected networking technologies.
Due: Attempt 1 (Weeks 3, 8, 10, and 13), Attempt 2 (Final exam period) Weighting: 60%
The module examinations ask students to answer conceptual questions about the course material as well as solve simple networking problems. Module exams are run in the first hour of the workshop in which the student is enrolled. Students may only attend module exams in workshops they are enrolled in. In the case a student cannot attend a module exam, a request for special consideration must be made. Students will be offered two attempts at each module exam, once during the teaching session and the second time during the final exam period. The student's best mark for each module is used in their final mark. A student's final mark for a module is the maximum mark they achieved in any of the student's attempt for that module.
If you receive special consideration for the final exam, a supplementary exam will be scheduled for a time in June 2021. By making a special consideration application for the final exam you are declaring yourself available to sit during the supplementary examination period and you will not be eligible for a second special consideration approval based on pre-existing commitments. Please ensure you are familiar with the policy prior to submitting an application. Approved applicants will receive an individual notification approximately one week prior to the exam with the exact date and time of the supplementary examination.
Name | Weighting | Hurdle | Due |
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Practical Workshops | 10% | No | Weekly |
Assignment 1 | 15% | No | Mid-semester break |
Assignment 2 | 15% | No | Week 12 |
Module Exams | 60% | No | Weeks 3, 8, 10, 13, and Final exam period |
Assessment Type 1: Demonstration
Indicative Time on Task 2: 0 hours
Due: Weekly
Weighting: 10%
To receive marks students must attend the practical section and demonstrate completion of the section to their practical supervisor.
Earning the marks will require not only successful completion of the exercises, but presentation of appropriate documentation, as outlined in the questions.
You must complete the practical session in the week it is allocated.
Assessment Type 1: Report
Indicative Time on Task 2: 25 hours
Due: Mid-semester break
Weighting: 15%
The first assignment tests students understanding of network stacks, layering, and addressing techniques.
Assessment Type 1: Report
Indicative Time on Task 2: 30 hours
Due: Week 12
Weighting: 15%
The second assignment tests your understanding of selected networking technologies.
Assessment Type 1: Examination
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: Weeks 3, 8, 10, 13, and Final exam period
Weighting: 60%
The module examinations ask students to answer conceptual questions about the course material as well as solve simple networking problems.
1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:
2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation
Each week you should attend two hours of lectures, and a two hour practical workshop. For details of days, times and rooms consult the timetables webpage.
Note that practicals workshops (lab sessions) commence in week 2. The week-by-week details of the practical (lab) classes will be available from iLearn.
You should have selected both a Practical_1 and a Practical_2 at enrolment. You must attend the practicals that you are enrolled in.
The textbook for this semester is:
Additional reading that you may find useful for this unit:
Kurose, J. & Ross, K. Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach 7th edn, Pearson, 2016
Unit Websites
Comp2250 is administered via iLearn (http://ilearn.mq.edu.au/).
This unit outline can be found in the university's unit guides
Live Streaming
Digital recordings of lectures may be available. They will be linked from iLearn.
In this unit you will will be exposed to the following technology and tools:
In this unit, you should do the following:
Lecture notes will be made available each week but these notes are intended as an outline of the lecture only and are not a substitute for your own notes or the recommended reading list.
Tentative teaching schedule, subject to change: |
Assessment Due |
Practical Workshop |
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Week |
Module |
Lecture |
Reading |
Assessment |
Weight |
Stream 1-15 |
Stream 16-30 |
1 |
Networking Fundamentals (NF) |
Introduction |
Ch 1 |
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Week 1 No Labs |
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2 |
LANs |
Ch 7 |
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09WW 240 Comware CLI |
04RPD G15 Wireshark |
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3 |
Layers and Stacks (LS) |
Network Layer |
Ch 5 |
Module Exam NF (30 min) |
10% |
04RPD G15 Wireshark |
09WW 240 Comware CLI |
4 |
Data-Link Layer |
Ch 4 |
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09WW 240 Subnetting |
04RPD G15 IP Headers |
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5 |
Transport Layer - TCP |
Ch’s 5 & 2 |
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04RPD G15 IP Headers |
09WW 240 Subnetting |
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6 |
Application Layer, Transport Layer - UDP |
Ch 5 |
|
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09WW 240 Switches, MAC and ARP |
04RPD G15 TCP and FTP |
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Mid-Semster Break |
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Break week 1 |
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Assignment 1 |
15% |
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Break week 2 |
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7 |
|
Physical Layer |
Ch 3 |
|
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04RPD G15 TCP and FTP |
09WW 240 Switches, MAC and ARP |
8 |
Network Security (NS) |
Network Security I |
Ch 11 |
Module Exam LS (60 min) |
20% |
09WW 240 Module Exam |
04RPD G15 Module Exam |
9 |
Network Security II |
Ch 11 |
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04RPD G15 NAT |
09WW240 Dynamic Routing - RIP |
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10 |
Internetworking and Network Architecture (IA) |
Backbone Networks |
Ch 8 |
Module Exam NS (30 min) |
10% |
09WW240 Dynamic Routing - RIP |
04RPD G15 NAT |
11 |
Wireless Networks |
Ch 7 |
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04RPD G15 WiFi |
09WW 240 VLANs |
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12 |
MAN and WAN |
Ch 9 |
Assignment 2 |
15% |
09WW 240 VLANs |
04RPD G15 WiFi |
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13 |
The Internet |
Ch 10 |
Module Exam IA (60 min) |
20% |
04RPD G15 Module Exam |
09WW 240 Module Exam |
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14 |
Formal Exam Period |
Exams week 1 |
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Final Exam NF, LS, NS, IA (180 min) |
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15 |
Exams week 2 |
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16 |
Exams week 3 |
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Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.
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Unit information based on version 2021.02 of the Handbook