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IT Components (Part 2 of 3)
This episode continues the ISACA Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) exam prep series coverage of IT components by going deeper into wide area networking, explaining how WAN connections are carried, how performance is measured and managed, what converged protocols mean for infrastructure, and how internet addressing and network address translation work together to connect private networks to the internet.
What this episode covers
- WAN transmission media — fiber-optic, microwave, and satellite options with their bandwidth, delay, and security trade-offs.
- WAN data transmission techniques — message switching and virtual circuits, both switched and permanent.
- Internet protocol suite — how it relates to and diverges from the seven-layer model.
- Network administration — control software, network operating systems, and the five core management tasks for wide networks.
- Performance metrics — latency, jitter, throughput, and quality of service, plus error counts and retransmissions.
- Converged protocols — fibre channel, label switching, voice over internet protocol, and storage over normal networks.
- Internet addressing and NAT — the difference between older and newer address versions, dual-stacking, tunneling, and static, dynamic, and port-based address translation.
Watch the full episode above for the worked examples and detailed explanations of each concept.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the four key metrics for measuring wide area network performance?
Latency is the delay a packet feels traveling from source to destination. Jitter is the variation in that delay from one packet to the next. Throughput is the useful work done, measured as bytes moved per second. Quality of service is the overall performance from the user’s point of view and folds in latency, jitter, availability, and packet loss together.
What are the five core WAN management tasks?
Fault management spots devices that have failed. Configuration management lets administrators view and change device settings remotely. Accounting management records who uses what resources. Performance management watches usage levels and raises alarms at defined thresholds. Security management flags suspicious traffic patterns for investigation.
What are converged protocols and why do they matter for auditors?
Converged protocols blend specialized protocols with standard ones to run over shared infrastructure, reusing existing networks and saving money while adding complexity. Examples include voice over internet protocol for phone calls, label switching for faster routing by short labels, and storage protocols that move storage commands over a normal network. The added complexity means auditors must assess how converged traffic is prioritized, secured, and monitored.
What is network address translation and what are its benefits and limits?
Network address translation converts private internal addresses into public ones for internet communication, letting an entire private network share public addresses without conflicts. Its benefits include cutting address costs, hiding internal addresses from outside observation, adding a layer of security, and making network boundaries easier to enforce. Its limitations include potential interference with some protocols and added processing delay.
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Reference: This article is based on concepts discussed in IT Components (Part 2 of 3).