This course is an in-depth study of data communications and networks. The course covers design of, and algorithms and protocols used in, the physical, data link, network, transport, and application layers in the Internet; methods for modeling and analyzing networks, including graphs, graph algorithms, and discrete event simulation; and an introduction to network science. Programming projects will be required.

This course provides a functional introduction to programming, data structures, elemental computational theory, and data exploration for graduate students from non-computing backgrounds. Students prepare for working with data and artificial intelligence techniques.

This course supports the proposal development process for graduate students enrolled in the MS in information sciences and technologies, the MS in networking and system administration, or the MS in human-computer interaction program who are beginning the project or thesis experience and require additional structure and support. Students begin the development of an acceptable proposal and through weekly meetings students are guided toward the completion of the proposal, which is a prerequisite for formal thesis or project registration. Note: Students must have completed all their course work prior to enrollment which is by permission of the graduate program director.

This course teaches the student the essential technologies needed by NSSA majors, focused on PC and mainframe hardware topics. They include how those platforms operate, how they are configured, and the operation of their major internal components. Also covered are the basic operating system interactions with those platforms, physical security of assets, and computing-centric mathematical concepts.

This course will investigate the protocols used to support network based services and the tasks involved in configuring and administering those services in virtualized Linux and Windows internet working environments. Topics include an overview of the TCP/IP protocol suite, in-depth discussions of the transport layer protocols, TCP and UDP, administration of network based services including the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), Domain Name Service (DNS), Secure Shell (SSH), and Voice Over IP (VoIP). Students completing this course will have thorough theoretical knowledge of the Internet Protocol (IP), the Transport Control Protocol (TCP), and the User Datagram Protocol (UDP), as well as experience in administering, monitoring, securing and troubleshooting an internet work of computer systems running these protocols and services.

This course will discuss the changing nature of communication, the requirements of emerging applications, the effect on network design, quality of service and the associated security concerns. The focus is on the evolution of multimedia services (such as voice and video) and Internetworking technologies in support convergence. This course will focus on advanced networking techniques to ensure quality of service and security for real time data. Examples include policies and class based routing.

This course will examine the design and performance of networks. Students will learn to design networks based on identified needs and analyze the performance of that network. The designs include site, campus, and enterprise. WAN technologies will be combined with LAN technologies in the design of enterprise networks. A simulation tool may be used to implement the design as a network model and evaluate the performance of the network model.