Our Network Lab – An Innovative Component of the MINT Graduate Degree Program
The MINT program at the UofA was created to meet industry needs for an accredited graduate degree program in Internetworking. This initiative links academics and industry to cooperatively resolve problems, while providing graduates with the broadest education and exposure to the world beyond the classroom. In pursuing a graduate education, students apply their theoretical knowledge in the lab to ensure there is a practical connection between the classroom and the real world. In this state-of-the-art environment, students learn to build, break, tweak, and re-build better networks.
Earn Your MINT Master's Degree in a State-of-the-Art Facility in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
The MINT lab consists of new equipment recently donated by Cisco Systems Inc. and TELUS Inc. At the core of the network is a Metro Ring consisting of four Lucent CBX 500 Multiservice WAN switches that form an OC-12 backbone. Extending from the Metro Ring are four team racks that each include a Cisco Catalyst 3524 switch and three Cisco routers. Additional shared equipment includes:
- Cisco Routers - used for connecting WAN links to the ATM backbone.
- Cisco IP/TV Server - used to broadcast video over the Internet.
- Cisco VoIP Server and CallManager - used to manage IP phones and voice gateways.
- IP Phones - IP telephony end user device and directly managed by the CallManager.
- Cisco Catalyst SwitchRouter - a high performance switch router that provides a collapsed backbone for campus networks and high-speed access to metropolitan backbone networks.
- Cisco DSLAM - used to concentrate ADSL access links.
- Wireless Access Points - used to connect wireless devices to a wired network.
- Wireless Bridges - used to provide a wireless connection between Ethernet LANs.
Students enrolled in the Master of Science in Internetworking graduate degree program have unparalleled hands-on access to all of this equipment in a free learning environment. MINT hardware and software are upgraded frequently.
