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School Teaches Networking
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24th, 1997
The Bergen Record
Q&A
By OLIA SILEO
Staff Writer
As more companies find it advantageous to link their PC's within a
network, the opportunities for technologists are increasing, says
Zafar Khizer, director and president of PC Age.
Zafar founded PC Age in 1991in Fairfield and added an Edison
location in 1995. The school specializes in certification for the
Novell and Microsoft networking systems. It also publishes and
distributes computer training manuals written by Zafar, who holds a
master's degree in computer science from the New Jersey Institute of
Technology.
Q. What is a computer network?
A. A computer network is a number of computers linked
technologically, so that information and resources can be shared
among all the people using those computers. The network connects
computers to each other and to peripherals, such as printers.
Q. When did PC networking begin to take off?
A. I would say it happened at the beginning of 1990. Before that,
companies relied on main frame networks.
Mainframe networks were very huge and powerful, they could take up
an entire room. They connected systems for the same manufacturer
but, in general, they did not allow connections between the systems
of different manufacturers. Also, they were very expensive to buy
and maintain, and only a few companies sold them.
A small business with maybe 10 employees would not be able to afford
such equipment. Minicomputers were available, but they also were
very expensive.
Then personal computers were developed. The beauty of personal
computers is that they are now inexpensive, you can link two or
more, and as your company grows, you can add more computers to the
network. You don’t have to start very expensively, and you have many
vendors from which to choose. I believe that any company with three
or more computers has or soon will have a network.
Q. What made you decide to open a training
school?
A. I have a master's degree in electronics from the University of
Karachi in Pakistan. I came to New Jersey in 1985 to get my master's
degree in computer science from the New Jersey Institute of
Technology. I got the degree in 1988 and joined a company as a
systems analyst network administrator, and programmer.
I found that the work was limiting. I needed more responsibility and
I wanted to make more money. I wanted my own business. I started
doing computer consulting, but I realized that networking was
getting very popular and the people really needed certification
training. I took $4,000 and bought two computers to create a small
network, and began teaching a short course.
At first it was really tough; sometimes I had only one student.
Also, the training manuals were very expensive, several hundred
dollars each, which I was paying from my own pocket.
I couldn't find something that I thought balanced good instructional
information with cost, so I decided to write my own training manuals
for networking. By 1994, I realized I was the author of about 11
books. I started selling them to teaching institutions and training
centers, such as Chubb Advanced Training in Parsippany. So far, I
have written about 17 manuals. I also publish and distribute them.
Q. Why do you concentrate on Microsoft and
Novell certification training?
A. We offer this certification training because these system are the
most popular certifications for networking professionals. We do not
offer certification testing. The tests can be taken at certification
test centers in New Jersey.
Novell started the Certified Novell Engineers designation about six
or seven years ago because the company grew so fast, it was unable
to provide support for all the people using its network. By
“support,” I mean putting the network together, and helping to run
it if someone has a problem. Network engineers install the network,
which can include hardware and software installation, and then work
as administrators, in areas such as troubleshooting or giving
advice.
It is about the same for Microsoft, but the system is different. The
company started its Microsoft Certified Systems Engineers
designation about a year or two ago, when its networking system
started getting popular.
Q. How long do your training courses typically
take?
A. The courses take six months full time or nine months part-time.
There are many computer technology jobs vacant today. Right now, we
have more requests for our graduates than we have graduates. And
networking is an accessible field because it’s not like programming,
where you need certain analytical skills and where a college degree
is required for most jobs.
Network involves connecting hardware, installing software and
hardware, and administering the network. A college degree is not
required. You learn what you will need to do, and you can be
productive on the job the first day.
Q. How would a computer network be used?
A. There are a lot of applications. If you have customer information
in your computer, for example, and a customer calls with a change of
address, you can change it in your computer. If your other computers
are not linked up, the information will not go into the other
computers. You will have to copy the information on a diskette and
it will have to be copied into each computer individually. After a
while, you may not even be sure who has the most updated copy.
Without a network, it’s very difficult to share information. With a
network, information would go into all the computers at once,
without having to copy from diskette, because the information is
coming only from one computer, called a file server. All the
information is stored in one server and everyone is sharing it.
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