Visits to the Clarkson ITL


If you are a high school or transfer student who is interested in attending Clarkson University in a computer-related major, please visit the Internet Teaching Laboratory (ITL) at one of the official Clarkson Open Houses.

Overview & Purpose of the Lab

  • We are one of the few ITL's in New York State and the United States
  • This lab was formed through a program administered by CAIDA
  • Things we do in the lab:
    • Computer networking, Computer and Network Security, Internet Engineering, Teaching, Labs, Worskhops and Projects
  • Current projects, ITL for course credit, lab maintenance
  • Lab involvement provides applied, hands-on Computer Science experience, practical knowledge
  • Alumni of the applied labs (COSI, VR, ITL) work for well-known software and computer companies

Demonstration of Networking Tools and Concepts

  • Computer Networking Protocols - how computers communicate to each other
  • Wireshark Network Protocol Analyzer - use with caution, do not use in dorm rooms, etc.
    • Trace a browser accessing a simple webpage (www.gnu.org)
      • DNS - determines IP address from the hostname written in the browser
      • HTTP - used to transfer web content from a web server to a browser client
        • Version number, status code, GET /
        • 200 OK, 301 Moved Permanently, 404 Not Found, 500 Internal Server Error, etc.
        • Source code of the HTML page is shown, CSS and images are transferred as well
    • Trace the connection to a remote server
      • Telnet - login to remote computer, echoes characters back
        • Type in "madeUlook" for password (don't type in your real password)
        • Show that password was sent in the clear
      • SSH - login to remote computer, secure shell
        • Type in your real password and login to server
        • Show that password was encrypted (Diffie-Hellman)
    • Secure vs. Insecure Protocols
      • Remote Connection - SSH vs. telnet
      • File Transfer - SCP/SFTP vs. FTP
      • Email - POP email every 5 minutes
        • Sends password in the clear at regular intervals
      • Instant Messenger - conversations sent in the clear
  • Neotrace - graphical version of traceroute (tracert)
    • Trace to an interesting location (www.google.com)
      • Guess how many hops between computers or routers that the packets travel through from our computer at Clarkson in Potsdam, New York to Google's computers in Sunnyvale, California
        • Answer: It is usually between 13 and 17, but the Internet's paths are dynamic and this number can change depending on the path taken
  • Networking Rack and Equipment - Cisco routers, hubs, switches, wireless, Ethernet, Serial connections