Your Final Project/Term Paper is due on Wednesday, April 23, 2008 at 10:00am.

The purpose of this final project/term paper is for individuals to examine and describe a network topic of personal interest from a review of the literature. This means articles written in scholarly publications such as refereed journals. You may do your research on the Web but it is your resonsibility to ensure the legitamacy of the site. There are many sites with experts that are not legit. Your best bet is to only use sites run by known educational institutions. The paper should be 4 to 6 pages in length, typed, and double-spaced. You need to read at least four papers that have been published in the last five years. You are to write a 1 to 1-1/2 page summary of each paper that you have read. The summary is to be stapled to the front of each printed paper and then submitted in a folder with your name clearly visible on the folder.

You should identify an area of interest and pursue applications of networks to that area. While some technical issues are to be addressed in this paper, the focus should be on what you have learned from your readings/research.

The following issues should be considered for each paper.

• Network Application(s) - Describe the applications that the paper topic is suppose to address.
• Network Performance - What methods are used to monitor and evaluate the performance of the network?
• Network Problems and Failures - What kinds of problems and failures are possible? What procedures or guidelines have/can be established to eliminate or deal with the problems?
• Final Thought, what is the big idea behind the paper, in other words how has the author(s) attempt to extend the knowledge in his/her area.

Some possible network topics that can be studied include: the next generation Internet (IPv6), SECURITY AND ENCRYPTION!!, current and future prospects for the World Wide Web (e.g., locating and using resources on the Web), Cluster computing (Beowulf), Globus and the Grid, Wireless communictation protocol, and others.

The final project/term paper is worth 1/6th of your total grade so be sure to spend an appropriate amount of time on it! You must print me a copy of each paper you use and hand this in along with your typewritten critique of each paper. Remember that in the past some students have tried to hand in work they had found pre-written on the Internet and received a grade of ZERO for the assignment.