CNRC INTEREST Lab

The Internet teaching and research (INTEREST) lab supports the education in networking and distributed systems for undergraduate and graduate students.

Equipment

The INTEREST Lab has three racks with the following equipment on each rack:

  • 4 Cisco 2600 routers with 2 fast Ethernet ports, 1 AUX, 1 CON
  • 4 e-rack PCs (containing an Intel Celeron 400MHz, 256 MB RAM, 40GB disk, CDROM, floppy)
  • 1 8-port KVM Switch ATEN MasterView Pro
  • 2 5-port hub 3Com OfficeConnect Dual Speed (10/100)
  • 2 8-port hub NETGEAR DS108 (on order)
  • 1 keyboard
  • 1 monitor

The following cables are available:

  • 16 Ethernet patch cables CAT5 with RJ45 connectors
  • 4 Ethernet crossover cables CAT5 with RJ45 connectors
  • 4 Serial cables and adapters
  • 8 KVM cables

The Lab is currently used for teaching purposes: students gain hands-on experience conducting supervised experiments using the lab's networking equipment. These lab experiments cover the technologies and protocols of the Internet using equipment currently available to large Internet service providers such as Cisco routers and end-systems. Students learn how to engineer wide-area networks and familiarize themselves with currently used technologies such as the Internet Protocol (IP), Address Resolution Protocol (ARP), Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP) and Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), the Domain Name System (DNS), routing protocols (RIP, OSPF, BGP), network management protocols (SNMP), and application-level protocols (FTP, TELNET, SMTP).

Lab Teaching Objectives

  1. Comprehend fundamental design principles of Internet Protocols, IP addresses, and IP networks, including routing and forwarding.
  2. Comprehend advanced Internet protocol technologies including network management, domain name system, network address translation, network management, and multicast.
  3. Apply understanding of Internet protocols by analyzing, evaluating, and improving actual network configurations of IP routers and Internet-enabled hosts.

The INTEREST lab was made possible through the CAIDA ITL program which provided the first set of equipment and grants from the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

The current lab manager is Hoon Chang.

Last updated by Henning Schulzrinne