Unit Guide

General Information

Unit convenor and teaching staff	Unit convenor and teaching staff Convenor and Lecturer Damian Jurd damian.jurd@mq.edu.au Contact via Contact via email 4 Research Park Drive By Appointment (via email) Lecturer Frances Louise frances.louise@mq.edu.au Contact via Contact via email 4 Research Park Drive By Appointment (via email)
Credit points	Credit points 10
Prerequisites	Prerequisites COMP2250 or COMP247
Corequisites	Corequisites
Co-badged status	Co-badged status
Unit description	Unit description This unit is designed to impart practical skills in designing, configuring, installing, and troubleshooting computer internetworks using equipment such as routers and switches. This unit allows students to develop knowledge and expertise in key areas such as IP fundamentals, LAN Switching, IP addressing, and routing. It allows students to expand their skill set by providing exposure to Cisco equipment thereby enabling them to better understand the design and implementation of various networking technologies and protocols. Using various assessment tasks, this unit also aims to enhance students' skills in critical thinking and problem solving.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

ULO1: Develop an understanding of networking fundamentals.
ULO2: Understand, Build, configure and troubleshoot switched Ethernet LANs and Virtual LANs.
ULO3: Explain IP addressing schemes and troubleshoot IPv4 address problems.
ULO4: Demonstrate a detailed knowledge of IPv4 routing technology and implement and troubleshoot IPv4 routed network.
ULO5: Collaborate and communicate with others in a professional setting.
ULO6: Conduct professional work ethically with a high level of integrity, autonomy, and accountability.

General Assessment Information

Submission of assessable work

For all your assignments, and for your professional life in the future, you are encouraged to

set your personal deadline earlier than the official deadline
keep backups of all your important files
make sure that no-one else has access to your files or documents

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.

Practical Workshops

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 eleven 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.

We will take the best ten out of your eleven submissions to calculate your final mark for this section.

Practical classess will commence during week 2 of the semester. Students must attend their enrolled practical session.

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.

Module Exams

Due: Weekly (starting week 4) Weighting: 10%

The module exams in this unit makes up 10% of your mark.

Module exams will be held during the first hour of your practical session in most weeks (some weeks will have two module exams).

Module exams will commence during week 2 of the semester. Students must attend their enrolled practical session to complete their module exams.

Assignments

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.

Assignment 1

Due: Mid-semester break Weighting: 10%

The purpose of the problem-solving assignment is to help the students to get accustomed to dealing with real world networking problem situations/issues. It is designed to help students analyse problems and find best solutions to these problems. Some questions may require an in-depth research and will be a process to come up with an acceptable and reasonable answer.

Assignment 2

Due: Week 12 Weighting: 20%

Students will be presented with a situation showing details of how an organization’s network is currently working inefficiently. Students will research and determine the best configuration to help improve this network’s performance. They will need to explain and support the decisions and be able to explain how the changes that are suggested will be of benefit to the organization including describing how the changes will be managed and implemented

Final Exams

Due: Final exam period Weighting: 30%

The final examinations ask students to answer conceptual questions about the course material as well as solve simple networking problems. In the case a student cannot attend the final exam, a request for special consideration must be made.

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.

Lab Exams

Due: Final exam period Weighting: 20%

The lab examinations ask students to apply what they have learned during the semester to a provided scenario, which may involve the analysis, design, and troubleshooting of a network. In the case a student cannot attend the final exam, a request for special consideration must be made.

Assessment Tasks

Name	Weighting	Hurdle	Due
Weekly Practical	10%	No	Weekly
Module Exams	10%	No	Most weeks
Assignment 1	10%	No	Mid-semester break
Assignment 2	20%	No	Week 12
Lab Examination	20%	No	Week 7 and Final exam period
Final Examination	30%	No	Week 7 and Final exam period

Weekly Practical

Assessment Type ¹: Design Implementation
Indicative Time on Task ²: 24 hours
Due: Weekly
Weighting: 10%

Practical marks are obtained by attendance of practical sessions and making a suitable attempt at the practical work during the session. The practical work in this unit makes up 10% of the total mark. To receive marks a student must attend the practical section and demonstrate completion of the section to the practical supervisor. Earning the marks will require not only successful completion of the exercises, but presentation of appropriate documentation, as outlined in the question sheets. Student should complete the practical session in the week it is allocated.