Intuitive learning of communication protocols by using a sniffer
Marcos D. Fernández, Jesus A. Martinez · Computer Applications in Engineering Education · 2009
Abstract Network sniffers have become critical tools in today's networking management and troubleshooting processes. They enable network managers to evaluate and examine the data running through their network, as well as it can help to identify network attacks and to detect security threats. Besides their usage in the technical environment, network sniffers can be used for educational and research purposes. They can be used for a better understanding of packets' architecture and traffic patterns generated by common network applications. Network Sniffers can also be used to evaluate protocol performance and assist in protocol development. Then, an essential part of a Networking course is the examination of and experimentation with network traffic data and protocols. Most standalone network traffic sniffers are rather expensive and those freely available on general purpose platforms (Linux or Windows) are quite cryptic. Therefore, we have developed a sniffing environment that permits to analyse network data and to send data packets. This sniffer is intended for beginner students in networking and it gives a clear guidance for its use. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 18: 721–726, 2010; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com ; DOI 10.1002/cae.20277