Project Phase 1

Deadline: Tuesday 21/2/2021 @ 23:59
[Total Mark for this Assignment is 5]

Computer Networks

IT210

College of Computing and Informatics

Project
10 Marks

Learning Outcome(s):
3. Analyze & design Local and Wide Area Networks.
4. Demonstrate protocol configuration, network-addressing schemes and analyze packet transmission.

5. Illustrate network protocols including Transport Control Protocol / Internet Protocol.

I. Project objective:
At the beginning of this course, we discussed network performance. There is no doubt that performance issues can immensely impact the end-user experience and put productivity on hold. Almost every system admin makes it his/her top priority to find out the root cause of performance issues. This is where packet sniffers come into play. The purpose of this project is to establish a sound knowledge base of packet sniffers/analyzers, how they work, and their importance in understanding internet routing. 
II. Project Description:
As we discussed in Chapter 2, communication via the Internet is done using a five-layer suite. By using a packet sniffer, we can capture the packets and analyze them at four layers: application, transport, network, and data-link. There is no packet exchange at the physical layer; communication at this layer is done using bits. With the appropriate packet sniffer, you’ll be well-equipped to capture and analyze network traffic, and find out the cause of network performance hinders and eventually stop them from recurring.

After doing some research on packet sniffers, answer the following questions on your own words. Your answer must be in text format. You can add figures to support your answers, but your whole answer cannot be image based.
Q1: What are packet sniffers and how do they work?
Q2. What are the benefits of packet sniffing?
Q3. Mention the two best packet sniffers based on your preference, mentioning their advantages over other packet sniffers.
III. Marking Criteria

Question

Marks

Q1: What are packet sniffers and how do they work?

1

Q2. What are the benefits of packet sniffing?

1

Q3. Mention the two best packet sniffers based on your preference, mentioning their advantages over other packet sniffers.

3
(1.5 marks for each one)

Total

5

Important Notes:

The number of students in each group: 2 to 3

IT210_Project document:

a. The student must use the same file(IT210_Project_Phase_1 x) to prepare his/her answer.
b. Prepare and upload both (PDF and DOC)version of this file.
Answer