Development of Laboratory Exercises Based on the Opnet Network Simulating Approach

Different priorities and obstacles do not allow a small college to offer a variety of networks to its students and faculty for using them in the classrooms. As an option, they can use an invaluable tool, the OPNETTM IT Guru Academic software package [1] that offers all the tools for network model design, simulation and analysis at a reasonable cost. OPNET software can simulate a wide variety of different networks, which are linked to each other. One can just work from his/her PC to simulate different networks and study visually the impact of various factors (e.g., traffic load, bandwidth, data rate, etc.) on the network. With OPNETTM IT Guru, a sophisticated tool that provides analysis and modeling of network performance [2], users can study data message flows, packet losses, link failures, bits errors, etc. OPNET software is very user-friendly and easy to install.