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CST 311 Week 8

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  WELCOME TO WEEK 8 Learning Journal We are at the end of this course, finishing up with a short lecture and quiz, mostly focusing on Programming Assignment 4. So far, we have successfully created the Mininet network, the demo video, the diagram, and got the chat server to allow three users to connect. We are waiting for the TLS certification to finish implementing the second part of the project. Today, we have a meeting to discuss what we still need to do, as well as any questions or help needed.  This final week, we learned about Operational Security, including firewalls. There are three types of firewalls: stateless packet filters, stateful packet filters, and application gateways. We also learned about Deep Packet Inspection. Firewalls block unwanted traffic, and although they provide protection, attackers can sometimes still sneak in.  Another device we covered is the IDS (Intrusion Detection System) , which also provides protection by offering deep packet inspection and examining
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CST 311 Week 7

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  WELCOME TO WEEK 7 Learning Journal This week involved a lot of multitasking. Since this course is almost over, we took our final this weekend, and studying took most of my time. I reviewed all my notes and used the study guide to help me with my preparation. Additionally, we worked on the team programming assignment, PA4. So far, Edward and I have successfully started the Mininet network, and we were able to run pingall without any issues. We have divided the work for this part efficiently. We also ensured that the legacy network portion was completed before Monday so that our other group members could begin their tasks since they are collaborating on other sections. As a team, we have been working well together with excellent communication and contribution. Hopefully, we can have everything ready or close to completion by Friday. Regarding the lecture, we focused on the link layer. Specifically, we covered its role in error detection, multiple access protocols, and LANs. I found th
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CST 311 Week 6

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  WELCOME TO WEEK 6 Learning Journal This week was a bit shorter than the rest in terms of lectures. However, there is another project assignment coming up, and I started checking that out to see the requirements. I also started studying for the final exam by reviewing previous chapters and trying to grasp this week’s lectures as well. This week’s content will also be on the final exam. I feel like the weeks are going by really fast—just two more weeks, and we’re done. This week, I learned more about the network layer, specifically the control plane. In this chapter, we learned about the principles and protocols needed for routing. We also covered the traditional algorithms used in the control plane. These are Link-State , which uses the OSPF protocol , and Distance Vector , which uses the BGP  protocol . It is important to note that there are two approaches to structuring the network control plane: 1. Per-router control and 2. Logically centralized control . The per-router control pl
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CST 311 Week 5

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  WELCOME TO WEEK 5 Learning Journal This week, we are covering the first part of the network layer, focusing mainly on the data plane. Next week, we will focus on the control plane of the network layer. We already know that the role of this layer is to move packets from the sending host to the receiving host. However, the network layer is the most complex layer of the protocol stack. The two key functions of the network layer are forwarding and routing. The difference between routing and forwarding is as follows: Routing is the process by which the path a packet takes from the source to its destination is determined. This process involves all of a network’s routers, whose interactions via routing protocols determine these paths. Routing is a global process that involves multiple routers working together across the network to find the best path. Forwarding, on the other hand, is the process of transferring a packet from an incoming link to the appropriate outgoing link within a single
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CST 311 Week 4

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  WELCOME TO WEEK 4 Learning Journal This week was shorter than usual because we had the midterm. It really helped to have a lighter workload since it gave me more time to study and review for the test. The topic for this week was network security, which we briefly discussed in Chapter 1. However, in Chapter 8, we delved deeper into the principles of cryptography, focusing on how to provide confidentiality, integrity, authentication, and non-repudiation. We began by understanding the language of cryptography, where keys are used to encrypt plaintext and decrypt ciphertext. We also discussed the differences between symmetric key cryptography and public key cryptography. In symmetric key cryptography, both the sender and the receiver must know and use the same shared secret key. The challenge with this approach is that securely transmitting the key to the other party is difficult, especially if the parties have never met. Public key cryptography, on the other hand, works differently. The
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CST 311 Week 3

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  WELCOME TO WEEK 3 Learning Journal This week, I learned a lot of new concepts. However, it felt more time-consuming due to the team project on top of our weekly assignments. Fortunately, I took a couple of days off to catch up with everything. Despite the workload, it was an interesting week. We moved on to the transport layer and explored how one host sends data to another over a network. We began with the concepts of multiplexing and demultiplexing. Multiplexing involves gathering data from the application layer, encapsulating it into transport layer segments, and passing it to the network layer (IP). When the data reaches the other host, the demultiplexing process takes those received segments from the network layer, decapsulates them, and sends them up to the appropriate application layer process. Demultiplexing at the receiver is guided by headers, which include the destination port number to identify the destination application program. As we focused on the transport layer, it
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CST 311 Week 2

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  WELCOME TO WEEK 2 Learning Journal      This week, I learned about the principles of network applications. One of the key concepts I learned is that these applications can have two possible structures: client-server or peer-to-peer (P2P). In the client-server architecture, the server has a permanent IP address and is an always-on host. However, a single server is incapable of handling all client requests, which is why data centers (which house many servers) are created. Clients communicate with the server but are only connected when needed. They may have dynamic IP addresses and don't communicate directly with other clients. In the P2P architecture, there is no always-on server. Instead, end systems communicate directly with each other. Peers can act as clients (requesting services) or servers (providing services). In P2P, peers are intermittently connected, and their IP addresses can change frequently.     I also learned more about the internet's transport protocol service
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