Data Communications/Networking Laboratory

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The intent of this project is to equip a laboratory in which students in networking courses can complete exercises and perform experiments that enhance the classroom learning occurring through lectures and discussions. This laboratory is being used as a facility for developing and refining a set of appropriate exercises and experiments which may then be shared with computer science teachers at the undergraduate level. Networking is assuming an increasingly central role in computing. Distributed systems are displacing centralized computing facilities. This paradigm shift has no greater impact on the curriculum than in the area of data communications and networking. The change from a world of minis and mainframes to workstations, LANs, and WANs must be reflected in the computer science curriculum. The new lab addresses both the hardware and the software aspects of this change. As a consequence of this shift, employers have an increased need for and a high expectation of networking expertise on the part of the students that they hire. Also, coursework and research at the graduate level are increasingly devoted to networks and distributed systems. The lab provides the students with concrete examples of things discussed conceptually in the lecture. The students also gain valuable familiarity with hardware and software products that they may be working with in their future careers or research situations.