CIS 2089-551 Final Paper PDF

Jesus Rodriguez November 28, 2024 Julie Schneider CIS 2089-551 Final Paper The capstone I will be challenging myself with this semester is taking the CompTIA Network + certification, a third-party certification that shows companies and businesses your knowledge of managing network environments....

Jesus Rodriguez November 28, 2024 Julie Schneider CIS 2089-551 Final Paper The capstone I will be challenging myself with this semester is taking the CompTIA Network + certification, a third-party certification that shows companies and businesses your knowledge of managing network environments. I decided to take the network + exam over the security + exam as I wanted to challenge myself and better grasp what networking entails, such as all the equipment used and how it comes to be from an environmental perspective. At the end of the capstone project, I aim to have the adequate knowledge and skills to take the CompTIA Network + exam, pass it, and be presented with a network + certification. As I go through this course known as a capstone, the role that I will be taking on in this project is to adequately prepare my skills by not only reading the CompTIA network + study guide but also by taking quizzes and sharpening my skills in the networking field to be able to think outside the box when it comes to setting up and configuring a network environment. I will take this opportunity to reflect on my project and discuss how the material has challenged me positively and negatively. The steps I took to prepare for my exam and learned skills I had to implement to complete my project. Thinking about my capstone it did seem that I faced various challenges when it came to completing it, being both a positive and negative experience in my mind as I saw it as something that would help me in the future when it comes to planning things. As I continued to work on my capstone the negative experience I faced when trying to complete my project was when trying to purchase a voucher from the academic CompTIA store. The voucher is a code given to someone trying to take a test offered by CompTIA, a non-profit organization that issues professional certifications for the IT industry. This can be seen as a challenge as the first time I tried to buy this voucher it required me to set up an account with them using my student email as proof that I was still a student. However, when trying to make an account with them on my home network it would bring up an error saying that the student email doesn't have permission to create an account. Fortunately for me, I was able to overcome this challenge when one day I went to the school grounds and connected to their network, this allowed me to be able to create a CompTIA account and thus was able to sign in from home and purchase the Network + voucher. After buying the voucher another problem occurred with my purchase as it seemed I never received my voucher code, a code needed to set an appointment to take the test. The voucher was a personal expense, so after two days of waiting, I called CompTIA customer support and finally received my voucher code. Time management was also something that I would consider a negative impact that occurred while preparing myself for the CompTIA Network + exam. As I continued to study for my exam unpredicted life events showed up and I was unprepared for them causing me to fall a bit behind in my studies. Although this provided me with a bit of a challenge as it messed with the set schedule I had planned before taking this course this only meant I had to change my plans and spend more time studying longer throughout the weeks eventually getting back on track. After discussing my project with my course instructor Julie Schnieder I started to prepare to face the capstone project that would help me take the network + exam. A big challenge I believed as networking was never my strong suit as there was much to remember such as port numbers, different wires and connectors, and even how to configure the software ensuring that everyone had minimal permissions to do their jobs and no extra access to things they didn't need. I chose to do the network + exam instead of the security + exam as I saw it as a challenge it goes into more detail about the physical aspect of IT instead of the hypothetical situations. I also decided to take the network + exam as it would provide me with a challenge and help me make it something I could better understand for my academic career as well as the many IT job careers that can be offered such as networking, dev ops, project management and so much more. Although I believe that the CompTIA network + study guidebook helped prepare me to take the exam, the courses I have taken throughout my time at Red Rocks Community College have also been a great deal of support in helping me better understand networking. These courses are the Network Fundamental class, networking 1, and the Networking 2 classes which were my introduction to networking and thus helped me to understand just how little I know when it comes to setting up a proper and functioning network environment and all the challenges that come with it, be it software related of physically related. Thinking about my capstone project and all that I needed to learn and accomplish I saw that although I had previously taken classes to acquire the skills needed to prepare me to manage a networking environment there was still much, I still did not understand and know. Taking part in this project showed me that I had acquired skills from the teeming courses I had taken at Red Rocks Community College, but that I had also acquired knowledge in the field known as cyber security. After taking my exam I gauged myself and saw just what kind of skills I had acquired from my understanding of the many concepts in this study guide and how much I didn't understand such as how network experts can allow a user/client access to a network. After studying for this project, I saw that although I have acquired many skills throughout the years there is still much to learn and understand when it comes to networking and the CompTIA network + exam. I was taught this after taking the CompTIA Network + exam as there were many concepts I couldn't grasp or understand, such as setting up a secure and protected network environment using IP addresses and proper host configurations. These skills, which I would come to understand are skills that I would need to continue my career if I wish to pursue a career in the IT industry. Throughout my final project discussion, I talked about the challenges I faced both positively and negatively, the steps I took to prepare for my exam, and what skills I had to implement to complete my project. This project provided me with a challenge as I have never been someone who has been well suited for networking and managing my time especially when it came to the unexpected. If I had the opportunity to do my capstone over again, I would say yes and take the liberty to do it again as I do not believe I gained all the skills I would have liked. Especially, after looking at my exam results, I don't think I gained all the skills and knowledge I had hoped to achieve as I didn't have proper time management and planning. This however has not stopped me from continuing my studies and although I have not acquired all the skills, I would have wanted to pass my exam this doesn't mean I have not learned anything by doing this project I feel that this capstone has taught me many valuable skills that will benefit me in the future to come.