Become a Network Engineer

Overview
What Are Some Network Engineer Roles and Responsibilities?
Network engineers make and maintain network systems that all employees of the organization will use. Depending on the specific organization you work for, your responsibilities can vary.As a network engineer, you will likely be required to:
What Are Some Network Engineer Job Requirements?
Many organizations would like network engineers to have a degree in a relevant field of study such as computer science, programming, or engineering, but a degree is not required for the career. Employers prefer their network engineers to have previous experience in the field, either as working with IT systems or in network administration.Some of the other requirements for network engineer positions are:
What is a Typical Network Engineer Job Description?
As a network engineer, you will be responsible for administering and maintaining an organization’s computer networks. The most common duties for the network engineer role include maintaining software, hardware, networks, and other related systems. Additionally, you will be responsible for protecting information, hardware, and software from threats and replacing any defective hardware components when necessary. You will also work closely with network users to identify any issues and resolve them.Being a network engineer requires that you have a strong understanding of network hardware and network infrastructure. It’s also necessary to have the ability to implement, administer, maintain, and troubleshoot various network devices including firewalls, WAPs, switches, routers, and controllers. In most cases, a network engineer position also requires extensive knowledge of application transport and network infrastructure protocols.
Overall, as a network engineer, you need to possess the knowledge and experience that allows you to make and maintain network systems that all organization employees will use. These networks’ complexity can vary widely depending on the organization and may require that you work alongside a Chief Technology Engineer. That means that excellent communication skills are also a must.
A Day in the Life of a Network Engineer
Your typical day as a network engineer can vary depending on the organization’s culture and your industry. While some network engineers will work a regular 9-5 workday, others may be required to work evenings and weekends or be on call should any network problems arise. However, there are some daily tasks and responsibilities that are generally common to most network engineer positions. Based on those tasks, a typical day for a network engineer may include:While the network engineer position is not a cookie-cutter job, and daily responsibilities and tasks can be very different depending on the organization, the overall goal is to maintain network systems for users to work efficiently and productively.
How Long Will It Take To Be Job Ready?

Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) Certification

Cyber Network Security

Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA 200-301)
Evolve your networking skills to fill the role of a core network engineer by using real Cisco Routers and Switches on your own device. The Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA 200-301) practice lab will prepare you to install, manage, monitor, secure, and more.

Secure Network Access
In this IT Pro Challenge virtual lab, you will get hands-on experience as a Windows administrator, setting up security to harden your Windows domain. You will learn how to implement and enforce IPSEC, configure a PPTP VPN, and set up a client VPN connection. These skills are essential for a security-focused Windows administrator.

Network Management Lab
This lab is part of a series of lab exercises designed to supplement coursework and provide students with a hands-on training experience based on real-world applications. This series of lab exercises is intended to support courseware for CompTIA Network+® certification. This lab explores concepts in Network Management including baselines, performance monitoring, logs, and implementation of patches and upgrades as a mitigation technique to security threats. By the end of this lab, students will be able to use the Performance Monitor to analyze network and CPU utilization, the Event Viewer to view various logs, and Windows Update to manage operating system patches and updates. This lab includes the following tasks: Analyze CPU and Network Utilization with Performance Monitor Use the Event Viewer to View Logs Manage Patches and Updates

Network Security - Firewalls Lab
This lab is part of a series of lab exercises designed to supplement coursework and provide students with a hands-on training experience based on real-world applications. This series of lab exercises is intended to support courseware for CompTIA Network+® certification. This lab will explore firewalls in the IT environment. Students will view and configure the two firewalls that come inherent in Windows operating systems as well as create a firewall rule within the Linux Kali 2 operating environment. This lab includes the following tasks: Enable Windows Firewall using the Control Panel View Windows Firewall features using the Control Panel Configure Windows Firewall using the Control Panel View and Configure Windows Firewall with Advanced Security (WFAS) using Administrative Tools Enable a firewall on a Linux system and enable Firewall rules.

Network Troubleshooting Lab
This lab is part of a series of lab exercises designed to supplement coursework and provide students with a hands-on training experience based on real-world applications. This series of lab exercises is intended to support courseware for CompTIA Network+® certification. Networks are important to business processes, and when they are not fully operational, it is costly and frustrating to the users. Network administrators need to understand not just how to keep the network functional but also how to approach troubleshooting problems when a network is not fully operational. This lab will review troubleshooting and a methodology that will provide ideas on where to start in the problem-solving effort. This methodology will be used as a guide in troubleshooting two protocols widely used in networks and it is important to be able to diagnose issues with them. DNS and DHCP will be the two protocols focused on in this exercise. This lab includes the following tasks: Using the problem-solving process to troubleshoot a suspected DNS issue using CLI utilities and resolve the issue Configure an operational DHCP scope of addresses Observe the effects of a deactivated DHCP scope and resolve the problem

TCP/IP Protocols - The Core Protocols Lab
This lab is part of a series of lab exercises designed to supplement coursework and provide students with a hands-on training experience based on real-world applications. This series of lab exercises is intended to support courseware for CompTIA Network+® certification. This lab will review protocols that operate at the internetwork and transport layers of TCP/IP. These protocols are internetwork layer protocols such as ARP, ICMP, and IP and at the transport layer, UDP and TCP. Students will review IP address configuration, discover facts about network communication using ICMP and the ping utility, and will examine the TCP/IP layers and become familiar with their status and function on a network. This lab includes the following tasks: Use network utilities and protocols from the TCP/IP suite Use a network packet analyzer, Wireshark®, to examine the ARP protocol Capture and analyze transport layer packets

Intrusion Detection using Snort Lab
This lab is part of a series of lab exercises intended to support courseware for Ethical Hacker training. The development of this document is funded by the Department of Labor (DOL) Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) Grant No. TC-22525-11-60-A-48. In this lab, students will enumerate hosts on the network using various tools. This lab includes the following tasks: 1 - Setting Up the Sniffer 2 - Detecting Unwanted Incoming Traffic 3 - Detecting Unwanted Outgoing Traffic

Configure a Virtual Network Service Endpoint
Learn how to configure a Virtual Network Service Endpoint with this IT Pro Challenge provided by Learn on Demand Systems tutorial lab. This a beginner level lab that concentrates on many basic and important concepts such as **key vault**, **a subnet, service endpoint**, and then **back-end subnet**.

Configure IP Routing with Linux on Azure
This Configure IP Routing with Linux on Azure IT Pro Challenge lab helps learners to understand how to configure IP routing for Linux Virtual Machines (VMs) deployed to an Azure cloud. The lab also shows learners the use and purpose of Azure route tables and the importance of creating a secondary IP address.

Configure Network Connectivity for Linux on Azure
This IT Pro Challenge virtual lab challenges learners to configure network connectivity for Linux on Azure. In this lab, learners will understand the concepts of static public IP addresses, network interface to configure and view Azure private IP addresses. Skills learned in this lab are valuable in a job role such as System administrator.

Deploy Ubuntu Linux Virtual Machines in the Microsoft Azure
This IT Pro Challenge helps learners understand how to use the Azure portal to create and deploy an Ubuntu Server Linux virtual machine, leverage the Managed Disks option, and use an inbound Secure Shell (SSH) rule to allow for remote administration. Learners will also use the PuTTY tool to verify SSH connectivity to the virtual machine.

Use PKI to Secure a Network Environment
In this IT Pro Challenges virtual lab, learners are introduced to skills required to secure networks using PKI. Exercises in this lab teach users how to configure HTTPS, DNSSEC, NRPT, and EFS while learning PKI concepts. The topics covered in this lab are critical for learners to be effective in system administrator job roles in cybersecurity.

Configure a Network Security Group in a Virtual Network
The **“Configure a Network Security Group in a Virtual Network”** IT Pro Challenge virtual lab will teach you how to work with virtual networks on the Azure platform. You will learn how to use network security groups to filter network traffic and keep your assets safe. After this lab, you will be comfortable enabling network security on Azure.

Identify Non-Secure Network Traffic
In this IT Pro Challenge virtual lab, you will get hands-on experience using Wireshark to sniff network traffic and detect non-secure protocols being used in the environment. You will investigate evidence of secured versus non-secure traffic. The skills you will learn in this lab are essential for network security analysts and penetration testers.

The OSI Model Lab
This lab is part of a series of lab exercises designed to supplement coursework and provide students with a hands-on training experience based on real-world applications. This series of lab exercises is intended to support courseware for CompTIA Network+® certification. This lab will utilize Wireshark® to review network traffic. Wireshark is a network protocol analyzer licensed under GNU General Public License. A network protocol analyzer is used to capture data packets on a network. Students will review several layers of the OSI model during this lab. Students will be able to describe the encapsulation process and the function of specific protocols that operate within particular layers of the OSI model. This lab includes the following tasks: Reviewing the application, presentation, and session layers Reviewing the transport layer Reviewing the network layer Reviewing the data link layer Reviewing the physical layer