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Visual Network Simulator To Teach Basic Networking?

Posted by timothy on from the sounds-like-a-good-video-game-too dept.

unteer writes "I am a US Peace Corps volunteer currently teaching a computer technician course at a technical college in Kenya. My students have all completed the Kenyan equivalent of high school and have been accepted into a program where they give a year of nation-building non-military service in return for a technical education. My students' course load includes an introduction to computer networking, and this is where my problem lies. Do any of you know of a visual network simulator that can create an interactive network map that allows me, the instructor, to manipulate various components of a network, including the physical media, routing configuration, and which applications are being used to submit data? An example would be to have a visual of the differences between mail traffic and web traffic, and be able to show how the configuration of a wireless network might be different from a wired network. I know this may seem silly, but visuals of all this are critical to getting ideas across. It doesn't even have to be technically accurate, but rather just pictorially accurate, possibly just labeling the various components correctly. Also, it would be highly preferable if it ran on Linux, as I teach using FOSS only."

21 of 138 comments (clear)

  1. Cisco Packet Tracer by MikeK7 · · Score: 5, Informative

    The idea is not silly at all. When I did a Networking Fundamentals subject, we used Cisco Packet Tracer to do most of what you mentioned above. Unfortunately, it isn't exactly FOSS.

    1. Re:Cisco Packet Tracer by kestasjk · · Score: 4, Informative

      We use CNET, it lets you simulate any layer of a network stack, but really its better for teaching low-level networking by getting you to recreate a the OSI stack, rather than teaching you how to configure this or that type of node/router.

      If you want you can see frames and acks between this and that node as they travel across the various links needed to reach the final point, a thorough way to visualize what's going on, but not the fastest way to teach someone how to use ifconfig or configure a cisco router.

      --
      // MD_Update(&m,buf,j);
    2. Re:Cisco Packet Tracer by speedwaystar · · Score: 3, Insightful

      ...written by my Comp-Sci lecturer the incomparable Mr Chris McDonald!

  2. Boson? by camperdave · · Score: 4, Informative

    There's a program from Boson(I think, not sure if the spelling is correct) that does this sort of thing. You drag and drop icons of computers, switches, routers, etc, and draw lines between them. It then simulates this network. You can see the various packets, such as ARP packets, routing protocol packets, etc, and can examine the various header bits and bytes. We used it in the network lab at the school I attended. I'm pretty sure it wasn't open source, though.

    --
    When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
  3. Visual Netkit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    The Visual Netkit project may interest you.
    http://code.google.com/p/visual-netkit/

  4. OMNeT++ is available for free for academic use. by gabort · · Score: 5, Informative

    Hi, I would advise to try OMNeT++ it is widely used at various universities. The source code is open, and you can use it for free for non-profit and academic purposes. You can make it as simple, or as complicated as you like. Simulations can be explored live, and there is a useful animation and sequence chart feature that will make complex processes easier to communicate and understand. some links to look at: www.omnetpp.org main community page. This walkthrough of the INET Framework might actually be useful: http://www.omnetpp.org/doc/INET/walkthrough/tutorial.html To get a feel for the whole thing, I suggest you check out some of the videos (for example, the one titled "Using the IDE" from here: http://www.omnest.com/web-demos.php Or get some working demos (still the old version, but the idea is the same) from here: http://www.omnest.com/download-demosim.php I hope that helps.

  5. try GNS3 by bhenson · · Score: 5, Informative

    I use GNS3 located at http://www.gns3.net/ and it works very well and is very easy to learn and teach others to ues

  6. OPNET by radradrobotank · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The academic version is free. Unfortunately OPNET is Windows only.

    OPNET and Wireshark make for some very informative lab work.

    URL to some labwork used by various universities:

    http://faculty.kfupm.edu.sa/coe/ashraf/RichFilesTeaching/COE081_540/BPG_OPNET/BrownLabManauls

    (I'm not sure where these labs came from, I think from a book. My networks lecturer used them as lab work for a 2nd/3rd year network course)

  7. Re:You have a problem by Luke+has+no+name · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I agree he might have to stick with a pencil and paper, but the question is well worth asking. GNS3 is free, but I thought it required non-free components to be useful (aka Cisco IOS isos or something).

    He might require FOSS not just for philosophical reasons, but because he's a VOLUNTEER in KENYA. I doubt the budget is in the triple digits.

  8. WE have a problem by Bob+Esponja · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Sorry, but if we need proprietary tech to have access to knowledge, he doesn't. WE HAVE THE PROBLEM, specially in educational environment like this.

    1. Re:WE have a problem by serviscope_minor · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Seriously? What the fuck are you talking about? Pens are proprietary?

      Firstly, pretty much any pen you can buy will work with any paper you can buy. There is no vendor lockin. You can change pens HALF WAY THROUGH A WORD and it will have no effect. Secondly. Refillable pens (eg retractable pencils and fountain pens) will accept refills from any manufacturer. That's even less proprietary! You can even refill them yourself! I whiled away some happy hours refilling cheap fountain pen cartridges with bleach to make erasers when I was in school. You can also make your own ink if you really wish and use that. It is not too hard. You can also make your own pens, too. It is also not very hard. And you can make your own paper.

      The technology for all these things is well understood and widely, openly known, and far too old to be covered by patents[*]. You can be easily go into business to make them for yourself. Of course, that does not mean it is trivial, but that is irrelevant.

      Just because you're not personally able or inclined to does not make it proprietary.

      [*]Maybe some fancy new pens are patented, but the kind of biros I usually use seem indistinguishable from the ones I was using 25 years ago.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
  9. GINI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    GINI (GINI is not Internet) http://cgi.cs.mcgill.ca/~anrl/projects/gini/ is a toolkit for creating virtual micro Internets for teaching and learning computer networks. It will run on both Linux and Windows.

  10. ns2 / nam by happylight · · Score: 5, Informative

    Not sure if it's exactly what you want but check out ns2 / nam. It's a pretty good network simulator. It's open source and runs on linux.

  11. why simulate? by andy753421 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I assume you have some lab computers that are already part of a network, can't you just install wireshark on them and use the existing network? You won't be able to teach everything, but you can probably cover a lot of it that way. Learning tends to be easier for me when I'm looking at the actual thing anyway. If you trust them with root access (or have automatic restores) they can experiment with different configurations too.

  12. CORE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Take a look at CORE (http://cs.itd.nrl.navy.mil/work/core/) its open source and works on Linux/BSD

  13. some programs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    * ns2: http://nsnam.isi.edu/nsnam/index.php/Main_Page (GPL)
    * Wide Area Network Emulator http://wanem.sf.net/|WANem (GPL)

  14. GNS3 / Dynamips by WML+MUNSON · · Score: 5, Informative

    GNS3 is OSS. It runs best on a system with lots of RAM and a multi-core processor.

    All you need beyond the initial download is a router image file (Cisco 7200, etc).

    Enjoy!

  15. Clack Graphical Router by Xolotl · · Score: 4, Informative

    I had a similar problem finding ways to teach basic networking such as addresses and masks and routing to non-computing students. Having looked into NS2 and similar things and finding them powerful but way too complicated (for the student's level), I settled on Clack:

    Clack Graphical Router Project

    It's written in Java, graphical and easy to use and does quite well at showing many of the important things. You can also extend it yourself if necessary (open source).

  16. Re:You have a problem by icebraining · · Score: 3, Informative

    I don't think he said "I refuse to use non-Foss tools", I think it's more "I currently only use FOSS tools". This, because he said it should run on Linux preferably, which means he's willing to use Windows if the tool needs it.

    --
    Dilbert RSS feed
  17. Re:You have a problem by couchslug · · Score: 3, Informative

    He mentioned "preferable", perhaps because Free solutions can be expanded Freely. His students can have personal copies of ALL the software he uses and spread it legally as they teach others.

    --
    "This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
  18. Re:Artwork of all networking equipment by foniksonik · · Score: 3, Informative

    Whoops the link was bad try this http://graffletopia.com/

    --
    A fool throws a stone into a well and a thousand sages can not remove it.