Every application, service, and system a computer science student will ever build runs on top of layers they often take for granted: hardware, an operating system, a network stack. This module makes those layers visible. Students who understand how data actually moves from one machine to another, how an operating system mediates between software and hardware, and how network addresses and routing decisions are made, are far better equipped to build things that work reliably and securely.
Why it matters
As applications move to the cloud and systems become distributed by default, the gap between “it works on my machine” and “it works in production” is almost always a networking or systems problem. A developer who cannot read a subnet mask, reason about DNS resolution, or understand why a service is unreachable is missing fluency that is now a baseline expectation in most technical roles.
The security dimension runs throughout: many of the most common vulnerabilities and misconfigurations in real systems, open ports, poor access control, misconfigured VLANs, insecure wireless protocols, emerge directly from a shaky understanding of how these fundamentals work.
Module design
The module is structured in three arcs. The first establishes the machine: architecture, operating systems, and how a computer actually runs software. The second builds up the network layer by layer, following the OSI model from physical transmission through IP addressing and routing to the application protocols students interact with every day. The third arc lifts to the infrastructure level: virtualisation, cloud computing, performance and monitoring, and the emerging directions of SDN and IPv6.
By following this layered progression, students develop not just knowledge of individual technologies but a mental model of how they compose, which is what enables genuine troubleshooting rather than trial-and-error guesswork.
Syllabus
- Architecture and OS basics
- Networking: OSI model and TCP/IP
- Ethernet, switching, and VLANs
- IP addressing and subnetting
- Routing and port management
- Application-layer protocols: DNS and the web
- Wireless and radio protocols
- Virtualisation and hypervisors
- Cloud infrastructure and shared responsibility
- Performance and monitoring
- Troubleshooting and disaster recovery
- Future directions: SDN and IPv6
What students leave with
Students can read and design network addressing schemes, reason about routing and switching decisions, configure and troubleshoot layered network problems, and understand how operating systems and virtualisation platforms fit into a modern infrastructure. These foundations underpin every subsequent module in networking, cloud, and security, and they are the grounding that separates students who can debug real systems from those who can only follow tutorials.