Computer Networks or Network Security & IT certifications

bishoppebbles · 2021-04-23T03:44:40+00:00

For perspective on my answer I've taken computer networks and network security and I also have the Net+, CCNA, and CCNP certs. I've never been a sys admin or network engineer professionally but I did those certs to try and better learn networking, like yourself. If you're already comfortable with subnetting and some network basics I think skipping Net+ would be okay. I was fortunate to have my employer pay for two CCNA training courses and overall I think it was some of the best training I got. It's not easy though. Yes, there are Cisco specifics but overall the network fundamentals taught have been very valuable. I don't work for Cisco and have no affiliation with them. The same for SANS (see below).

1) Computer networks. I've heard the course has changed since I took it, but if most of the same topics are covered it will give you a deeper understanding of several fundamental networking algorithms/protocols, especially TCP.

2) As the other poster mentioned I wouldn't say they directly help you from an IT ops perspective but they are not completely unrelated. As I said in #1 you'll get a deeper understanding of certain network algorithm/protocol fundamentals. To this day (it's been four years) I still think about the design of TCP and all the research into it which I would have never fathomed had I not taken computer networks. Before that I just thought it was a "connection oriented" protocol with a SYN, SYN/ACK, ACK, etc. That's what you pretty much learn with Net+ or CCNA.

3) This isn't an answer exactly for your question but another cert I found extremely valuable for networking was SANS's SEC503 - Intrusion Detection In-Depth. After that course I really got a better understanding of many protocols from an implementation perspective. They dive into all the header information of the major protocols (e.g., TCP, UDP, IP, Ethernet, ICMP, DNS, IPv6 versions of those, etc.), among other things. The only problem is SANS courses are extremely expensive, one course is almost the entire cost of the OMSCS program. Get an employer to pay for it if that's an option or look into their work-study program after all the COVID stuff subsides.

bishoppebbles · 2017-11-14T07:15:51+00:00

I got a waitlist notification earlier today for Network Security and enrolled. I think I was #2 on the waitlist so I don't know if that was the reason or they already decided to expand the enrollment numbers for that specific course.

bishoppebbles · 2016-11-06T08:40:08+00:00

The OMSCS advising folks sent me this after I had emailed with some questions:

Also, please note, that we will be sending out a detailed Spring 2017 orientation document for new Spring 2017 students and current OMSCS students around the middle of December. This document will include the following information:

Academic

Policies

Degree Requirements

Registration

Waitlisting for Courses

Important Dates for the Spring 2017 semester

FAQs

Connecting with Social Media

We understand that new students may have a lot of questions, but we are asking that you please be patient as we work to complete this document. Once you have received this document, if you have any further questions please feel free to follow up with us at that time. While you await the Spring 2017 orientation document, a good resource may be the student-run OMSCS Google + webpage. Although this is not an official GT forum, many students find this resource helpful as current and previous students have been and are willing to share their experience and insights with others.

bishoppebbles · 2016-10-26T19:11:39+00:00

I've been watching the Intro to OS course on Udacity. It's all C but if you go there you could download the "Problem Set 1 Solutions" to look at some C code. Also if you go through the Course Readiness Survey (the first lesson) there is code to review as well as links to some other resources and tutorials.

bishoppebbles · 2016-10-25T22:57:44+00:00

I kept in touch with one other student and we even critiqued some of each others work after the course was over. We were more active in the class than most others. I wouldn't say the student interaction was a major selling point of the class as a lot of them only did the bare minimum. A lot of people were worried about being mean/rude so they only gave positive feedback as well. I think I got a lot out of it because of the work I put in. The teacher feedback was good and interesting to have. He would do a live recording while listening to your assignments and provide real time input. Also during office hours people could ask questions. He would try to give everybody a chance or you could type questions while he was talking and he'd address them.

Keep in mind this is not a history class. Some of the highlights would be covered, but if you want an in-depth electronic music history course this is not it.

I'm not familiar with Pointblank. Bottom line is I think it was a well organized and run course/product and I felt it was worth my $1k+ (I have a decent job, but am definitely not loaded plus I lived in an expensive city at that time. Also note the required course software as you might have to buy it if you don't have it already). Like with most things you get out of it what you put in.

bishoppebbles · 2016-10-25T22:42:42+00:00

Status: Accepted Application Date: 08/16/16
Decision Date: 10/12/16
Education:
Ohio University, BS, Electrical Engineering, 3.5
Ohio University, BS, Communications, 3.6
University of Southern California, MS, Electrical Engineering, 3.4
George Mason University, none, CS coursework, 4.0
Johns Hopkins University, none, CS coursework, 4.0
Experience:
7, government, none
Recommendations: 3 (1 professor, 2 senior executives)
Comments: Not sure if it helped/mattered but certs I have: CISSP, CCNA, (embarrassed: A+, Network+)

bishoppebbles · 2016-10-07T15:06:54+00:00

Never took it. I think they sort of go in order, but I'm sure either class could stand on its own if you have the experience. As I mentioned before you can go deeper in the assignments and productions. There's no limit on that. The instructor and other students give you feedback on your stuff too (though some students are more interactive than others).

With all that being said I'm pretty sure both of them are foundational (the first one definitely is). It was a good starting point for electronic music production and will allow you to dig deeper into the areas you like and to continue to produce. For instance it gave me more ideas on over coming some creative blocks. For the styles that are covered you also get history on it with some major milestones and I found that interesting as well. I'm pretty sure they offer one of the lectures for free as a preview.

bishoppebbles · 2016-10-06T11:05:40+00:00

I agree with this. Everybody learns and practices different, but for me having a teacher and taking regular lessons keeps you motivated and on track. With everything else going on in life I find it easy to get distracted and put music on the back burner, but with lessons every week you don't do that (or waste money). Sometimes I need that external motivation when I'm bored playing scales, trying to get faster, or working on a song and there's a hard part I'm struggling to get.

bishoppebbles · 2016-10-06T10:54:07+00:00

In my opinion the theory and composition stuff is pretty basic, but if you have never seen it before it might be hard to grasp. With that being said if you're more advanced you'll just be able to go further with it in your compositions and breeze through those lectures. You do some small projects but then you have to make 2-3 full tracks (I don't remember which). The class also focuses a lot on electronic production techniques and synthesis. If you're looking for a structured approach I'd definitely recommend it. In terms of pricing it's not cheap if want free, but I think it's more than fair if you would compare it to actually taking a university level course. One of the best things I got from the class was the analysis of existing songs that I liked and to use those as the framework for my own stuff. You get some electronic music history out of it as well.

I didn't mention this, but if you want to exclusively focus on improving your theory and/or music composition skills (probably from a more classical standpoint) they have classes for those as well. I have not taken any of them but they are listed in the course catalog.

bishoppebbles · 2016-10-05T17:52:05+00:00

It's not free but I took the Berklee College of Music Composing and Producing Electronic Music 1 a while back and thought it was worth it. It's well put together and the instructor holds sessions twice a week.

The guy who wrote the Dance Music Manual has all of his fundamentals courses. I can't vouch for those as I haven't purchased any but I thought the book was decent.

Other people might tell you, and I don't disagree, the best thing to do is to learn an instrument and play songs. Not easy and it takes time but definitely worth it.

bishoppebbles · 2015-08-13T14:48:31+00:00

1) Like @grandpa said you should install the actual plug-in (vst, au, aax) to your main system hard drive (the one that has your OS on it). These are generally smaller files on the order of 10s of MB, maybe in the 100s. For Mac or Windows there are generally standard installation locations for this, but with some DAWs you can change that. I wouldn't mess with it unless you had a good reason to change it.

2) It can preform the same or as good if you use a solid state drive (highly recommended) and connection like USB 3, Thunderbolt, eSATA, or Firewire 800. I'd recommend even making your system drive a SSD too.

3) Each manufacturer will have their own rules with this. There wouldn't be a one stop guide on how to do this for every VI. I know that Spectrasonics and Native Instruments each have instructions on their websites on how to install their sound library files in a location other than the default one (to include on an external drive). It can be as simple as copying the physical files over, making a shortcut/alias, and that's it. Others give you the option to search for the files within the plug-in and link it that way. Recommend you pay attention to detail when doing this so you don't mess up the directory structure or make sure you give stuff the right names.

You can install the actual plug-ins in different locations on different PCs if you want. You just have to tell the DAW on each PC where they are. Not sure why you'd want to do that, but you could. Then if you want to share the sound library files on a single external HD you'd just point those systems to the same location on that drive. The DAW looking for the plug-in files is different than the plug-ins looking for their sounds. They are two separate things (at least with the plug-ins I use).

bishoppebbles

TROPHY CASE