Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996
Objectives At the completion of this subject students should appreciate the features of networked systems; appreciate the strengths and weaknesses of the currently available network operating systems; and have developed network communications and/or management programs.
Synopsis Media issues: data link protocols. The OSI model and its application to LANs and WANs: MAC-level and related interfaces, CSMA/CD, Token Bus, Token Ring, fibre-optic distributed data interface, ATM. Personal computers and networks: PC-mainframe, operating systems. PC networking: Netbios, XNS, TCP/IP, NetBeU1, Appletalk, Novell Advanced Netware, client-server systems. Extending the LAN: metropolitan and wide-area networks, repeating, bridging, routing, gateways, multi-protocol environments, inter-networking protocols - TCP/IP, OSI, network management, GOSIP and the future.
Assessment Examination (2 hours): 50% + Practical work: 50%