A network architect designs the networks a business runs on: LANs, WANs, data center and cloud networks, and the security around them. You decide how many switches, what bandwidth, where firewalls sit, how traffic fails over, and how the plan is documented so others can build it. Most architects have a bachelor's degree, but you can reach this job through help desk, then network technician, then engineer, then architect. The key idea is that you cannot design what you cannot troubleshoot. So you learn the fundamentals first (how packets move), then build and break real labs, then learn design
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Stage 1 of 4 · about 16 weeks
Understand how networks work: OSI and TCP/IP models, Ethernet, IPv4 subnetting, IPv6 basics, VLANs, routing and switching, DNS, DHCP, NAT. Build a small lab in Cisco Packet Tracer (free) and subnet by hand until it is automatic. Be able to explain what happens when you open a website, from your cable to the server.
Network models and the journey of a packet
Every architect reasons in layers. When something breaks, layers tell you where to look. When you design, layers tell you which tool solves which problem. This is the mental map for everything later.
Ethernet, switching and the local network
Almost every network you design has switches at the edge. Knowing how frames move inside a LAN explains loops, broadcasts, and slowness later.
IPv4 and IPv6 addressing and subnetting
Subnetting is the core arithmetic of the job. Architects divide address space for every site, VLAN and cloud network. If it is automatic, you design faster and spot mistakes instantly.
Routing basics and VLANs
Routers connect networks and VLANs divide them. Together they are the skeleton of every campus and office design, and you will draw them in every design document.
Core network services: DNS, DHCP, NAT and transport
Users never say 'the routing is broken'; they say 'the internet is down'. Usually it is DNS, DHCP or NAT. Knowing these services lets you localize problems quickly and design them properly.
Then 3 more stages (about 132 weeks in all) with lessons, drills, projects, 10 interview questions with strong answers and free resources.