Chapter 1

Working with Networks

If you conduct an online search on the phrase demand for networking jobs, you'll find article after article citing networking jobs as one of the high-demand jobs. You've chosen a great time to learn more about this exciting and rapidly growing and changing field!

This chapter takes a closer look at the changes in business and technology that have given rise to the high demand for networking professionals. You will also discover why networking is such a great career field.

Why Are Networks Important?

Networks facilitate data communications in organizations, between organizations, and over the Internet itself. Without networks, computers are practically worthless. Then again, without computers, networks would not be needed. But let's not get caught up in circular arguments. Instead, let's look a little deeper into why networks are important.

Organizations of every kind, as well as a growing number of private citizens, rely on information systems to conduct their daily affairs more than ever before. We buy more and more products that are Internet connected, partly for convenience and partly for the cool factor. Before long, it will be easier to count the things that aren't connected to the Internet.

You might have heard that data and information are the new currency. Although this statement might sound like a cliché, it's true for several reasons:

This increased reliance on Internet-connected systems and devices makes our businesses more efficient and our lives easier. Networks — and the professionals who design, build, and maintain them — are essential.

Skills and Activities in Networking Jobs

You might be wondering what people do in a networking job. Well, networking tasks can vary widely from company to company, and from person to person within a company. If you asked twenty people what networking professionals do, you'd probably get twenty different answers. This section explores some of these activities.

In smaller organizations, a networking professional may do most or all of the activities discussed here. In larger organizations, the activities described in this section may be assigned to different teams, so there would be less variety for individual networking professionals.

Managing network devices

Network devices such as switches and routers facilitate communications between computers in an organization and between organizations. A smaller organization may have just a single router that connects the internal network to the Internet via a DSL (digital subscriber line) or cable modem. A larger organization will have more routers, as well as switches, to connect various internal networks.

Setting up remote access

Remote access permits personnel to access an organization's internal systems from remote locations such as home or while traveling. Often, remote access is provided to an employee upon approval from management. Then networking personnel make the required configuration changes in the network equipment and the employee's workstation to facilitate remote access.

Networking personnel often help employees learn how to use and troubleshoot remote access. Connecting remotely sometimes requires a series of steps that don't always work, especially where Internet connectivity isn't great.

Maintaining user accounts

In many organizations, networking professionals must maintain user accounts. Generally, maintaining user accounts includes the following tasks: creating user accounts for new employees (as well as business partners and others authorized to access systems or networks), removing user accounts for departing personnel, and making changes in access rights as needed.

Often, a documented approval from management is required before a networking professional can make any additions, changes, or deletions.

Helping end users

In some organizations, networking professionals play (or support) the role of a help desk person who assists end users. Activities related to the help desk could range from operating system and program configuration on workstations to Internet and remote access connectivity.

In some organizations, front-line help desk people answer the phone and help with simple issues. In other organizations, network professionals and other IT workers help users directly.

Configuring firewalls

Firewalls are networking devices that play a role in keeping the bad guys (and gals) out of an organization's network. Some lucky networking professional's job is going to be designing, setting up, and managing those firewalls, including managing the complex rulesets that determine exactly which types of Internet traffic are allowed to pass through the firewall.

Monitoring antimalware consoles

Smaller organizations and home users run standalone copies of antivirus or antimalware on their individual workstations. In larger organizations as well, each system has antimalware (or antivirus) software, but they also have a central console where a (you guessed it) networking professional can view the state of antimalware across all the machines in the organization.

In addition to just monitoring, a networking professional can use the console to change the configuration of antimalware on individual systems as well as run malware scans on individual systems or all systems at once.

Issuing authentication tokens

Many organizations have gone beyond simple user IDs and passwords for authentication and are using token-based authentication. Depending on the organization, token-based authentication may be used for remote access, privileged access, or perhaps everyone.

Another form of strong authentication is where a code is sent to a user's mobile phone and the user must enter that number to log in to a system. Who's gonna set that up? A networking professional!

Setting up wireless networks

Everybody loves their Wi-Fi connections. In some organizations, Wi-Fi is the only way to communicate over networks. Many organizations provide guest Wi-Fi connections for visitors and customers.

Organizations that want Wi-Fi require networking professionals with skills to design a Wi-Fi network, which can be a challenge in a multistory building or a campus with multiple buildings.

Setting up Wi-Fi networks involves choosing good locations for radios, antennas, and controllers, and connecting these to the organization's data network and the Internet. Another issue is deciding how users will authenticate to the Wi-Fi network, which will require interconnections with domain controllers or LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) servers.

Configuring communications with business partners

Not long ago, it was common for companies with frequent data communications to set up dedicated telecommunications circuits such as T-1 or DS-3 connections. Nowadays, MPLS (multiprotocol label switching) or over-the-Internet VPN connections are often used. Networking professionals design and set up these connections, in coordination with their counterparts in the business partner organization.

Connecting storage devices

Computers access storage area network (SAN) and network attached storage (NAS) devices to store and retrieve data. Sometimes this communications is on the general data network, but often it will be on a separate network dedicated to storage. Someone has to figure out how to access storage devices and how to hook them up. If you're a networking professional, that person is you!

Managing telecommunications services

No man or business is an island. In the networking world, organizations connect their internal networks to the outside world. Those connections require telecommunications services of some kind, including a digital subscriber line (DSL), cable, or T-1 connection. A networking professional is instrumental in determining how much information needs to flow to and from the outside world and how fast it needs to flow. Buying too much or too little bandwidth is inefficient.

Setting up VoIP phones and voicemail

Voice is just another form of data on a network. Networking professionals install and configure VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) phones for office workers. Incidentally, they often set up voicemail as well.

Pulling network cabling

Although wireless networks are popular and, in some cases, replace network wiring for individual users, network cabling is still needed. This cabling could be fiber-optic cabling for high-speed storage systems or for connecting floors in a campus or high-rise building, as well as copper network patch cords in data centers.

In some companies, networking personnel also build custom-length cables and install connectors on each end.

Installing network devices in data centers and closets

Networking professionals occasionally install network devices in equipment racks in data centers as well as in data closets. Some organizations have equipment in co-lo (co-location) facilities, which provide commercial data center space for companies that don't want to build their own data centers, so working on these components of the company network might require a drive across town or further.

Designing networks

Senior networking professionals spend some of their time doing design work. Many events and trends necessitate changes in the design of an organization's network, including the following:

Completing paperwork

We hate to be a spoiler: You don't get to have fun all day long with networking technologies. Proper management of devices, systems, user accounts, firewall rules, and so forth requires sound business processes and controls to ensure that everything is properly approved and recorded. Yes, you need to fill out the paperwork before the job is done — and often before it begins!

Fixing things

No person or network is perfect — things go wrong for many reasons. Networking professionals often must troubleshoot different kinds of communications problems that can crop up in an organization. Good troubleshooting skills are essential so that you can isolate the cause of a problem quickly and get it fixed.

Working with People

Sure, technology skills are important in networking jobs. In some ways you need to be able to think like networking equipment and computer software to understand how they work. Okay, we're stretching it a bit by suggesting that hardware and software “think.” What we mean is that it takes someone special to understand how information technology works.

However, no matter how strong your networking skills and knowledge, you'll have a hard time finding a networking job if you lack people skills. A lot of people are attracted to high-tech and information technology, in part because they are attracted to complex machinery but sometimes because they'd rather work with machinery than with people. They may be shy, or they may not be sociable, or they may prefer to work alone. Some IT workers earn a reputation for lacking people skills.

All of us can stand to improve our people skills. The best way? Practice! Be conscious of your interaction with your coworkers and others. Step out of your comfort zone and meet people. One of the best ways to rid yourself of nervousness is to ask others about themselves; this approach takes the pressure off you. When you show interest in others, you gain a reputation as a friendly and sociable person.

Depending on the activities in your networking job, you might be on the phone a lot or working with people all day long. Remember, IT is a business service function, so IT must exhibit great customer service. IT is a person-to-person activity that involves good communication at every level, as well as honesty, empathy, sincerity, and above all, patience.

Be sure to read Chapter 13, where you will learn how to develop your brand, meet people, and expand your network of business associates.

How Networking Fits in a High-Tech Career Path

Depending on your long-term career plans, networking may be your entire high-tech career or a stepping stone to a different position in high-tech. Plenty of people are in both camps, and a lot of career paths in high tech include networking.

Figure 1-1 depicts six typical job paths in an IT department. The topmost row in the figure shows four typical job titles in networking (network technician, network administrator, network engineer, and network architect). Larger organizations with a lot of networking professionals might have people in all these (or similar) job titles, which represent increasing skills, experience, and seniority in networking.

Each of the job groups in Figure 1-1 has its own range of job titles representing career growth.

Some professionals may use networking jobs as a path to positions in other IT disciplines, while others will stay in networking for most or all their career. Let's look at a couple of examples:

In the first example, John uses the help desk and networking jobs as stepping stones to systems engineering. Knowledge of networking is essential for the success of a systems engineer. In the second example, Jane acquires her basic IT skills in project management, and then moves into a more technical role in networking, which was where she wanted to be.

Figure 1-1: IT job families.

You can look at a networking job in two ways. One, a networking job can be a way to get into a different IT discipline such as systems engineering or software development. Two, a particular networking job is where you want to spend your entire career, or at least as far over the horizon as you can imagine.

The Future Is Bright for Networking Jobs

Every organization that uses computers and networks must employ people with networking skills and knowledge. With the pace of change in information technology and new uses for Internet-based services, even a one-person IT department must be knowledgeable about basic networking skills.

The United States has a big shortage of workers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) jobs, as indicated by the following numbers:

We could keep going and cite more of these facts, but we think you get the idea.

A networking career is not a get-rich-quick career — far from it. But if you are motivated, possess an aptitude for working with technology, and have good people skills, you should enjoy more-or-less steady employment and a decent standard of living.

Many consider networking to be an entry-level field in IT. As we've mentioned, networking is a great way to start a career in IT, and many use networking as a stepping-stone into other IT fields such as software development or database administration. However, networking itself is a great career: highly skilled and experienced network engineers are among the highest paid positions in IT. To summarize: A networking career offers a full career path with great opportunity for advancement, from entry-level help-desk roles to senior management or director positions.