Research on Networking Laboratory Design and Training

Networking technology is one of the most rapidly growing disciplines and is experiencing unprecedented market growth. It is thus crucial that students be exposed to contemporary networking equipment in a realistic setting, in order to connect theoretical material taught in lecture courses with the realities of physical hardware. To this end, a large computer networking laboratory has been set up to provide a realistic environment for teaching internetworking concepts. This laboratory provides university-level students with a testbed to experiment with fundamental issues of internetworking in a way that cannot be provided by simulators or virtual labs. We describe the motivations for setting up the laboratory, its network structure and equipment, and the type of experiments students conduct. Many of the problems we faced in setting up our equipment are common in other universities. Our experiences are thus likely to be of value to those who are contemplating setting up experimental laboratory.