Seal CompSci491G 2024 ยทยทยท Computer Networking Lab


What

In this course, students will learn how to put "principles into practice," in a hands-on-networking lab course. Over the course of the class students will create many different networking topologies over the course of ~9 labs (subject to vary). We believe that learning through practice is the best way to gain long lasting experience and knowledge, the hope is to make you ready for when you step out in the real world; so be ready!

Course Staff

Instructor: Parviz Kermani (parviz@cs.umass.edu)
Office hours: Wednesdays 10:00-12:00 a.m., or by appointment at any time by Zoom or in-person, if possible.

UCA: Hampton Moore (hrmoore@umass.edu)
TA: Siva Sai Anem (sanem@umass.edu)
TA: Prajwal Sonti Hari Ganesh (psontihariga@umass.edu)
Office hours: By request in-person.

Topics Covered

We explore the OSI model

Prerequisites: COMPSCI 453

Textbook

No textbook is required, but the labs are modified/updated versions of the labs from the textbook "Mastering Networks: An Internet Lab Manual" by Jorg Lieberherr and Magda El Zarki. ISBN: 0-201-78134-4. Publisher: Addison-Wesley. Copyright: 2004.

Class Times

The formal class time is on Wednesdays at 2:30-3:45 p.m. Our class meets at this time to discuss the lab for the following week. Attendance to these meetings is optional, but encouraged. Material beyond the scope of the course may be discussed.

Lectures

Lectures in this class are meant to...

Lab

Room 224, LGRT (across from Ed Lab). The lab is accessible 24x7 with a numeric key, obtainable from the instructor. The building is open to everyone M-F 7am-8pm, Sa 7am-2pm, Su 5pm-8:30pm.

Equipment

Our networking room consists of 3 networking racks each housing 4 Cisco 2600 routers, 4 Juniper EX3200 layer3 switches, 1 Juniper MX104 router, 4 Pica8 switches, and 4 Linux hosts. The varity of gear allows us to model a varying array of networks from simple single switch networks to real-world datacenter and campus networks.

Workload

Each topic/topic area is covered in a Lab assignment. Labs are due roughly one lab per week with a short pre-lab Q&A, as well as lab writeups for each lab. The labs are self-paced, you will need to be motivated and organized to complete this course successfully.

Lab Report Schedule

Lab reports are due on specific dates. Labs are due at 10:00am on the day of submission. No extensions granted. Check Canvas for more details.

Incomplete Policy

No incompletes are given for this course. Ensure commitment to completing the course due to us always having a waiting lists. Please do not waste a spot in this class.