L'acardia Academy
BEGINNER

Networking Fundamentals

From your first ping to cloud VPC design: interactive lessons, labs, quizzes, and AI tutoring aligned to CCNA, Network+, and AWS networking foundations.

48 hours · 10 modules

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Videos, readings, interactive diagrams, quizzes, and hands-on labs in one player.

Exam objectives

  • Explain network types, topologies, and the role of switches, routers, and firewalls
  • Configure and troubleshoot IPv4 addressing and subnetting
  • Describe DNS, DHCP, and common application protocols
  • Compare OSI and TCP/IP models with packet flow
  • Apply basic wireless and network security controls
  • Relate on-premises concepts to AWS VPC networking

Course contents

Select any lesson to open slides, video, or lab.

Module 1

Introduction to Networking

Discover what networks are, how data moves between devices, and the building blocks every engineer uses daily.

180 min
  • • Define LAN, WAN, PAN, and MAN with real examples
  • • Identify common physical and logical topologies
  • • Explain the role of NICs, switches, routers, and firewalls
5 lessons 1 labs

Module 2

Understanding IP Addresses

IPv4 addressing, private vs public space, DHCP, and how hosts get on the network.

200 min
  • • Convert between binary and decimal for IPv4 octets
  • • Classify private, public, and special-use addresses
  • • Explain DHCP DORA process
5 lessons 1 labs

Module 3

Routers, Switches, and Firewalls

Layer 2 switching, Layer 3 routing, and security policy at the edge and between zones.

210 min
  • • Compare collision domains vs broadcast domains
  • • Explain MAC learning and CAM tables on switches
  • • Describe default gateway and routing table behavior
6 lessons 1 labs

Module 4

DNS and Internet Communication

How names become addresses, DNS record types, and troubleshooting resolution failures.

190 min
  • • Explain DNS hierarchy and recursive vs authoritative servers
  • • Identify A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT records
  • • Use dig/nslookup for troubleshooting
5 lessons 1 labs

Module 5

TCP/IP and OSI Models

Layered models, encapsulation, and following a packet from application to wire.

200 min
  • • Map OSI layers 1-7 to TCP/IP layers
  • • Describe encapsulation and decapsulation
  • • Compare TCP vs UDP use cases
5 lessons 1 labs

Module 6

Subnetting Fundamentals

CIDR, VLSM, designing subnets for real requirements, and fast mental math techniques.

240 min
  • • Calculate usable hosts from prefix length
  • • Design subnets for a given host count
  • • Apply VLSM to conserve address space
6 lessons 1 labs Assessment

Module 7

Wi-Fi and Wireless Networking

802.11 standards, SSIDs, security modes, and troubleshooting wireless connectivity.

170 min
  • • Compare 2.4 GHz vs 5 GHz vs 6 GHz tradeoffs
  • • Explain WPA2 vs WPA3
  • • Describe BSS, SSID, and roaming basics
5 lessons

Module 8

Network Security Basics

Defense in depth, ACLs, VPN overview, and secure operations mindset.

200 min
  • • Apply CIA triad to network design
  • • Configure basic ACL permit/deny logic
  • • Differentiate IDS vs IPS conceptually
6 lessons 1 labs

Module 9

Cloud Networking Fundamentals

AWS VPC building blocks: subnets, route tables, IGW, NAT, security groups, and NACLs.

220 min
  • • Design a simple VPC with public and private subnets
  • • Compare security groups vs NACLs
  • • Explain Internet Gateway vs NAT Gateway
5 lessons 1 labs

Module 10

Final Assessment and Certification Prep

Comprehensive review, scenario troubleshooting, certification mapping, and readiness score.

240 min
  • • Review all path objectives in integrated scenarios
  • • Complete capstone troubleshooting scenarios
  • • Map weak areas to remediation lessons
6 lessons 3 labs Assessment