an introductory course in network administration
This paper describes a sophomore/junior-level laboratory course on network administration. The course aims to introduce networking concepts while emphasizing observation and measurement of network traffic. It utilizes an isolated laboratory of PCs running Linux along with numerous hubs, switches, and routers that can be rewired into multiple configurations. Being isolated from the campus network allows students complete administrative access without compromising campus security. Groups of students assemble their own LAN, attach it to the lab's "internet" backbone via a router, and then provide numerous common services like HTTP, DNS, and remote access to the rest of the lab. Once the room has a functioning internet, students examine various issues like encryption with TLS and ssh, as well as caching and load issues in retrieving different types of data from a web server. This paper covers the goals of the course, the laboratory setup, the exercises used in the course, and our experiences teaching the course.
networks internet tcp/ip packet sniffing