Linux Operating System, Local Area Networks, Wide Area Networks, common carriers and packet-switched networks; protocols, interfaces, and operating systems (networking components)

This course covers a variety of Telecom/Networking topics. These may include, but are not limited to:

1. Concepts (and/or Hands-on)
a. Overview
b. ISO/OSI Model
c. Wire vs. wireless technologies
d. Protocols
e. Topologies
f. Security
g. Issues & Ethics

2. Hands-on (and/or Concepts)
a. Linux b. Hardware c. Wireless d. Problem Solving e. Security/Permissions/Configuration f. Routing g. DNS

The successful student should be to recognize, identify, explain, describe, compare and contrast, analyze, and apply knowledge in each topic addressed throughout the semester. Some general objectives follow.

Upon completion of this course, the successful student will be able to:

1. Describe, explain, name, list, identify, and recognize the concepts, components, and uses of telecommunications/networking.

2. Demonstrate through hands-on activities the ability to set-up and trouble-shoot software for a data-communications network.

3. Compare and contrast various approaches to networking, describe or identify tradeoffs to each approach, and explain or recognize ways to choose which type of network to implement in a given situation.

4. Program simple network applications.

Required Textbook: Stallings, William. (2001, 4^th ed.). Business Data Communications. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-088263-1.

Optional Text: Kirch and Dawson. (2000) Linux Network Administrators Guide, O’Reilly Publishers. ISBN:1-56592-400-2

Tests	In-class tests (during the semester, and during finals week). See more details on course outline
Individual HW	Regular assignments throughout the semester
Group HW	Refer to group HW description handouts, course schedule, and class discussion for details

A few individual homework assignments will be given throughout the semester. The details of these assignments and their due dates will be provided as the semester progresses. These assignments are to be done individually (see “Individual Work” and “Professional Standards of Scholarship” sections below.) All assignments are due at the beginning of class on the due date for the assignment.

A few of the homework assignments this semester may be completed in small student groups. Your grade for the group assignments will be made up of my evaluation of your project and incorporation of self and peer team member evaluations. Details will be provided during the first two weeks of class and throughout the semester, and will be posted to the class web site as they become available. Please remember that with a large class, this may take longer.

All work turned in for a grade should be done to the same level of quality as would be expected in a professional/work environment. This means that all submissions should be neatly typed, use proper grammar and punctuation, have correct spelling, follow standard writing style guidelines, give credit when material is quoted, used, and/or referenced, etc. (See more detailed explanations below under Individual Work and Professional Standards of Scholarship.) Sometimes use of various media (slides, computer presentation, live video) and tools/techniques (Powerpoint, Rational Rose, etc.) are recommended.

Late work is generally not accepted. All submissions are due at the beginning of class on the date specified unless otherwise explicitly noted in class, via the class listserv, and/or on the class web site. Frequently, the assignment will be reviewed during the first few minutes of class on the day it is due. Thus, ALL HOMEWORK IS DUE DURING THE FIRST FIVE (5) MINUTES OF THE CLASS PERIOD AT WHICH IT IS DUE. (If in doubt as to whether you will make it to class on time, submit it to me early!)

There will be NO MAKE-UP TESTS given unless you have a university-approved excuse and contact me BEFORE the test in question is given. Tests and homework will not be excused simply for vacations, etc. Schedule your vacations for after the semester is completely finished.

For work assigned to be done individually (Individual Homework), you should turn in only work that you yourself have done. Work submitted as your own, but which was done all or in part by others, will not receive full credit – in fact, it is likely to receive no credit. This is known as plagiarism, and is dealt with very seriously. If you draw on previous work done by others, be sure to give appropriate credit when this is the case¹. When you are asked to work alone, make sure you do that. Obviously, for group work (Group Project) you will work together and turn in a group product. In short, since you are each unique individuals, I expect to be able to easily tell from the work you submit that you worked independently; collaborative work tends to “jump out” at me because it looks “suspiciously similar” to something I’ve already seen. Make sure you work sufficiently independently so that I can easily tell that you have done your own work. A penalty will be assigned to those who submit collaborative work when it was assigned to be done individually. The minimum penalty is usually a ZERO on the assignment, but University Policy allows for more serious penalties when warranted.

See University policy on Academic Integrity (CSU General Catalog, 1999-2000, pp. 32-36) for further details.

Professional standards of scholarship require that any time an individual relies on another’s work, proper credit must be given. This means that any time one directly uses textual material that it must be placed within quotes and referenced properly; other non-textual material must be shown with proper credit given citing the original source of the work. When material is not used in exact form (paraphrased, major ideas relied on or referred to, etc.) it should still be given credit as well, although it is not put within quotes. Always give credit to ideas or materials that are not yours². If in doubt, give credit.

Violations of these standards are highly disapproved of, and appropriate academic action will be taken depending on the situation. Be professional, give credit where it is due, turn in work that is your own, and you will be fine.

IF YOU ARE UNCERTAIN ABOUT HOW TO DEAL WITH THESE ISSUES, PLEASE TALK WITH ME. I AM HERE TO HELP YOU LEARN AND TO HELP YOU WHEN YOU ARE UNCERTAIN ABOUT WHAT TO DO. DO NOT HESITATE TO ASK QUESTIONS!

Besides expecting professional standards of scholarship, generally accepted U.S. standards for written work will applied to documents turned in for this course. This means that grammar, punctuation, spelling, and citation of references should follow standard guidelines. APA (American Psychological Association) or another common standard is acceptable for work submitted for this course. Be consistent; be neat; be professional.

You are receiving a degree from an American university, which you and the University want to be well-respected. Thus you will be held to relevant American academic standards.

See University policy on Academic Integrity (CSU General Catalog, 1999-2000, pp. 32-36) for further details.

While participation is not directly taken into account when determining course grades, it is expected both during class lectures, via e-mail, during group project meetings, and through individual group project work. This course may involve new ideas and almost certainly requires learning new skills and behaviors with respect to your software development habits. Thus participation in class is anticipated to be beneficial and full involvement is expected.

The best way to contact me is via Internet e-mail (until late in the semester when my fingers get really tired!). Send e-mail to the address listed on the first page of this syllabus and I will probably respond within 24 hours of receiving your note. (Mostly likely within just a few hours ¾ I check mail several times a day almost every day of the week, and expect you will probably do likewise.) I assume that you have an Internet e-mail address and will be using it regularly throughout this class. (If you do not have an account, apply for one right away!) I will expect to be able to send e-mail to each of you and to get prompt replies.

I will use e-mail, the WWW, and the class Outlook Public Folders / Discussion List to post notices, schedule changes, etc. Numerous handouts, course objectives, and assignments are distributed in electronic form (non-paper) through e-mail and Web pages or Public Folders which I continually update throughout the semester. You will want to visit the class sites frequently.

Finally, I will use a class discussion list to communicate common information to all of you in my section of the course. The discussion list is currently set up, and I will start using it immediately. In order for you to obtain messages that are sent to the list, simply go to the “Outlook Mail” link on the left side of the College of Business home web page (www.biz.colostate.edu). From there “jump to the login page” (and accept/install the security certificate as necessary if prompted). Then give your first and last name, with spaces, to begin the process to Log On to Microsoft Outlook Web Access. Enter your domain and login (e.g. bizdom/chrisa, for Chris Anderson) and password when requested in a dialog window (these are the same ones you use to logon to PCs in the lab) and after having these accepted you should finally see the Outlook Web Access page. Your Inbox is probably displayed, so select the “Public Folders” icon from the left side of the screen. Then follow the links through “Business College | Classes | BD Classes” and finally to “BD620 or BD350”. Now you will finally see our class’ section of the Public Folders area.

In this section you will see three more links, “Assignments, Quizzes, etc.,” “Discussions,” and “Instructor Notes.” Unless otherwise noted during the semester, we will primarily use the “Discussions” area. This area allows for threaded discussions, where you and/or I can bring up issues and we can all participate in an electronic discussion. If there are problems or questions that you think others may have or want to know answers to, compose a new “Post to this Folder” after selecting the “Discussions” link. (The “Compose New” “Post to this Folder” is on the upper right hand side of the “Discussions” screen.) You can “Reply to Folder” (reply to a threaded discussion message and have it show up in the discussion list) or “Reply to Sender” (reply and have the reply go only back to the originator of the message). PLEASE TO NOT REPLY TO FOLDER to just chat with the originator. PLEASE ONLY REPLY TO FOLDER WITH DISCUSSIONS THAT WILL BE USEFUL TO THE REST OF THE CLASS. J

Of course, propriety and common respect and courtesy are expected in these discussions, and if I find that this is not the case I will remove inappropriate postings and take further action if warranted.

You are responsible for all announcements and any schedule changes made in class ¾ even if you were not at class. Find out from your friends/classmates if there were announcements when you were not present!

I will use Internet e-mail and the WWW to post notices, schedule changes, etc. that are not able to made in class. Messages will be sent to your personal account. (If you do not have an account, apply for one right away!) Almost all assignments and handouts are distributed in electronic form (non-paper) through E-Mail and Web pages that I continually update throughout the semester. You will want to visit them frequently.

¹For details see section entitled Professional Standards of Scholarship.
²This includes software source code as well. Always give credit when you rely on someone else’s ideas, examples, algorithms, source code, etc.