Making Network Education More Accessible
Practical learning with the mini-Internet project

2024年4⽉18⽇

株式会社インターネットイニシアティブ
Christoff Visser
IIJ - Research Lab© Internet Initiative Japan Inc.

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Outline• How do we traditionally teach how
the Internet works?

• これまでインターネットの仕組みをどのように教えてきたか︖• Introducing the mini-Internet:• ミニインターネットの紹介︓• Mimic the real one and is virtual• Turn students into network operators• Provide tools to ease operations• The mini-Internet use cases• The mini-Internet in research• 仮想環境で実際のインターネットを模倣• 学⽣をネットワークオペレータに育てる• オペレーションを容易にするツールを提供• ミニインターネットの使⽤例• 研究におけるミニインターネット

2How do we traditionally teach how the Internet works?

3How do we traditionally teach how the Internet works?

theoryasignments

4How do we traditionally teach how the Internet works?

Labs

Hosts

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How do we traditionally teach how the Internet works?

Labs

Hosts

Switches6How do we traditionally teach how the Internet works?

Labs

Routers

Hosts

Switches7How do we traditionally teach how the Internet works?

Labs

Routers

Hosts

Switches8Reality

Networking is not just about the technical aspects• Peering agreements, peering events• Mailing lists, slack, etc.

APRICOT 2024 Peering Social

9How does this scale?

Routers

Hosts
x 2? 5? 10?
Switches10Introducing the mini-Internet project• Developed by ETH Zurich• Goal:• Mimic the real Internet but is virtual• Turn students into network operators• Provide tools to ease operations

Holterbach T, et al. 2020. An Open Platform to Teach How the Internet Practically Works.
SIGCOMM Comput. Commun. Rev. 50, 2 (April 2020), 45–52.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3402413.3402420

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The mini-Internet
Mimics the real one and is entirely virtual12Topology - Course• 91 AS• 6 regions• 7 IXPs• 8 Student AS per region• 4 TA run AS per region

13Per AS Level Topology• 2 Data centres• North DC• South DC• 8 Routers• 1 Measurement host
• Shared DNS host14

DC Level Topology• 2 Hosts per switch• FIFA – VLAN 10• UEFA – VLAN 20• South DC v6 only15

Mini-Internet - Infrastructure• Runs on a single machine• Each component is a docker container• Use common network tools

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The mini-Internet
Turn students into network operators

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Course Overview

Each group has their own transit AS and one IP prefix• Goal:• Enable ‘mini’ Internet-wide connectivity• Intra-domain connectivity• Inter-domain connectivity• Security
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Course Overview – Intra-domain routing

Enable internal connectivity• Host configuration• VLANs• Gateways, static routes, etc.

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Course Overview – Intra-domain routing

Enable internal connectivity• Host configuration• OSPF + load balancing• VLANs• IPv6 + 6in4 Tunnel• Gateways, static routes, etc.

• iBGP

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Course Overview – Inter-domain routing“Peering day”

• Networking is not just technical• There is also the social aspect• Get together to configure BGP sessions• Routing policies• Local-preference and export rules• Follow peering preferences• e.g., one provider is preferred• Connecting IXPs with communities
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Course Overview – Routing Security• Route hijacking• Issue ROA• Implement routing policies based on RPKI status• Reports on why RPKI is important and implementation challenges

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The mini-Internet
Provide students with tools to ease operations

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Tools for Students

Access• Students are not expected to have any networking knowledge• Helper scripts for access and working on their network• SSH ports based on group number: X = 2000 + group_number• Group 7 use port 2007
• Access proxy to access rest of groups network• Helper script to help students that might not be used to SSH:
• ./goto.sh LUGA router• ./goto.sh DCN S2• ./goto.sh DCN FIFA_3

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Course Design

Student wiki

• Split into Questions and Tutorial• Can be self-run

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Course Question

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Course - Tutorial

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Course - Web

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The Mini-Internet use cases

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Use Cases for the mini-Internet• Education courses• APIE• APNIC, RIPE etc• University Courses

30Use Cases for the mini-Internet• Education courses• APIE• APNIC, RIPE etc• University Courses• Workshops• NOG meetings• Hackathons31Use Cases for the mini-Internet• Education courses• APIE• APNIC, RIPE etc• University Courses• Workshops• NOG meetings• Hackathons• Bootcamps• IIJ• RPKI• etc
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Mini-Internet in Research

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Mini-Internet for Researchers• Mimics the “real” Internet• Safe environment for experimentation• Ideal for testing34

Enhancing the mini-Internet• Split into smaller modules• More specialised• Courses• Experiments and testing• Current design is very monolithic

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Network Testing Framework

Simplify:• Setting up and configuring test bed• Digital twinning36

Network Testing Framework

Simplify:• Setting up and configuring test bed• Digital twinning• Network testing37

Network Testing Framework

Simplify:• Setting up and configuring test bed• Digital twinning• Network testing• Test validation

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Use cases• Teaching• Reusable testbeds• Marking• Research• Reproducibility• Build Datasets• Industry• Test products• CI/CD

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Summary• The mini-Internet:• Mimics the real one and is virtual• Turns students into network operators• Provides tools to ease operations• The mini-Internet use cases• Workshops, Courses, bootcamps• ミニインターネット︓• 仮想環境で実際のインターネットを模倣• 学⽣をネットワークオペレータに育てる• オペレーションを容易にするツールを提供• ミニインターネットの使⽤例• ワークショップ、コース、ブートキャンプ• The mini-Internet in research• 研究におけるミニインターネット• Network Testing Framework• ネットワークテストフレームワーク• Simplify configuring, testing andverification• 設定、テスト、および検証の簡素化

40Interested?

• ミニインターネット:• Mini-Internet• ⾃分で動かしてみる場合• Run your own
https://github.com/nsg-ethz/mini_internet_project

https://github.com/nsg-ethz/mini_internet_project• Or reach out:

• あるいは、ご相談ください:• Help hosting your own event• Network Testing Framework• Anything else:• ご⾃⾝のイベント開催をサポート• ネットワークテストフレームワーク• その他何か:

e-mail: christoff@iij.ad.jp
41Questions?

e-mail: christoff@iij.ad.jp42IIJ-BKLT999-0001

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