BITCNE Computer Networks - Assignment 2, 2000

La Trobe University, Bendigo

Division of Information Technology

BITCNE: Computer Networks

Assignment 2 2000

Your task in this assignment is to investigate one only of the following topics in computer network architecture, and submit a report on your findings. Note that all of the topics are about, or related to, application-level protocols in the Internet. Each of the topics has a "theory" section, where you have to look up the information somewhere (presumably on the Web, or in an RFC), and a "practical" section where you have to demonstrate how the particular system under discussion actually operates in practice. You must complete both sections to gain a high mark.

Note also that additional topics might appear on this page as they are suggested to me. It could be worth checking back regularly if you don't like any of those given below.

HTTP1.1 Proxies

Theory: HTTP/1.1 apparently has support for Proxy Servers. and caching. Discover how this is implemented in the protocol. Briefly discuss the limitations of proxy servers in HTTP/1.1.
Practical: How effective is La Trobe's proxy server? Use Telnet (as described in the lectures) to GET a Web page from the proxy server. Can you tell if the page was cached? How?

PUT Method

Theory: In the lecture, we looked at the GET and HEAD methods of HTTP/1.0, and later we will look at the POST method. We hardly mentioned the PUT method at all. Your task: find out all about the PUT method of HTTP/1.0 and write about how it works. In particular, describe how authentication is handled in the PUT method.
Practical: Use an HTML browser/editor which understands PUT, such as the W3 consortium's amaya (it's possible recent versions of Netscape might work as well). Use the PUT feature and document how it works compared to alternative techniques for achieving the same result.

USENET (Newsgroups)

Theory: Investigate the Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP) in the usenet news system. NNTP is the basis of usenet and has many interesting features.
Practical: Use telnet to connect to a nearby news server. Most NNTP servers support a "HELP" command so you can easily discover what features they offer. Use the protocol to learn what newsgroups are carried on the news server, to obtain a list of article headers, and to deliver an article. If you're really keen, try using the protocol to post an article to one of the "test" newsgroups (eg, latrobe.test).

POP

Theory: Investigate the POP3 protocol. What is it used for? What other alternatives are available to achieve the same purpose? What improvements does POP3 have over POP2? How does it handle authentication?
Practical: Use telnet to connect to a POP server. If you're on a La Trobe campus, you can probably use "students.latrobe.edu.au". Exercise some of the protocol features mentioned in the "theory" section.

FTP

Theory: Investigate FTP. Find out the answers to mysteries like: "What is FTP used for?", "What is the PORT command used for?" "What is the difference between text and image (binary) modes?", "What is the difference between active and passive mode?"
Practical: See what FTP control protocol messages you can send (and receive) using telnet. Explain why you can't fully debug FTP using telnet alone.

Other

Any other appropriate application protocol-related topic with the explicit prior approval of the lecturer.

You should expect to write something between 1500 and 3000 words on the topic of your choice, although this is not mandatory. You can submit your assignment using either traditional hard copy (paper) form, or as an email attachment of MIME type text/html sent to cnsubmit@ironbark.bendigo.latrobe.edu.au, as for the first assignment. Your choice of submission format will not affect the mark gained for your assignment. Submissions must, as usual, adhere to the requirements of the La Trobe University, Bendigo Assignment Guide.

This assignment carries 15% of your mark for Computer Networks.

Due Date:12th May, 2000

Lecturer: Phil Scott, 5444 7277, p.scott@latrobe.edu.au.