Telecoms Systems Administrator Course

Lesson 1 • Telecommunications Industry Overview

Covers the structure of the telecom industry, key service categories, and regulatory concepts. Establishes context for all technical content that follows.

Lesson 2 • Signal Types and Transmission Basics

Explains analog versus digital signals, modulation techniques, and bandwidth fundamentals. Provides the physics foundation needed for understanding network media.

Lesson 3 • Transmission Media and Cabling Standards

Surveys copper, fibre-optic, and wireless media with associated performance characteristics. Connects media selection to real-world deployment decisions.

Lesson 4 • Network Topologies and Architectures

Introduces LAN, WAN, and MAN topologies alongside core architectural models. Students map physical and logical layouts used in enterprise environments.

Lesson 1 • Power and Environmental Infrastructure

Addresses UPS systems, power distribution, cooling, and environmental monitoring. Links physical reliability to network uptime objectives.

Lesson 2 • Switches and Layer 2 Operations

Covers MAC address learning, frame forwarding, and VLAN segmentation on managed switches. Directly supports configuration tasks in later chapters.

Lesson 3 • Firewalls and Security Appliances

Introduces packet-filtering, stateful, and next-generation firewall architectures. Establishes the security hardware baseline used throughout the course.

Lesson 4 • Cabling, Patch Panels, and Physical Plant

Covers structured cabling standards, patch panel termination, and rack organisation. Ensures students can build and document a compliant physical infrastructure.

Lesson 1 • Subnetting and VLSM Design

Applies variable-length subnet masking to allocate address space efficiently. Students practise designing multi-subnet schemes that minimise waste.

Lesson 2 • Subnet Mask and CIDR Notation

Teaches subnet mask structure, CIDR prefix notation, and network/host boundary identification. Enables accurate subnet calculations in subsequent sections.

Lesson 3 • IPv6 Addressing and Transition

Covers IPv6 address format, types, and stateless autoconfiguration. Prepares students to manage dual-stack environments during IPv4-to-IPv6 migration.

Lesson 4 • DHCP and Address Management

Explains DHCP server configuration, scope options, and lease management. Connects automated address assignment to the IP design skills already developed.

Lesson 1 • Interior Gateway Protocol Configuration

Covers OSPF and EIGRP configuration, neighbour relationships, and route advertisement. Students apply protocol configuration in lab scenarios.

Lesson 2 • VPN Technologies and Tunnelling

Explains site-to-site and remote-access VPN architectures using IPsec and SSL. Connects WAN security to the routing infrastructure already configured.

Lesson 3 • Dynamic Routing Protocol Concepts

Compares distance-vector and link-state routing algorithms and convergence behaviour. Provides the conceptual basis for configuring specific protocols.

Lesson 4 • Border Gateway Protocol Fundamentals

Introduces BGP as the internet routing protocol, covering eBGP peering and path attributes. Prepares students for ISP-facing router management.

Lesson 1 • VoIP Security and Fraud Prevention

Covers toll fraud, SIP registration attacks, and countermeasures including TLS and SRTP. Ensures students can secure voice infrastructure against common threats.

Lesson 2 • IP PBX and Call Manager Configuration

Addresses dial plan design, extension provisioning, and trunk configuration on IP PBX platforms. Students build a functional call routing environment.

Lesson 3 • Quality of Service for Voice Traffic

Applies QoS marking, queuing, and policing to prioritise voice over data traffic. Directly addresses the latency and jitter requirements of real-time media.

Lesson 4 • Unified Communications Features

Introduces voicemail, presence, instant messaging, and video conferencing integration. Expands student capability beyond basic voice to full UC deployment.

Lesson 1 • Firewall Policy and ACL Management

Teaches ACL syntax, rule ordering, and firewall policy lifecycle management. Students write and audit access policies for real network scenarios.

Lesson 2 • Vulnerability Management and Patching

Covers vulnerability scanning, risk scoring, and patch deployment workflows for network devices. Establishes a repeatable process for maintaining a secure baseline.

Lesson 3 • Network Device Hardening

Applies CIS-aligned hardening to routers, switches, and management interfaces. Reduces the attack surface of infrastructure devices before deployment.

Lesson 4 • Access Control and Authentication

Covers AAA frameworks, RADIUS, TACACS+, and multi-factor authentication for network access. Builds the identity management foundation for all security controls.

Lesson 1 • Network Management System Deployment

Covers NMS platform installation, device discovery, and topology mapping. Students build a functional monitoring environment for a simulated network.

Lesson 2 • SNMP and Network Monitoring Protocols

Explains SNMP versions, MIB structure, and trap configuration for device monitoring. Provides the protocol foundation for all monitoring tool integrations.

Lesson 3 • Capacity Planning and Optimisation

Applies trend analysis and traffic modelling to forecast bandwidth and hardware needs. Enables proactive infrastructure scaling before performance degrades.

Lesson 4 • Performance Metrics and SLA Management

Defines key performance indicators including latency, jitter, packet loss, and availability. Students map metrics to service-level agreement thresholds.

Lesson 1 • High Availability and Redundancy Design

Covers HSRP, VRRP, and link redundancy techniques that eliminate single points of failure. Students design topologies that meet specified availability targets.

Lesson 2 • Disaster Recovery Planning

Defines RTO and RPO objectives, recovery site options, and DR plan documentation. Students produce a telecom-specific DR plan aligned to business continuity goals.

Lesson 3 • DR Testing and Continuous Improvement

Covers tabletop exercises, failover drills, and post-test improvement cycles. Ensures DR plans remain accurate and executable as the network evolves.

Lesson 4 • Structured Troubleshooting Methodologies

Applies top-down, bottom-up, and divide-and-conquer troubleshooting models to network faults. Builds a systematic diagnostic mindset applicable to all failure types.