CTP Skill Center

Today, the CTT class enjoyed a potluck to celebrate our 2nd to the last day of class. Alex shared one of Professor Messer’s videos discussing ports. After the class watched the video Alex discussed how these ports relate to CTP’s own server running a virtual machine that provides the DHCP, DNS and Active Directory services for the organization. We tried out Slack a collaboration platform and joined CTPs workspace.

I forgot to do my What I did today yesterday so I am doing it today 🙂 Alex discussed more about Wireshark and Nmap. Wireshark is a packet analyzer. Packets is how information is packaged and sent across the network internally or externally. Nmap is a network scanner that can scan network ports. However, it should be used only used within ones’ own network. Our project this week is based in these two tools.

Today I learned more about nMap. It is a network scanner tool that allows you to see what devices are connected to a network, as well as what ports the devices have open. Other variants could be used maliciously to scan the public domain, searching for possible vulnerabilities within networks. There are scans being constantly run over the internet and it is considered an attempted attack to scan somebody else’s network, because this could reveal things that are not your business. However scanning your personal private network is acceptable and this will provide useful information regarding what devices are connected to your own network. I also began working with another program that captures packets being sent over different ports within your system. It is called Wireshark, and I am currently completely mystified by it and I have no idea how it works yet…

Today we had a long lecture and we did a lot of review. We practiced identifying different ports. We drew and labelled a network model. I also learned about the seven layers of the OSI model, but that is something that I’m still very unfamiliar with.

Today, we did a review of Networking concepts. We also did a practice A+ test with Alex where everyone got a chance to figure out or guess multiple choice type hardware questions. It was a collaborative effort and we got a 100% in the test. The review refreshed the different concepts that was discussed and that we hopefully during the past months. The 7 Layer OSI (Open Systems Interconnect) model was introduced comprised of the Application, Presentation, Session, Transport, Network, Data and Physical layers.

Today we did a Mock Interview with Mechanics Bank. My interview went pretty good and I got good feedback and pointers from my interviewer Sharon. She gave me her card and will try to hook me to get coding experience from people she knows. I will update my resume to reflect what she pointed out.

Today Alex introduced Ninite to the class. Ninite is an automatic installer for applications such as browsers and programs including WinDirStat and Putty. We tried out WinDirStat which is an application that shows how files occupy the storage space. Putty is network connection tool which is especially useful in looking at router and switch configurations including other devices. We also looked at the PCPartPicker website where you can custom build a PC online. This is a useful site to use to get an estimate the cost of a build and check the compatibility of the required components. Lastly, we continued the Lab Assignment for the week.

Today I worked with Frank to set up our second network for the lab assignment. I was not here yesterday so there was a lot of catching up to do task wise. We had to use a project computer that re-images off the network image. However, we did not connect it to the CTP network and used a different network address. It took longer to complete but we did manage to create a local area network using just a switch with no router by setting up a static IP. Unfortunately, both did not work with ping. So, we set up network discovery and shared some folders to determine that a laptop and a desktop can see each other. When we verified it was working I added a router and used its DHCP to get the IP address dynamically. Then we connected it to the CTP network to have internet access. Everything worked out pretty well.

Today for the Lab Assignment we were asked to create a network by rehabilitating a Project PC and using that as a host. I also had my one-on-one check-in with Alex. As always it was an interesting and fruitful conversation. Unfortunately, I had to leave early to go an appointment and was unable to start working on the lab assignment with Frank.

Today Alex shared a lot of utilities and tools that we can use. Tools such as Bar code readers and QR code scanners that are useful for technicians to verify information and and record keeping. Even taking pictures using a smartphone to document and create a timeline of actions for reference. Utilities that help in transferring information within software applications. Documents may contain formatting information and simply copying and pasting information may not give the desired results. Pasting without formatting or using a text editor with no formatting such as Notepad can retain the information needed.

We also looked at the Event Viewer which shows the log information of events within computer processes be it hardware and software. Looking at this log files can give a picture of how the computer is performing and can help a technician in diagnosing a system. Finally, we use TeamViewer for a Remote Desktop connection which is a very valuable resource to add in a Computer Technicians tool belt.