Morrell Switching & Network Architecture Certification MSNAC

Build a solid networking foundation by studying fundamentals and layered models, including the oocyte model and the DCP IP model, through a postal mail analogy.

Explore the OSI model, a seven-layer standard for interoperable networking, foundational for troubleshooting. Learn each layer's role from physical and data link to network, transport, session, presentation, and application.

Explore the tcp/ip model's four layers—link, internet, transport, and application—and their OSI mappings, including the role of layer 3 switches and routers.

Explore the three major network components: devices, intermediary devices, and network media, and how end-user devices interact with switches, routers, and copper, fiber, or wireless media.

Explore common network devices from the OSI model, including media converters that translate copper to fiber, layer 2 bridges, switches, routers, layer 3 switches, firewalls, and wireless bridges.

Understand network typologies by comparing physical topology, showing device connections, with logical topology, mapping IP addresses; learn star, mesh, and campus ring topologies and redundancy-cost tradeoffs.

Explore encapsulation across the layered model by showing how data gains headers and trailers at each layer, forming segments, frames, and destination routing information.

Explore layer 2 data link concepts: frame encapsulation of layer 3 packets, LLC and MAC sublayers, MAC addressing, and error detection across Ethernet and Wi-Fi.

Explore the layer 3 network layer's role in addressing with globally unique IP addresses, encapsulating transport layer segments, and routing to the destination.

Explore how layer 4 transport establishes, segments, and multiplexes sessions, using reliable and unreliable mechanisms, three-way handshakes, flow control, and TCAP vs UDP headers and ports.

Explore the physical layer’s media: copper, fiber, and wireless, plus signaling, encoding, connectors, cabling categories, and transceivers for robust data transfer.

Explore the physical layer concepts of signaling and encoding, and how cabling infrastructure—horizontal, vertical backbone, fiber optic, and copper—transmits data, with Manchester encoding as a key example.

Explore the data link layer anatomy, including LLC and MAC, addressing, media access, and collision domains, and learn how switches reduce collisions and enable multi-protocol support.

Explore data link standards and ethernet frame formats defined by IEEE and ITU, covering 802.3 and 802.2, VLAN tagging, and CRC-based frame integrity.

Explore data link layer concepts beyond ethernet, including address resolution protocols, the maximum transmission unit, speed and duplex auto-negotiation, power over ethernet, and mdix and arp behavior.

Discover how a layer-2 switch uses a MAC address table to forward frames to the correct port, establishing collision domains and enabling quality of service, security, and redundancy.

Compare managed and unmanaged switches, review components and initial configuration, including VLANs, trunks, QoS, and console or web interfaces; implement security by changing credentials and restricting IP access.

Explore virtual local area networks (VLANs), 802.1Q tagging, and trunking to span multiple switches, creating logical data, voice, and management networks while controlling broadcasts.

Explore how access and trunk ports segment networks, use a switch virtual interface for layer 3 routing, and apply vlan pruning to optimize trunk traffic.

Learn how switches provide quality of service to prioritize voice and video, apply bandwidth and storm control, and use port mirroring for traffic analysis with Wireshark.

Explore unmanaged switches, their lack of a configuration interface, and how MAC address tables, collision domains, auto negotiation, power over ethernet, and SFP options shape small office to industrial deployments.

Explore managed switches, their configurability via the command line interface, web interface, or SNMP, covering VLAN assignments, spanning tree, trunking, QoS, bandwidth control, and optional layer 3 routing.

Explore Morrell's managed switch models, 8–48 ports, with gigabit and 10 gig uplinks, SFP or copper options, and PoE; includes industrial series for rugged environments and enterprise VLANs with QoS.

Configure and manage virtual LANs to segment networks, assign VLAN IDs to access ports, and extend VLANs across switches using GVRP, with security practices to disable default VLAN.

Configure trunk links between switches on the Amuro switch, assign a native land, and manage allowed VLANs; use port type negotiation carefully to avoid misconfigurations.

Explore VLAN security issues such as VLAN hopping, switch spoofing, and double tagging, and apply best practices to mitigate these vulnerabilities, including separate management traffic and disabling hybrid ports.