Nature of proposed study

     The student desires to learn Wide-Area Telecommunications
Subnetwork Implementation and Administration.  Toward that end, the
student will complete two projects:
     (1) Installation of a gateway between the wide-area network
     (WAN) and the subnet, which will physically and logically
     connect the subnet to the WAN
     (2) Installation of a host server system, which will provide
     application services for the subnet (such as electronic mail).

The WAN that the student will use is the Internet.  After
completing these two projects, the subnet will enter service for
SRJC faculty and administrators.  The projects have been
coordinated with the campus telecommunications manager, who has
also supplied equipment -- for further information, Dave Johnston
can be reached at x4853.

                       Learning Objectives

Evaluation
Except for administrative objectives, each objective will be
evaluated by demonstrating that the subsystems upon which the
objective is based do, in fact, operate as expected. 
Demonstrations may be accomplished with diagnostic equipment and
software, actual use of the objective's subsystems, or whatever
tools the instructor deems appropriate.

                           Project One
                           The Gateway

Objective One -- Hardware
The student will learn hardware considerations for gateways, as
accomplished by assembling the hardware components of a subnet
gateway and physically attaching it to the WAN.

Objective Two -- Software
The student will learn software considerations for gateways by
evaluating or testing no less that three gateway software packages. 
The student will then install one package on the gateway's
hardware.

Objective Three -- Configuration
The student will learn gateway configuration by configuring the
gateway to route Internet Protocol datagrams between the subnet and
the WAN.  (Note:  The gateway will connect two different link
media, which complicates this objective.)

Objective Four -- Administration
The subnet will begin limited use.  The student will correct any
problems with the gateway ("debugging").
The student will then document the gateway system within its
configuration files.  These files will be printed and submitted to
the instructor for evaluation.Project Two
                         The Host Server

Objective One -- Hardware
The student will learn hardware considerations for servers, as
accomplished by assembling the hardware components of a server and
physically attaching it to the subnet.

Objective Two -- Software
The student will learn software considerations for servers by
evaluating or testing no less that three server packages.  The
student will then install one package on the gateway's hardware. 
At a minimum, the server package will provide both electronic mail
and file transfer services.

Objective Three -- Configuration
The student will learn server configuration by configuring the
server to provide electronic mail and file transfer services for
the subnet, which includes on-line documentation, security
measures, and the construction of an appropriate hierarchy on the
server's mass-storage media.  (These services will also be
available to WAN clients through the gateway.)

Objective Four -- Administration
The server will begin limited use.  The student will correct any
problems with the gateway ("debugging").
The student will document the server system within its
configuration files.  These files will be printed and submitted to
the instructor for evaluation.

                        Final Evaluation

1)  The student will write a technical document (for future system
administrators) explaining the operation, capabilities,
limitations, and important details of both systems; this document
will be submitted to the instructor for evaluation.

2)  The instructor will then evaluate the system through actual
use.  Any undocumented capabilities, limitations, or important
details will result in a downgrade.  An "important detail" is any
non-obvious item without knowlege of which a system administrator
might cause a network failure (e.g., "Unplugging the gateway will
cause a subnet failure," is not an important detail.  "Removing the
subnet from the gateway's routing table will cause a subnet
failure," is an important detail.)