IT Concepts and Terminology
- Basic principle of data processing: input, processing, output and storage
- Number systems: binary, decimal, hexadecimal and octal
- Compare units for storage, throughput and processing speed
- Step-by-step troubleshooting methodology
Infrastructure
- Common computing devices and their uses, internal components such as motherboard, BIOS/UEFI, CPU, RAM, GPU, storage and network card
- Storage types: volatile and non-volatile, local, networked and cloud
- Install and configure peripheral devices such as printers, scanners, monitors and UPS; interfaces such as USB, Thunderbolt and display connections
- Virtualisation and cloud models (hypervisor, IaaS, PaaS, SaaS)
- Types of internet connections such as fibre, cable, DSL and mobile
- Networking fundamentals: IP and MAC addresses, ports, network devices and models; Wi-Fi standards and frequency bands
Applications and Software
- Components and tasks of operating systems: file system, file management, drivers, interfaces, process and device management
- Uses of software: productivity, collaboration, messaging, web browsers and support tools
- Configure web browsers: privacy, extensions, cache, bookmarks and password management
- Use of artificial intelligence: chatbots, assistants, generative AI and predictions
Software Development Fundamentals
- Categories of programming languages: interpreted, compiled and query languages
- Basic data types such as characters, strings, numbers and Boolean values
- Programming concepts: variables, constants, arrays, functions and objects
- Structure logic: pseudocode, object-oriented methods, branching and loops
Data and Databases
- Value of data and information: classification as an asset, analytics and big data
- Database concepts: creating, querying and analysing data, flat files and relational databases
- Compare data structures: structured and semi-structured, relational and non-relational
- Data backup: file and system backups, local and cloud storage locations, recovery
Security
- Basic security concepts: confidentiality, integrity, availability, data protection, authentication and authorisation
- Secure devices: anti-malware, firewall, patches, licensing and best practices
- Password best practices: length, complexity, password managers, resetting
- Encryption use cases: plaintext and ciphertext, data at rest and in transit
- Secure Wi-Fi: SSID, passwords, WPA2 and WPA3
