Network Engineering & Installation
Community Overview
Professional Communities of BYU staff and administrative personnel exist to promote professional and career development. Each community is led by experienced, capable personnel who constitute a council to help achieve the developmental objectives of the members of the community. The Career Development Council (CDC) develops a career framework that describes the path for professional growth within a community and the skills necessary to move along that path. The CDC also recognizes and rewards the significant developmental milestones of the community members.
The Network Installation and Engineering Community is a combination of two relatively distinct disciplines that complement one another facilitating design, installation, and operation of our networking systems. Modern networking systems are a collection of both large and small pieces of equipment connected by a fiber or copper cable plant as well as wireless interconnects that may span both short and long distances. All of these interconnect systems and the software that implements the transport of Internet data are part of the network system.
The OSI model identifies a 7 layer approach to networking that is the best starting point for learning and discussing networking technologies. The Network Installation part of this community deals mostly with layer 1 of that model, or the physical layer. Layer 2 where data is transmitted back and forth as well as layers 3 and 4 where protocols for communication are implemented make up the bulk of the rest of Network Engineering. Above these layers are constructs for applications to exist and implement network enabled tools for our interconnected modern world. These layers (5,6, and 7) are usually part of the software development and/or system engineering community skillsets, but Network Engineers need to understand these layers as they apply to services like DNS, DHCP, AAA, etc. as well as to enable more efficient designs and troubleshooting for the network systems as a whole.
This document describes who is presently serving on the CDC and how to interact with them. It also lists for the Community members, shows the Career Framework, as well as shares the Competencies and Skills that are valued by the Community in order to foster and achieve career development and growth.
