USING CISCO PACKET TRACER AS A TOOL FOR NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE SIMULATION IN THE TRAINING OF SOFTWARE ENGINEERS

Abstract

The current stage of the development of society requires significant attention to the training of specialists in the field of computer networks and information systems, which implies the need to develop appropriate training courses. One of the problems in the development of disciplines in the field of IT related to computer networks is the organization of practical classes, because for modeling the operation of some services or services, the presence of several nodes in the network is necessary, which to a certain extent is not always possible and therefore imposes some limitations , which is reflected in the content of the discipline. Cisco Packet Tracer is a free network infrastructure simulator that is widely used to teach network technologies. It allows teachers to simulate network operation for lectures and students to experiment with different network configurations and protocols. The extensive capabilities provided by Cisco Packet Tracer can be used both to build a small network in each lesson and to create a large project that must be completed throughout the course. As an example, to demonstrate the principles of computer network operation, the model of an enterprise with two offices and a server farm is considered. This model provides opportunities to study the principles of IP addressing, network segmentation using virtual subnets, work skills in configuring managed switches, provides opportunities to simulate the principles of operation of many services and services built on the principles of the TCP\IP protocol. Given the security, flexibility, and availability of Cisco Packet Tracer, this software tool should be used to learn the basics of network architecture and network protocols, network device configuration, and the principles of building network security.