Netkit

We've got what you need!

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Understanding computer networks without performing practical experiments is really difficult, not to say it is almost impossible. Unfortunately, setting up a networking lab can be very expensive.

Netkit is an environment for setting up and performing networking experiments at low cost and with little effort. It allows to "create" several virtual network devices (full-fledged routers, switches, computers, etc.) that can be easily interconnected in order to form a network on a single PC. Networking equipments are virtual but feature many of the characteristics of the real ones, including the configuration interface.

Emulating a network with Netkit is a matter of writing a simple file describing the link-level topology of the network to be emulated and some configuration files that are identical to those used by real world networking tools. Netkit then takes care of starting (emulated) network devices and of interconnecting them as required.

Further, we provide a corpus of teaching material that can be used for courses at different levels.

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About Us

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Netkit is the result of the joint work of several people from the Computer Networks Laboratory of the Roma Tre University and from the LUG Roma Tre.

Involved people changed across time. Currently, the Netkit team consists of:

• Giuseppe Di Battista
• Maurizio Patrignani
• Maurizio Pizzonia
• Massimo Rimondini
• Sandro Doro uses Netkit in its TIC course (Technologies for Information and Communication, italian only)

A special mention is due for the following people, who gave significant contributions in the past:

• Andrea Cecchetti
• Lorenzo Colitti
• Federico Mariani
• Stefano Pettini
• Flavia Picard
• Fabio Ricci
• Special thanks also go to the students of the Networking Courses of the Roma Tre University, who have been using Netkit extensively during their studies.