An introduction to the organization of the Internet Lab

Course Description This is a lab based course. The goal of the course is to reinforce some of the networking concepts that were taught in an introductory networking course. The lab is structured around lab exercises that highlight topics such as IP addressing and forwarding, LAN switching, data link and ARP, routing (RIP, OSPF), TCP, ICMP, NAT, DHCP, etc. The course consists of a sequence of labs that build upon each other. Lab quizzes are used to evaluate the students’ understanding of the material and ensure that students have completed the assigned lab exercises. All networking concepts that appear in the labs are covered weekly in class. A final written exam tests students on the concepts covered in class.  Prerequisites: Introduction to Networking Course (a strict requirement!) Class Notes: Available on my course website Software: Available online and on UCI/ICS servers. Labs: Available on my course website Piazza: Online class discussion group

Course Structure Weekly Lectures – in class, each lecture reviews background material of a lab Weekly Labs – Students download and install lab software Students work on labs independently (alone or in groups) TA office hours to assist students with lab exercises 2 Hands-on Lab quizzes held in ICS labs – similar in format to weekly lab exercises Quiz 1 based on labs 1-3 Quiz 2 based on labs 4-7 (note that labs 1-3 are foundation for all subsequent labs) 1 Closed Book Final – based on lecture material

Course Outline Topic 1 - Introduction to the Internet Lab Overview of the course and the software. A walk through the software installation process A quick Internet primer: A TCP/IP example Internet Architecture IP addresses Topic 2 - Single Segment Networks Configuring a network interface for IP networking; address resolution with ARP. Traffic capture. Topic 3 - Static IP routing IP forwarding and routing between IP networks; configuring a Cisco router; static configuration of routing tables Topic 4 - LAN switching Bridging in Ethernet networks; Transparent bridging, forwarding of Ethernet frames between LAN switches/bridges; spanning tree protocol for loop free routing between interconnected LANs.

Cont. Topic 5 - Transport Protocols: UDP and TCP Data transmission with TCP and UDP; TCP connection management; TCP flow control; retransmissions in TCP; TCP congestion control. Topic 6 - Dynamic Routing Protocols Routing protocols RIP, OSPF and BGP; count-to-infinity problem in RIP; hierarchical routing in OSPF; setup of autonomous systems in BGP. Topic 7 - NAT and  DHCP Public vs private networks, different NAT configurations/usage scenarios; dynamic assignment of IP addresses with DHCP.

“Virtual” Lab Equipment GNS3 network simulation software is used to create network topologies The software uses virtual Ethernet hubs and switches and Cisco 3640 routers. Routers are labeled: R1, R2, R3, R4,….. Switches are labeled: SW1, SW2, SW3, SW4,….. Routers run Cisco IOS 12.x version The labs use VirtualBox to run GNS3 on a virtual platform ipterm is used to simulate hosts Hosts are labeled as: PC1, PC2, PC3, PC4….. The labs use Wireshark Traffic Capture and Analyzer software to view data transmissions between the various devices

Structure of the Labs Each lab has two components: a lab exercise, and a lab analysis. Lab Exercises Students follow the steps for each lab exercise that are performed using the GNS3 software. All lab exercises can be completed without supervision. The time to complete a lab session should be 3-5 hours on average, but may vary. The activities during the lab session are not graded nor are the results/outputs of the lab exercises. Lab Analysis At the end of most lab exercises are a series of questions. Answer the questions using the data you collected whilst doing the lab the exercises.