The Universities
around the UK attach onto a common network, which is known as SuperJANET
(Joint Academic NETwork). SuperJANET is mainly constructed using MANs
(Metropolitan Area Networks), which connect to one of four main hubs
(see Figure 1). The hub points are in Leeds, Bristol, London and Manchester.
The universities in Edinburgh connect onto the EaStMAN (Edinburgh and
Stirling MAN), as shown in Figure 2, and Table 1
outlines some of the currently developed MANs around the UK. Normally
after data is routed out of the SuperJANET network it will be routed
onto one of the main Internet backbones, such as:
JANET is the UK's academic
and research network, which is funded by the JISC (Joint Information Systems
Committee) of the Higher Education Funding Councils of England (HEFCE),
SHEFC (Scotland), Wales (HEFCW) and the Department of Education
for Northern Ireland (DENI). JANET is managed and developed by
UKERNA.
The JANET network connects to many higher education
and research institutes. It also provides a connection onto the
Internet, other National Research Networks (NRNs) in Europe, the
US and the rest of the world. Gateways out of the network to the
rest of the world are located within SuperJANET.
Figure 1: Connections
onto SuperJANET
SuperJANET was initiated in 1989 and provided a
broadband fibre optic based network. It was envisaged as a network of
networks formed by a national network complemented by a number of regional
networks (MANs) serving areas where several HE institutions are located
closely together. The SuperJANET project has transformed the JANET network
from one primarily handling data to a network capable of simultaneously
transporting video and audio as well as data.
EaStMAN
The EaStMAN (Edinburgh and Stirling MAN) network connects all
of the universities around Edinburgh (Figure 2). It consists of
two rings on ATM and FDDI, which run around the Edinburgh sites.
This also connects to the University of Stirling through a 155Mbps SDH connection.
The main connection to the SuperJANET network is at the University
of Edinburgh.
The 100Mbps FDDI dual rings link 10 Edinburgh city sites. This
ring provides for IP traffic on SuperJANET and also for high-speed
metropolitan connections. Initially a 155Mbps ATM network connected
five Edinburgh sites and the University of Stirling. The main
connected sites are:
Figure 2: EaStMAN
connections
University of Edinburgh (King's Buildings/ Old College/ New College/
Pollock Halls).
Heriot Watt University (Riccarton Campus).
Napier University (Sighthill/Merchiston).
Edinburgh College of Art.
Moray House (Holyrood Campus).
Queen Margaret's College (Corstorphine).
The network is now being expanded to connect the other
Scottish MANs, such as FatMAN, AbMAN and ClydeNET. This will support
a Virtual Campus around Scotland. With this, lectures can be transmitted
from one of the sites, and viewed by students on other campuses and
institutions.
ASSIGNMENT/COURSEWORK AIMS
The aims of the assignment are:
To investigate the connection of Napier University to the Internet.
To investigate the connection from SuperJANET onto the Internet.
To investigate how IP data packets are routed from Napier University
onto the Internet.
ASSIGNMENT/COURSEWORK BRIEF
Select a single organisation which has at least
three WWW servers which are distributed over a large geographical
area (possibly in three different continents). For example Intel has
a site in Australia (www.intel.com.au), in Brazil (www.intel.com.br) and in the USA (www.intel.com). Trace the route that data packets
take to reach these three severs. If possible, identify:
The common route that all the data packets take after they leave
a PC in Napier and go to their external destination.
How the data is routed out of the UK, and onto a destination.
The differences in the routes to the destination WWW servers.
Possible other investigation might include:
Whether data packets take different routes at different times
of the day.
The delays that data packets take for them to reach the destination.
The main routes the data packets take when they traverse across
a country/continent.
A report should be submitted which will normally have
less than 30 pages of typed A4 (quality is more important than quantity).
This report should investigate the connection of the Napier network
to three remote WWW servers.
Marking Schedule
The assignment will count for 60% (CNDS) or 20% (DCC)
of the final mark of the module. The marking schedule which will be
used is:
Theory [15%] TCP/IP, TCP/IP commands (Ping, nslookup, tracert).
3
Network connections [20%] SuperJANET backbone, Connections onto SuperJANET, External
connections from SuperJANET. Outline of the routes taken to
the remote WWW servers.
4
Test results [35%] Discussion of why you have chosen the destination WWW servers.
Listing of your three traceroutes with an outline description
of each of the routes.
5
Conclusions [20%]
Strong conclusions which summarise your main findings.
Reference
Table 1MANs in the UK
Network
Universities connected
WWW link
EASTMAN
Edinburgh, Heriot Watt,
Stirling, Napier and Queen Margaret College.
University of Wales, University
of Glamorgan, University of Wales College, University of Wales
Institute, University of Wales College of Medicine, Swansea
Institute of Higher Education
Liverpool University, Salford
University, Keele University, Staffordshire University, Liverpool
John Moores University, Manchester University, UMIST, Manchester
Metropolitan University
Design
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