ISACA Networks and Infrastructure Fundamentals (ITCA)

Entry-level IT hires often arrive able to plug in a cable but not explain why a VLAN, VPN, or routing change broke connectivity. That gap drives escalations to senior staff and slows onboarding. This course gives new IT Practitioners a shared networking baseline, from the OSI model and cabling choices through IP addressing, routing, network services, AAA/RADIUS, and monitoring.

Role fit: This course suits help desk staff, junior admins, and career changers preparing for the ISACA ITCA Networks and Infrastructure Fundamentals exam. Team Leads can also use it to standardize networking vocabulary across a mixed-experience team. Experienced network engineers will find it introductory. The instructor treats deep topics such as IPsec internals and routing protocol details as out of scope, and points learners to more advanced courses for those.

Time investment: The course has 24 skills and about 21 hours of video. Most teams can plan for roughly 4–6 weeks at a few hours per week, plus lab time. The instructor notes that learners should also use ISACA's official study materials, because the published exam objectives are brief.

Risk and compliance framing: Security runs through the course, not only at the end. Topics include firewall configuration, VPNs for public Wi-Fi, AAA principles, secure network design, and industrial control system exposure using the Purdue Model. This builds awareness that supports audit-conscious environments.

How CBT Nuggets supports the outcome: Hands-on Virtual Labs let learners capture DNS traffic and the TCP handshake in Wireshark, build static routes, configure DNS and DHCP, and set up RADIUS with VPN without touching production gear. Scenario-based validations and a midterm-style review reinforce retention. Training Managers can group this course with the related ITCA Computing and Cybersecurity Fundamentals courses in Playlists and track progress with Team Reporting.

IT teams complete this training to turn networking theory into day-one operational competence. Instead of memorizing acronyms, learners work through the decisions junior staff actually face, such as choosing the right cable for a standard gigabit office instead of overspending on shielded twisted pair, or recognizing when an old 10 Mbps unmanaged switch can't auto-detect cable types.

Hands-on Virtual Labs reinforce the concepts. Learners capture DNS traffic and the TCP three-way handshake in Wireshark, build static routes across multiple routers, stand up DNS and DHCP services, configure a firewall, and connect a VPN through RADIUS-backed remote access. Demos of SNMP-based monitoring tools show how utilization, storage, and interface data surface problems before users report them.

• Fewer escalations on routine issues: Team members can read ARP tables, trace name resolution, and read routing behavior before handing tickets up the chain.
• Safer remote and branch connectivity: Staff understand why VPNs matter on public Wi-Fi and how AAA authenticates and logs remote users.
• Better availability planning: Coverage of redundant backbone design and HSRP helps practitioners explain how a failed router doesn't have to mean an outage.
• Stronger security awareness: Discussions of the Purdue model and industrial control system compromises help new hires see why segmentation, VLANs, and secure design matter to the business.

For Team Leads, the result is entry-level staff who share a common networking vocabulary and can contribute to ITCA certification goals without heavy one-on-one coaching.

Knowledge

• How the OSI model frames network communication, and how physical, wireless, and hybrid connections map to its layers
• Common network components, topologies, and network types, from small office LANs to datacenter, cloud, and branch environments
• IPv4 addressing with binary, hexadecimal, address classes, and ANDing, plus IPv6 addressing and configuration
• The roles of Layer 4 transport protocols, the TCP three-way handshake, static routes, and the general purpose of interior and exterior routing protocols
• Secure design principles, including border components, VPNs and IPsec basics, AAA and RADIUS, the enterprise composite network model, and the Purdue model for industrial control systems
• Availability and monitoring concepts such as redundancy, HSRP, and SNMP-based monitoring

Ability

• Choose appropriate cabling and wireless solutions for typical office scenarios, and set up a basic Wi-Fi network
• Read ARP tables and capture DNS and TCP traffic in Wireshark to see what is happening on the wire
• Configure static routes across multiple routers in a virtual lab environment
• Stand up core network services such as DNS, DHCP, and web, and configure a basic firewall, VLANs, and SVIs
• Set up a RADIUS-backed VPN connection and explain how authentication, authorization, and accounting apply to remote access
• Use SNMP monitoring tools to review interface traffic, CPU, memory, and disk usage and spot potential problems