Movie + Food = LOVE

This week is our last discussion week. After 13 weeks, the term is about to end. Our final lesson was RIP. RIP in routing means Routing Information Protocol. It uses a metric called hop count. In our last lesson it took me a while to fully understand  what the next hop of a route was. You could imagine my reaction when I heard the term hop count. When our prof showed us how to implement RIP in Packet Tracer. I thought it looked easy enough. It looked easier than manually routing in a static route. So our group was eager to do the last exercise. After 2 meetings, we were still unable to finish it. Whenever we pinged a device, it would return as a failure. It was very frustrating. When we were about to give up, sir helped us out. However, he discovered that there was a problem with the case. We just had to laugh it out. We had let the exercise frustrate us when we should've asked for help right away instead. We would've saved ourselves the trouble.

As you may have known from my previous posts, our class had been studying about WireShark. But, as they say "Walang Forever". It was time for us to part ways. Our class had to move on from using Wireshark. I felt that the lessons were rather short. We just learned a new tool and then we had to drop it a couple of weeks later. Then again, this might be the product of combining 2 subjects into one (DNETCOM).  However, don't be sad, for we were reunited with Cisco Packet Tracer. We were still able to apply the lessons in configuration during midterms. We still practiced naming routers, setting passwords, configuring interfaces and the likes. Also, the level of difficulty went up a notch. We started routing the devices. Sir Justin taught us how to route step-by-step. Honestly though, our group had a hard time routing during the exercise. We were aware of the step by step procedure and what commands to use. Our problem was routing the path or figuring out the next h

2 weeks ago, we had our research defense. We presented our paper about the 4G entitled, "The Lack of Utilization in the 4G Network". We had a pretty good feeling about our group's presentation because we felt that we were well prepared. We revised our papers and consulted with sir 3 times before passing our final paper. Also, our group was united and everyone was hardworking. Before our defense, we had watched tutorial videos, read blogs, articles , etc. about our topic.Because of this, we received high midterm grades (Thank you Sir!) After a quick 1 week breather, we were back to studying hard. We were introduced to packet sniffing. We learned that packet sniffing is a computer program or piece of computer hardware that can intercept and log traffic that passes over a digital network or part of a network. At first, our group had a hard time using Wireshark for packet sniffing because it was a new tool. This is why we kept pestering Sir with questions.  T

This week, we focused on creating our midterm research papers. I group was given the topic of "next generation devices". We decided to make a paper about 4G. We focused on the lack of utilization of 4G in the Philippines. I can say that I am lucky to have my groupmates. They all did their parts without any complaints - even when I tend to be OC. We were able to finish our research paper early and had 2 drafts checked before making our final research paper.  However, I think I went to far because I ended up being ill. I would sleep in the early morning because we would stay up late doing our paper. Today, I went home early and just came back to school in the afternoon for my last class, but for me, it was a small price to pay. I am also aware that I did it to myself. The bright side is that we are done with our paper and have a long time to prepare for the defense.

Packet Tracer and Slow Internet Connection This past 2 weeks, we've focused on configuring using the CLI in packet tracer. We were introduced to new codes/commands that are used in configuring routers. We were also taught the step by step process of configuring servers and PCs. We also learned how to ping messages inside our network and send emails.  At first, it was a bit difficult for me to keep up with the lesson because I could not open the powerpoint presentation file in moodle because my computer inside the lab has a slow internet connection. It's a good thing that Sir Justin displays the current lesson on the board using the projector while he discusses.  I am also terrible at remembering things. That's why I would usually keep an open copy of the ppt so that I could scroll back for some details that I forgot (for example, the command to enable a password). But once I got the hang of configuring the router, the task was somewhat easier. I find that

DNETCOM, also known as Network Security, Storage and Data Communication. It's quite a handful don't you think? To be honest, when I learned I would be taking this subject, I was a bit intimidated. I knew nothing about network security and storage, much less data communication. I remember doing our first exercise as a group. We were tasked with creating a network for a made up company called RRD Company. We were given a budget and a list of items for sale and their corresponding prices. I was a bit embarrassed because I had no idea what half of the devices in the list were. There was an IP phone, a switch and others. But then I learned that my other blockmates did not know what those were either. Then I came to a realization that I shouldn't have been disheartened because that was what the class was for. We are taking DNETCOM to learn about these things. (Don't worry I eventually learned the difference between a hub, switch and router.) In class, we are tasked w