An detailed understanding of the factors that influence the performance of wide area and local networks is an important part of the skill set required by professional network managers and application designers, and so should be available to Network Computing students.

To update MONATAR with current unit descriptions. CPE3014 was first taught several years ago as a level 3 elective unit within the Bachelor of Network Computing.

Being able to predict and measure Network Performance is an important part of the practical knowledge required by Network Computing professionals.

At the completion of this subject students should be able to:

1. understand various measures of data communication network performance
2. be able to use various hardware and software tools to measure performance
3. use simulation packages for modelling and performance measurement
4. use models for performance analysis and prediction
5. make recommendations for network performance improvement

Gilbert Held. Local Area Network Performance (1994) Wiley

B.W.Stuck & E.Arthurs. Computer and Communications Network Performance Analysis Primer (1985) Prentice Hall

Daniel J. Nassar. Network Performance Baselining (2000) Macmillan

R. Lloyd-Evans. Wide Area Network Performance & Optimization (1996) Addison Wesley

Blommers, John. Practical Planning for Network Growth (1996) Prentice Hall

Housley, Trevor. Data Communications and Teleprocessing Systems (1987), 2nd Ed Prentice Hall

Martin, James. Systems Analysis for Data Transmission (1972) Prentice Hall

George Kesidis, ATM Network Performance (2000) Kluwer Academic

Lecture presentation with detailed discussion and case studies (Baseline measurements) will meet requirements for objectives 1 and 5.

Lab exercises and demonstrations involving network protocol analyser hardware and software will be given to realise objective 2.

Extensive worked examples and structured Lab exercises will be used to develop knowledge and experience of a network modelling tool (eg Network II.5). This will address the requirements of objectives 3 & 4.

The Lab tests will be designed to assess students comprehension and level of expertiese in network metrics (obj.1), modelling (obj.3 and obj.4) and tuning (obj.5). The modeling project builds on this and will require the student to be more analytical and creative and so relates to all objectives.

The final exam will assess student understanding of unit content based on material presented in lectures. This addresses objective 1 and 5.

Students will be expected to spend a total of 12 hours per week during semester on this unit. THis will include:

• Lectures: 2 hours per week
• Tutorials: 2 hours per week (in Network Lab)
• an additional 8 hours per week completing Lab and Project work, private study and revision.

• Software Title:
• Vendor:
• Version:
• OS: MS Windows XP ( ) and/or LINUX ( )
• License Details: (A valid software license certificate/s or Vendor permission must be available upon request if the software is to be installed for teaching)
• Are we currently licensed: Yes ( ) or No ( ) (If unsure, please check with your local IT support )
• If (Yes), who is the contact person for this software?:
• If (No), will the software license be arranged by: Staff member requesting the software ( ) or Technical Services* ( ) ? *If the latter is selected, please discuss your requirement/s with myself ASAP, prior to finalising your request, as there could be financial or resourcing implications.
• Is the software to be installed and accessed from a: Client/Workstation ( ), or Server ( ) ?
• Type of license: Site License ( ), Freeware ( ), FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) ( ), Shareware ( ), Lab based ( ) # of Licenses needed ____
• In what week will you commence using the software in class? Semester 1 (Week ___ ) and/or Semester 2 (Week ___ ):
• Nominated Staff For Acceptance Testing Software: (Name) (Phone) (Email)
• Additional Information: Special Requirements, Software Configuration/Installation Requirements, etc:

modern network operating system

discrete event simulator software (eg CACI SimulaII demo NetworkII.5)

none

CPE1007 (formerly known as CPE2002) Data Communications and Networks