30 MPLS courses in Birmingham

Networks demystified training course description A concise overview course covering all aspects of networking with particular emphasis of use of the 7 layer model as a framework for discussing and learning new network terms enabling delegates to recognise the main buzzwords used in the industry. What will you learn Use the 7 layer model to classify networking terms. Differentiate between LANS and WANS. Recognise bandwidth measurements. List LAN and WAN technologies. Recognise cabling issues in a network. Networks demystified training course details Who will benefit: Sales staff, managers and other non-technical personnel. Technical personnel may benefit more from our Intro to data communications and networking course. Prerequisites: None. Duration 1 day Networks demystified training course contents What are networks? What is a network? Types of network, Local Area Networks (LANs), Wide Area Networks (WANs), connecting networks together with routers. The 7 layer model What is the 7 layer model? The importance of standards, using the 7 layer model to classify networking terms. Cables Copper, Fibre, Air, standards, connectors, LAN cables, WAN cables, distance limitations, hubs and repeaters, other issues. The radio spectrum. Bandwidth Bits and bytes. Bandwidth measurements, common technologies and their bandwidth, the impact of applications on bandwidth. Full and half duplex. Joining cables together to increase bandwidth (Link aggregation). LANs and WANs What is Ethernet? What is WiFi? What are Leased lines? What is MPLS? Ethernet switches Ethernet 'packets', MAC addresses, what is a switch, what is the difference between a hub and a switch. TCP/IP What is TCP/IP? What is a protocol? What is IP? What is TCP? The role of routers in joining LANS and WANS, What is the Internet? Applications Ways to use the network, clients, servers, web browsing and HTTP, Email, instant messaging, multimedia applications.

Transmission demystified training course description Transmission is the process of sending information along a medium of, copper, fibre or wireless. This course looks at transmission techniques for both telecommunications and data communications with a particular focus on Microwave, SDH, DWDM transmission. The course aims to demystify these technologies by explaining all the buzzwords used in transmission. What will you learn Describe various transmission technologies such as multiplexing and demultiplexing. Explain how Microwave works. Explain how SDH works. Explain how DWDM works. Transmission demystified training course details Who will benefit: Anyone working in telecommunications. Prerequisites: None. Duration 2 days Transmission demystified training course contents Transmission basics Systems, media, signals. Signal degradation, noise, distortion, attenuation. Digital, analogue. Modulation, encoding. RF Frequency, wavelength. Distance / range issues, interference, Antenna, power, dB, RF propagation, testing. Microwave transmission What is microwave transmission, point to point communications, line of sight, parabolic antenna, relays, planning considerations, rain and other issues Wired transmissions Copper, Fibre, optical transmission, fibre characteristics, fibre component parts. Multi Mode Fibre (MMF). Single Mode Fibre (SMF). Fibre connections. Lasers. Attenuations, dispersion, optical signal noise ratios (OSNR) and their effects. Channel Spacing and Signal Direction. Limiting factors to single wavelength. Introduction to SDH Timing and synchronisation of digital signals, the plesiochronous digital hierarchy (PDH), the synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH), service protection with SDH. TDM. SDH6 Standards, basic units, frames, STM1 frame, bit rates, STM0, STM1, STM4, STM16, STM64, STM256, SDH architecture, rings, Add drop multiplexors. SDH network topologies, structure of SDH equipment, SDH synchronisation, protection switching in SDH networks, SDH alarm structure, testing of SDH, equipment and systems, Ethernet over SDH. WDM overview Multiplexing, TDM, WDM benefits. WDM standards. CWDM vs. DWDM. Four Wave Mixing (FWM). Impact and countermeasures to FWM on WDM.tructure of SDH equipment, SDH synchronisation, protection switching in SDH networks, SDH alarm structure, testing of SDH, equipment and systems, Ethernet over SDH. DWDM ITU G.694.1, channel and spacing. Optical Terminal Multiplexers (OTM). Optical Add/Drop Multiplexers (OADM). Adding versus dropping. Optical Amplifiers. Erbium Doped Fibre Amplifiers (EDFA). Transponders and Combiners. Optical and Electrical Cross Connects (OXCs/DXCs). Cross Connect types (Transparent/Opaque). Advantages and disadvantages of various Optical cross connects. IP transmission Telecommunications versus data communications, IP transmission, VoIP, MPLS.

Telecomms training course description A comprehensive tour of the telecommunications technologies and terminology currently in use, and under development. What will you learn List and describe components of the PSTN. Explain how calls are made over the PSTN Compare analog and digital transmission methods. Describe the technologies within the transport plane. Recognise the benefits of extra features available in today's telephone networks. Telecomms training course details Who will benefit: Anyone new to the Telecommunications industry. Prerequisites: None. Duration 2 days Telecomms training course contents Telephone network architecture Handsets, local loop, distribution points, Local exchanges, main telephone switches, PBXs. Making a call - some basics Telephone call components, how a telephone call works, accessing the local exchange, loop disconnect, DTMF, standards, E.164, PSTN routing, Intelligent Networks, Special Rate Services. Analogue vs Digital Voice characteristics, PSTN bandwidth, analogue signalling, Digital encoding, PCM and the 64k, ADPCM and other voice compression methods. PBXs PABX, Call processing, networking PBXs, PBX facilities, bandwidth, blocking probability and Erlangs, Erlang models, using Erlang tables. Transmission methods Two wire transmission, 64k circuits, Nx64, E1, 2 wire to 4 wire conversion, echo, echo suppression, echo cancellers, twisted pair, coax, fibre optic, power lines, satellite systems, microwave. Signalling Analogue signalling, loop start, earth calling, E&M, AC15. Digital signalling -CAS, robbed bits and E1 slot 16 signalling. Digital signalling CCS, Q.931, SS7, Q.SIG, DPNSS, DASS2. Transport planes PDH, PDH issues, SDH, SDH architecture, SDH standards, SDH bit rates, SDH mulitplexors, DWDM. Networks Circuit Switched Networks, TDM, Packet Switched Networks, Frame Relay, Message Switching, Circuit Switching, STDM, Cell Switching, ATM, ATM cells, ATM traffic parameters, ATM QoS, MPLS. Other network access Modems, modulation, speeds, ISDN, BRI, PRI, xDSL, SDSL, ADSL. Other Services Centrex, VPNs, FeatureNet, CTI, Call Processing Systems, Voice Mail, Automated Attendant Systems, Interactive Voice Response, Call Management Systems, Call Conferencing, Star Services. Mobile communications 3 types of wireless telephone, mobile generations, base stations, cells, GSM, GPRS, 3G, UMTS, WCDMA, 4G, LTE. VoIP overview What is VoIP, VoIP benefits, What is IP? The IP header, Packetising voice, VoIP addressing, H.323, SIP, RTP. Bandwidth requirements.

LTE Architecture and Protocols course description This course provides a comprehensive tour of the LTE architecture along with services provided and the protocols used. What will you learn Describe the overall architecture of LTE. Explain the information flows through LTE. Describe the LTE security. Describe LTE mobility management. Recognise the next steps for LTE. LTE Architecture and Protocols course details Who will benefit: Anyone working with LTE. Prerequisites: Mobile communications demystified Duration 3 days LTE Architecture and Protocols course contents Introduction History, LTE key features. The 4G ITU process. The LTE 3GPP specifications. Specifications. System Architecture LTE hardware architecture. UE architecture and capabilities. E-UTRAN and eNB. EPC, MME functions, SGW, PGW and PCRF. System interfaces and protocol stacks. Example information flows. Dedicated and default bearers. EMM, ECM, RRC state diagrams. Radio transmission and reception OFDMA, SC-FDMA, MIMO antennas. Air interface protocol stack. Logical, transport and physical channels. Frame and slot structure, the resource grid. Resource element mapping of the physical channels and signals. Cell acquisition, data transmission and random access. MAC, RLC, PDCP protocols. LTE spectrum allocation. Power-on procedures Network and cell selection. RRC connection establishment. Attach procedure, including IP address allocation and default bearer activation. LTE detach procedure. Security in LTE networks LTE security features, identity confidentiality, ciphering and integrity protection. Architecture of network access security in LTE. Secure key hierarchy. Authentication and key agreement procedure. Security mode command procedure. Network domain security architecture. Security associations using IKE and IPSec. Mobility management RRC_IDLE, RRC_CONNECTED. Cell reselection, tracking area updates. Measurement reporting. X2 and S1 based handovers. Interoperation with UMTS, GSM and non-3GPP technologies such as cdma2000. QoS, policy control and charging QoS in LTE, EPS bearers, service data flows and packet flows. The architecture and signalling procedures for policy and charging control. Data transport using GPRS, differentiated services and MPLS. Offline and online charging in LTE. Delivery of voice and text messages over LTE Difficulties and solutions for Voice over LTE. Architecture and call setup procedures for circuit switched fallback. Architecture, protocols and call setup procedures in IP multimedia subsystem. Enhancements in release 9 LTE location services. Multimedia broadcast / multicast service and MBSFN. Cell selection, commercial mobile alert service. LTE Advanced and release 10 Impact of carrier aggregation on LTE air interface. Enhanced MIMO processing on uplink and downlink. Relaying. Release 11 and beyond. OAM and self organising networks Operation, administration, maintenance and provisioning for LTE. Self-configuration of base station parameters. Fractional frequency re-use, inter-cell interference co-ordination. Self-optimisation of base station procedures. Self-healing to detect and recover from faults.

LTE Backhaul training course description This course provides a concise insight into the LTE backhaul. Key parts of the course are detailed looks at the transport of messages and the S1 and X2 protocols. What will you learn Describe the overall architecture of LTE. Explain how data and signalling messages are transported in LTE. Describe the S1 protocol. Describe the X2 protocol. LTE Backhaul training course details Who will benefit: Anyone working with LTE. Prerequisites: Mobile communications demystified Duration 2 days LTE Backhaul training course contents Introduction In the first section of the course, we review LTE and its hardware and software architecture. Requirements and key features of LTE. LTE Architecture and capabilities of the UE. Architecture of the E-UTRAN, functions of the eNB. EPC architecture, and functions of the MME, SGW, PGW and PCRF. System interfaces and protocol stacks. Example information flows. Dedicated and default bearers. EMM, ECM and RRC state diagrams. Architecture of the radio access network In this section, we look in more detail at the architecture of the evolved UMTS terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN). Logical and physical architecture of the E-UTRAN. Numbering, addressing and identification. E-UTRAN functions. E-UTRAN protocol stacks. Timing and frequency synchronisation in LTE. Transport of data and signalling in LTE Here, we look in more detail at the techniques and protocols that are used to transport data and signalling messages across the evolved UMTS terrestrial radio access network and the evolved packet core. Quality of service in LTE. The GPRS tunnelling protocol. Differentiated services Multi-protocol label switching (MPLS). The stream control transmission protocol (SCTP). The S1 application protocol This section gives a detailed account of the signalling procedures in the S1 application protocol, which the MME uses to control the operation of the eNB. The material looks at the procedures, messages and information elements, and relates them to the system-level procedures in which they are used. S1 setup procedure. UE context management procedures. Non access stratum information transport. Procedures for managing the evolved radio access bearer (E-RAB). Paging procedures. Mobility management procedures for S1-based handovers. Procedures in support of self-optimising networks. The X2 application protocol This section gives a detailed account of the signalling procedures in the X2 application protocol, which is used for peer-to-peer communication between eNBs. The material looks at the procedures, messages and information elements, and relates them to the system-level procedures in which they are used. X2 setup procedure. Mobility management procedures for X2-based handovers Procedures in support of self-optimising networks. High level system operation In the final section, we bring our discussions of the S1 and X2 application protocols together by reviewing the system-level operation of LTE. Attach procedure. Transitions between the states of RRC Idle and RRC Connected. Tracking area updates in RRC Idle. Handover procedures in RRC Connected.

Peering at LINX training course description A one or two day induction course covering the technical procedures of LINX along with correct interaction with LINX and LINX members. This course focuses on the implementation of the technologies within the LINX network. For those already competent in BGP the one day version of this course is sufficient. What will you learn Explain the role of LINX in the Internet. Correctly connect to LINX. Recognise the correct procedures for peering at LINX. Use the current Best Current Practices. Peering at LINX training course details Who will benefit: Technical staff of new LINX members. Technical staff of companies preparing to join LINX. Non technical staff may also benefit from this course. Prerequisites: None. (For technical staff with BGP knowledge 1 day) Duration 1 to 2 days Peering at LINX training course contents Introduction and review Networks, The Internet, IP, routers, Autonomous systems, the structure of the Internet, the role of Internet Exchanges. BGP and peering. LINX, EuroIX, RIPE. What you get when you join LINX. LINX products: Connexions, Virtual PoPs, Colocation resales, LINX from anywhere. LINX infrastructure The original architecture, The growth of LINX, the current topology. LINX London locations. Dual LAN topology. LON1, LON2. Use of MPLS to connect London sites. Regional peering: LINX NoVa, LINX Manchester, LINX Wales, LINX Scotland, ManxIX, JEDIX. Connecting with LINX nnecting with LINX Locations. 1/10/100/400G. Interface specifications. Link aggregation. The racks and space provided, access to the racks, connecting WAN circuits into LINX. The connection form, How to link your ISP with LINX, switch assignments, limits on traffic, average measured traffic, getting statistics from LINX, Using looking glass. Allowed traffic. Port security Configuration hints LINX IP details, IPv4, IPv6, PTR records, Cisco base configuration, Juniper base configuration. Peering with other LINX members Preparing for peering, the peering template, setting up the peering, RFC 2142, the RIPE database, contacts, peeringdb.net, solving downed BGP sessions, escalation procedures. Peering configuration hints Cisco BGP configuration, Juniper BGP configuration. LINX additional services Private interconnect, LINX time service. NTP, Strata. The LINX route server Bi lateral peering, Multi lateral peering. How the LINX route server is configured. Use of communities on the route server, template for peering with the route server. Summary Getting further information, the LINX website, the LINX mailing lists.

BGP training course description A detailed study of BGP, from the basics of how it works through to advanced issues such as route reflectors, policy, filtering, route selection and routing registries. The course culminates with a study of an industrial strength BGP template illustrating important issues such as bogon filtering. Practical hands on with routers follow the major sessions to reinforce the theory. A multiple choice exam, leading to the LAIT III certification, is available after the course. The exam consists of 60 questions and lasts 2 hours. What will you learn Connect enterprises to the Internet, and ISPs to each other. Describe how BGP works. List, describe and configure the main BGP attributes. Implement and troubleshoot BGP. Work with route aggregation and calculate CIDR prefixes in seconds. Influence traffic paths with BGP. BGP training course details Who will benefit: Anyone who will be working with BGP. Prerequisites: TCP/IP Foundation for engineers Definitive IP routing for engineers. Duration 5 days BGP training course contents Basic BGP IGPs, EGPs, What's BGP? BGP RIB, in/out process, tables peers, adding routes. Hands on Simple configuration and troubleshooting. The Internet and peering ASs, AS numbers, Internet structure, ISP types, ISP network design, IXs, peering vs. transit, public/ private peering, bi/multi-lateral peering. Hands on AS information gathering. How BGP works Incremental updates, Path vector protocols, BGP protocol stack, the BGP header, message types, NLRI, withdrawn routes, route refresh, route dampening. Hands on More troubleshooting, packet analysis. MBGP and IPv6 Multiprotocol routing, AFI, SAFI, MBGP and multicasts, IPv6, MPLS VPNs. Hands on IPv6 BGPv4 aggregation CIDR, benefits, techniques, shortcuts, configuring BGP aggregation, leaking routes. Hands on Reducing routing table size. BGP path selection BGP attributes, attribute types, route selection order, Local preference, AS prepend, MEDs. Hands on Influencing traffic with BGP. BGP routing policies What is policy? Examples, route filtering, AS filtering, REs, applying preference selectively, peer groups. Hands on Sophisticated policies. RIPE and routing registries RIRs, Allocations, assignments, PI vs. PA. Objects, RPSL, routing registry, Hands on The RIPE database. Automating BGP configuration Automation tools, whois, IRRToolSet, Bogon lists, tracking bogon lists, HTTP, Peering, routing registries, DNS. Communities What is a community? Community names, communities for: peer types and geography. RFC 1998, default communities. Hands on Setting local preference on other routers. Route servers What are route servers? LINX route servers, route server policy control, What are route collectors, Looking glasses. Hands on Setting up and working with a route server. Peer relationships IBGP, EBGP, next hop self, advertising routes into/out of BGP, synchronisation. Hands on IBGP, troubleshooting a large BGP network. Route reflectors and confederations Full mesh IBGP, Route reflectors, RR configuration and design, confederations, migration issues. Hands on RR configuration. BGP architectures Stub vs. transit AS, when to use BGP, multihoming strategies and issues, default routes. Multihop EBGP, load balancing. Hands on Multihoming. BGP security RFC 7454, security steps, BGP TTL security, filters, RPKI, ROAs, rsync, rrdp, validators. A secure BGP template. Hands on RPKI prefix validation.

LINX 3 training course description A detailed study of BGP, from the basics of how it works through to advanced issues such as route reflectors, policy, filtering, route selection and routing registries. The course culminates with a study of an industrial strength BGP template illustrating important issues such as bogon filtering. Practical hands on with routers follow the major sessions to reinforce the theory. A multiple choice exam, leading to the LAIT III certification, is available after the course. The exam consists of 60 questions and lasts 2 hours. What will you learn Connect enterprises to the Internet, and ISPs to each other. Describe how BGP works. List, describe and configure the main BGP attributes. Implement and troubleshoot BGP. Work with route aggregation and calculate CIDR prefixes in seconds. Influence traffic paths with BGP. LINX 3 training course details Who will benefit: Network engineers. Prerequisites: LAIT I and II OR CCNP and take LAIT I and LAIT II exams whilst on this course. Duration 5 days LINX 3 training course contents Basic BGP IGPs, EGPs, What's BGP? BGP RIB, in/out process, tables peers, adding routes. Hands on Simple configuration and troubleshooting. The Internet and peering ASs, AS numbers, Internet structure, ISP types, ISP network design, IXs, peering vs. transit, public/ private peering, bi/multi-lateral peering. Hands on AS information gathering. How BGP works Incremental updates, Path vector protocols, BGP protocol stack, the BGP header, message types, NLRI, withdrawn routes, route refresh, route dampening. Hands on More troubleshooting, packet analysis. MBGP and IPv6 Multiprotocol routing, AFI, SAFI, MBGP and multicasts, IPv6, MPLS VPNs. Hands on IPv6 BGPv4 aggregation CIDR, benefits, techniques, shortcuts, configuring BGP aggregation, leaking routes. Hands on Reducing routing table size. BGP path selection BGP attributes, attribute types, route selection order, Local preference, AS prepend, MEDs. Hands on Influencing traffic with BGP. BGP routing policies What is policy? Examples, route filtering, AS filtering, REs, applying preference selectively, peer groups. Hands on Sophisticated policies. RIPE and routing registries RIRs, Allocations, assignments, PI vs. PA. Objects, RPSL, routing registry, Hands on The RIPE database. Automating BGP configuration Automation tools, whois, IRRToolSet, Bogon lists, tracking bogon lists, HTTP, Peering, routing registries, DNS. Communities What is a community? Community names, communities for: peer types and geography. RFC 1998, default communities. Hands on Setting local preference on other routers. Route servers What are route servers? LINX route servers, route server policy control, What are route collectors, Looking glasses. Hands on Setting up and working with a route server. Peer relationships IBGP, EBGP, next hop self, advertising routes into/out of BGP, synchronisation. Hands on IBGP, troubleshooting a large BGP network. Route reflectors and confederations Full mesh IBGP, Route reflectors, RR configuration and design, confederations, migration issues. Hands on RR configuration. BGP architectures Stub vs. transit AS, when to use BGP, multihoming strategies and issues, default routes. Multihop EBGP, load balancing. Hands on Multihoming. BGP security RFC 7454, security steps, BGP TTL security, filters, RPKI, ROAs, rsync, rrdp, validators. A secure BGP template. Hands on RPKI prefix validation.

Network management technologies course description A comprehensive tour of the available network management technologies available for todays networks. The course starts with basic tools such as syslog along with Python network automation. SNMP is then covered with the *flow technologies and streaming telemetry. Configuration management with ansible, Python, NETCONF and RESTCONF is then studied. The final part of the course looks at SDN. Hands on sessions are used throughout to reinforce the theory rather than teach specific manufacturer equipment. Note that sections are available as individual courses. What will you learn Evaluate network management technologies. Evaluate network management technologies. Recognise the weaknesses of SNMP versus NETCONF and streaming telemetry. Explain the role of NETCONF and RESTCONF. Compare & contrast *flow and streaming telemetry. Explain the role of SDN in network management. Automate network configuration with ansible and Python. Network management technologies course details Who will benefit: Those wishing to manage networks. (Previous Python experience is NOT needed) Prerequisites: Intro to data comms Duration 5 days Network management technologies course content Basic network management Network management What is network management? Benefits, issues. FCAPS model. Fault management, Configuration management, accounting, performance, security. What to manage, what not to manage. Managing network devices, managing servers. Monitoring networks Traditional network tools Ping..., SSH, syslog, TFTP for configurations. nmap. Wireshark. CLI. Web based management. Splunk. Nessus, snort, Kali. Hands on syslog, network inventories. Network automation using the CLI Programming and automating networks, netOps. Python, Git. Python network modules, SSH, paramiko, netmiko. EVE-NG. Hands onPython network modules. Structured versus unstructured data Problems with automation and unstructured data. XML, JSON, YAML. The role of YANG. Hands on Parsing data. SNMP SNMP architecture, SNMP MIBs, SMI, the SNMP protocol, polling security. Configuring SNMP. SNMPv1, v2, v3, SNMP security. Which version should you use? MIBs and MIB structure. mib-2, extra parts of mib-2, Private enterprise MIBs. Summary: What SNMP is good/bad at. Hands on Configuring agents and a NMS. MIB browsing. Server management Microsoft, Linux, application polling. WMI vs SNMP. Hands on: Application polling. Performance management *flow Polling, push vs pull, netflow, sflow, IPFIX, *flow. Flows. Where to monitor traffic. Comparing *flow with SNMP. Architecture: Generators and collectors. When flows are exported. NetFlow reporting products. SolarWinds. Hands on Netflow configuration. Collectors. Streaming telemetry Model driven telemetry, periodic/on change. Structured data. Telemetry protocol stack. gRPC and gNMI. Protobuf. gNMI operations. Telemetry architecture. Telegraf, databases, Grafana. Hands on Telemetry example. Configuration management Configuration management tools Chef, puppet, ansible, saltstack. Ansible architecture, controlling machines, nodes, agentless, SSH, modules. Inventories, playbooks, modules, network modules, jinja2 templates. Hands on Network configuration with ansible. NETCONF What is NETCONF? Protocol stack, Data stores, traffic flows, validating configurations, rollback. YANG data models and how YANG is used by NETCONF. XML. Explorers and other tools. Hands on anx, Python and NETCONF. RESTCONF The REST API, HTTP, What is RESTCONF? Tools including Postman. Comparison with NETCONF. Hands on Configuration with RESTCONF. Python network automation: configuration SSH issues. Using structured data. Jinja2. ncclient, requests, NAPALM, Nornir. Automated testing. Hands on Python network device configuration with nornir. Software Defined Networks and orchestration Classic SDN What is SDN? benefits. SDN architecture. SDN applications, SDN switches, SDN controllers, Network Operating Systems. Control plane, data plane. Northbound interfaces. SDN components. Southbound interfaces. OpenFlow. ONF, OpenFlow ports, Flow tables. Network virtualization Virtual networks, virtual switches, NfV. Service chaining. NfV and SDN. SDN implementations Classic SDN, Hybrid SDN, SDN via APIs, SDN via overlays. Data centre SDN, VXLAN, Service Provider SDN, SD WAN, Enterprise SDN, WiFi. SDN and open source OpenDaylight, OpenVSwitch, Open Networking Forum, Open Network Operating System. Hands onOpenStack. SD-WAN What is SD-WAN? Architecture: Edge, gateway, orchestrator, controller. Overlay and underlay. Use of MPLS, 4G/5G. Benefits and features. Secure Access Service Edge (SASE).

Peering demystified training course description A concise overview course covering The Internet and peering. Particular emphasis is placed on the structure of the Internet, how IXs benefit the Internet, IX architectures, peering and the technical buzzwords behind the IX services. What will you learn Describe the structure of the Internet Explain the role of RIPE, ARIN and IXs in the Internet Explain how IXs connect ISPs and the benefits of using IXs. Describe peering from a technical perspective including the role of BGP and AS's. Peering demystified training course details Who will benefit: Non technical staff working for Internet companies. Prerequisites: None. Duration 1 day Peering demystified training course contents IP and routers IP as glue. What is a router? How routers join networks, benefits and disadvantages of routers, default gateways, routing tables, routing protocols. Addressing IP address format, rules of IP addressing, where to get IP addresses. Subnetting and groups of IP addresses. The Internet What is the Internet? The big picture, IP basics, registering IP addresses, DNS and registering domain names, whois, The IAB, IANA, ICANN, RIPE and other Internet organisations. ISPs Top ISPs, Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 ISPs, backbone providers, circuit providers, content providers, virtual ISPs, the internal network of ISPs. Customer connections to ISPs (DSL, Leased lines, MPLS…) ISP to ISP connections: Peering points Public peering versus private peering, NAPs, Internet Exchanges, Metropolitan Area Exchanges, LINX, other major peering points, the geography of the Internet. BGP and ASNs. How to peer. IRRs. IX architecture Ethernet switching.