Week 1 ( 9/10th Dec 2004 )

We are given an introduction to the topic in which the supervisor incorporated the help of demonstrations to illustrate how networking is carried out. We were given a CCNA 1 & 2 book and a set of Lab sheets. And we also asked to install Packet Tracer 3.2. The first demonstration was on how to ping connectivity between computers that are 2 hops away which means that the computers are 2 routers away from each other. This was generated using the program named Packet Tracer 3.2. We will then told to do about the same thing. In the afternoon, we were given lecture on 1st chapter of CCNA 1 & 2 book. We had a short test at the end of it.

These are the commands that we had learnt :

en ( Enable )

conf t ( Configure Terminal )

int [Port Name]

ip add [Ip add ] [Subnet Mask]

no shut ( Device will not shut down )

clock rate ( Only need at the DCE end )

router rip ( To activate created network )

net [Ip Add] ( Network ip address that want to be activated )

show ip route ( Show all the ip address that are connected )

sh run ( Show all the details that had been configured )

Week 2 ( 16/17th Dec 2004 )

This week we were told to finish the exercises from 1.1 to 2.1. Without the help of our supervisors, I encountered some problems.The packets we create cannot pass through the 1st router. Later I found out that the ip address is set wrongly. Another problem I encountered is when I cannot stimulate the program because the one of connection is not up. Therefore I asked Mr Chan what went wrong. Then he checked and found out that I forgot to type 1 command. In the afternoon, we were given lecture on 2nd chapter of CCNA 1 & 2. We learnt about Coaxial cables, Shielded Twisted Pair, Optic Fibre Wire and some others. The advantages and the disadvantages of the wires and how to differentiate the wires. We had a short test at the end of our lecture. Mr Leong showed us more advanced networks for our projects.

Week 3 ( 23/24th Dec 2004 )

Today we were told to complete Lab 1 to 3 and 8 to 10 of IN1 by today and submit to Mr Lau for marking. I learnt about ip addressing. There are 5 classes. Class A, B, C ,D and E. But we only need to know A, B and C. We were given lecture as usual in the afternoon. We learnt about the types of crosstalks, wiring faults. Test parameters must be verified to meet TIA/EIA standards. Examples such as wire map, insertion loss, cable length etc. After that we were given test after that. We also told to redraw the CSMA/CD process table in our own words. It's quite tough after all. But we manage to do it in the end. Mr Chan asked us to download a program called Ethereal from www.ethereal.com/download.html as this program will help us how the configuration really works and how data is sent with trailer and header.

Week 4 ( 30/31th Dec 2004 )

Early in the morning, Mr Chan want us to do a circuit out practically using Hyper Terminal as he ask the TSO, Mr Eric, to take 2 switches and 3 routers. He wrote all the required ip address for us to configure and he programmed one of the routers for us. And we need to do the same for the rest. He also drew a diagram to show us how a file is created through the OSI layers.

These are the commands that we used :

er s ( Erase Start )

reload

hostname [Name]

no ip doman-lookup

copy run start ( To save what had been created )

ip dhcp excluded [ip address that want to be reserved]

ip dhcp pool

default-router ( Set a default router )

Week 5 ( 6/7th Jan 2004 )

Our 3 supervisors, Mr Lau, Mr Chan and Mr Leong prepared us for the coming Panel Review. Mr Lau assigned us to come up 2 scenarios for each of us. And from there, we will choose the best out from each of us. He also want us to show them what had we done so far. From the 1st week till now. They commented on them and give us precious advices to improve on our programs and need to understand what exactly going on. I tried alot of different scenarios and it really did help on my understanding of what is the different of a switch and a hub.