IS 333: Course Policies

Instructor: Professor W. David Laverell

Course Objectives: Welcome to IS 333! In this course, you will...

1. Become familiar with networking concepts and vocabulary,
2. Gain hands-on experience building and configuring a network, and
3. Gain appreciation of how network protocols work.

Textbook. Internetworking with TCP/IP, Fifth Edition by Douglas E. Comer. We will work through the text on Fridays.

Grading. This is a practical course. As a result, your grade in this course will be based upon the number of points you earn on (i) labs and (iii) the final exam; which will be weighted at 75% and 25%, respectively. The bulk of your grade will be based on your writeups of your laboratory experiences. Writeups will vary according to the particular lab. For example, sometimes there will just be a lot of questions to answer. At other times you will be performing a task, and the writeup will explain in some detail how you went about performing that task. When in doubt, ASK!

Course Organization. This course consists of two components:

1. Each Monday and Wednesday, we will meet for a lab exercise, that provides practical, hands-on experience in network administration. These labs will be completed in teams of 2 or 3 people. You will need your textbooks for these exercises, so be sure to bring them those days. If you have not finished a lab exercise by the end of class on Wednesday, you and your teammates are responsible for completing it on your own time.
2. Each Friday, we will meet for a lecture and/or test, that emphasizes the principles and concepts of computer networks.

Labs: Each period is just 50 minutes; make every effort to arrive early, so that you are ready to go when class begins.

Final Exam Date: Tuesday May 19, 1:30 pm.

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