The course introduces students to modern networking concepts from a working network administrator's point of view. Students will learn how to design, configure, and manage LANs. Concepts and techniques are reinforced with practical examples and exercises. It also introduces students to industry standard best practices in LAN administration, updated to address today's challenges. It looks at system administration from a working network administrator's point of view without focusing on one particular product. The platform-independent nature of this course means that students are able to apply the solutions advocated for in this course to the bigger picture problem regardless of the environment. Students are also exposed to security management and practices that will enable their networking environments to withstand today’s security threats.