From "Information Technology Competency Model: September 2012"
Employment and Training Administration, United States Department of Labor
3. Networks, Telecommunication, Wireless, and Mobility: The processes, hardware, and software employed to facilitate communication between people, computer systems and devices.
Critical Work Functions:
Fundamentals of Networking and Telecommunication
* Identify and describe differences between Local Area Networks (LAN), Wide Area Networks (WAN), Virtual Private Networks (VPN), Internet, intranets, extranets, telephony, Voice over IP (VoIP), and other networks
* Describe common network topologies
* Differentiate between common networking protocols
* Explain the purpose and properties of IP addressing
* Explain the purpose and properties of routing and switching
* Explain DNS concepts
* Explain the purpose and properties of DHCP
* Recognize common network media and connector types
* Identify and explain the need for common network monitoring resources
* Understand basic telephony (e.g., analog vs. digital signals) and how it is integrated into IP networks
* Describe the purpose of network configuration documentation
* Recognize methods of network optimization
* Explain the functionality, integrity, accessibility, and security of internet services
* Explain different server roles, their purpose, and how they interact in a network context
* Differentiate between Cloud-based applications, local server-based applications, and applications installed on a local computer, and know when to choose between them
* Understand key tasks performed during the maintenance, administration, and securing of Local Area Networks
* Identify common network infrastructure troubleshooting techniques
Wireless and Mobility
* Identify characteristics of wireless communication standards
* Identify and describe common mobile devices and mobile communications technologies
* Understand basic radio frequency concepts, including signal, signal strength, antenna, receiver, interference, and common frequency bands
* Identify and describe various operating systems used in common mobile devices and discuss their advantages and disadvantages
* Identify and describe basic accessibility features of mobile and wireless devices
* Understand principles of wireless network security
* Explain the benefits and drawbacks of mobile computing, including its effect on business
* Understand concepts of mobile social-networking services
  o Location-related services (e.g., check-in)
  o Visualization mechanisms (e.g., augmented reality showing where friends are)
Network Security (Not included)
* Recognize and describe threats to networked computer systems, including malware (viruses, spyware, adware)
* Understand the purpose and basic features of a firewall, Intrusion Detection System (IDS), and Intrusion Protection System (IPS)
* Recognize methods of network access security
* Explain the importance of user authentication and recognize examples
* Describe malware protection procedures
Virtualization and Cloud Computing (Not included)
* Understand virtualization concepts, features, benefits, and considerations
* Differentiate types of “cloud services”, including
  o Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)
  o Platform as a service (PaaS)
  o Software as a service (SaaS)
* Differentiate between public, hybrid, and private clouds
* Understand the following characteristics of clouds and clouds services from a business perspective:
  o Distribution over the Internet
  o Environmental impact
  o Hardware and independence
  o Operating costs
  o Scalability
  o Security
  o Time to market
  o Variable costs
* Understand and explain the decision making process when choosing between internally built and managed services and externally sourced services
* Describe the impact of cloud computing on application architecture and the application-development process
* Explain the legal, compliance, accessibility, and privacy issues associated with cloud computing
Data Storage Systems (Not included)
* Explain the importance of reliable and efficient data backup and restoration
* Understand the rapid expansion of data and the challenge that places on IT systems
* Explain the concepts of data backup, disaster recovery, data mirroring, and off-site storage
* Describe different types of data storage solutions (e.g., RAID)
* Describe common data backup and storage networking solutions (e.g., SAN, NAS, iSCSI)

Technical Content Areas:
Foundations of networking
* Architectures, such as
  o TCP/IP
  o SNA
  o Netware
* Network Models
  o OSI model (7-layer)
  o TCP/IP model (4-layer)
* Network components
  o Hubs
  o Switches
  o Routers
  o Firewalls
  o Access points
  o Thin Client Access points
  o WLAN (Wireless LAN) Controller
  o Transmission media (e.g., coaxial cable, wireless, fiber, unshielded twisted pair-UTP)
* Network capacity and performance metrics
* Network mapping
* Network servers and server operating systems
* Integration of desktops into network systems
* LANS, WANS, WLANs, VLANs, virtual networks, intranets, extranets
* Routing and routing protocols
* Ethernet
* IPv4 and IPv6
* Network Storage
  o SAN
  o NAS
Internet Services
* Protocols, such as
  o TCP
  o FTP
  o UDP
  o TCP/IP suite
  o DHCP
* Internet Connection testing tools , such as
  o Ping
  o Trace route
  o Net stat
  o Host
  o Dig
  o Nslookup
Web Management
* Analytics
* Key performance indicators
* Optimization
* Utilization
* Internal vs. external web hosting
* Human usability, including accessibility and usability by people with disabilities and individuals with sensory and/or functional limitations
Common mobile technologies, such as
* Laptop and netbook computers
* Mobile phones and 'smart phones'
* Global positioning system (GPS) devices
* Wireless debit/credit card payment terminals
* RFID
Mobile communication technologies, such as
* 4G mobile data systems
* Bluetooth
* Dial-up services
* GPS
* 'Third generation' (3G), global system for mobile communications (GSM) and general packet radio service (GPRS) data services
* Virtual private networks
* Wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi)
Mobile Operating Systems, such as
* Android
* Bada
* iOS
* Microsoft Windows
* Research in Motion (RIM)
* Symbian
Data Storage Systems concepts, such as
* Data Mirroring
* Fiber-Channel
* Network Attached Storage (NAS)
* RAID
* Storage Area Network (SAN)
* Tape Backup Systems