Laboratory 1 - Getting Started

Due - Tuesday, September 23, 2003

The purpose of this lab assignment is to introduce you to some of the tools and resources you will be using in the remainder of the course as well as to provide you with a better understanding of some of the technologies we have discussed so far. You are welcome to turn in a hard copy of your solutions in class or a soft copy via email. Either way, I must have your solutions by the start of class on the due date.

Question 1 - 15 points
Do review question 10 at the end of chapter 2. In addition, send one or more commands that will return the following status codes:
Hint: Page 98 of the text should get you started on this exercise.
Turn in the transcript of your session.

Question 2 - 15 points
Do review question 14 at the end of chapter 2. If you are not sure how to view the headers using your email client, see me. Turn in the header itself along with a short (3-4 sentences should suffice) description of what the Received: lines of the headers indicate.

The purpose of the following three questions is to get you used to using the web as a resource. You will need to do some web surfing to come up with answers to the following questions. The best place to start is typically a search engine like Google (www.google.com) or Yahoo (www.yahoo.com).
Question 3 - 10 points
Find a map of a backbone network. Either print it out and turn it in, or send me the URL.

Question 4 - 15 points
Surf the web to find out more about ISPs that provide broadband residential access. List at least 3 providers and whether they offer DSL or HFC.

Question 5 - 15 points
This is essentially chapter 1 Discussion Question 2. Consider figure 1.16. Suppose I have a broadband service provider (HFC), a cable modem, a desktop computer, and a laptop computer. Neither computer is outfitted with ANY networking equipment -- no wireless card, etc. List of pieces of equipment that I will need to purchase in order to achieve the setup shown in figure 1.16. For each piece, list at least one option including product model and cost.
Hint: For this question you may want to go directly to the website for a company like Best Buy rather that searching Google.

Question 6 - 15 points
Read through section 2.4. Telnet to the Mt Holyoke mail server (smtp.mtholyoke.edu) and send me a message that appears to be from an email address other than your own. Note, the mail server will check to make sure that the domain name is valid. Also, in the body of the message indicate that you are the sender of the message and that you are sending the mail for question 6. For an example of how the SMTP protocol works, see page 110. Nothing to turn in here!

Question 7 - 15 points
Now, you are going to familiarize yourself with Java by writing an SMTP client that will perform the previous exercise for you. Visit the Java Socket Programming Tutorial at http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-12-1996/jw-12-sockets.html. Read through the tutorial and note that on the second page there is an example of an SMTP client. What you need to do is copy and paste the class smtpClient into a new file called smtpClient.java. Modify the class such that the program contacts the Mt Holyoke mail server and sends an email to me as in Question 7 (only the body of the message should indicate you are sending the mail for question 7). MAKE SURE to change the code before running so that you don't end up sending mail to k3is@fundy.csd.unbsj.ca. There are a couple of bugs in the posted code. Compare the code to the session transcript on page 110 to figure out what needs to be changed. I should receive your mail as proof that you did the question. Also, turn in a copy of your smtpClient class (the smtpClient.java file).
Note: If you need additional help with Java (compiling, running, etc) I will be happy to assist.

Sami Rollins