Project Ideas for Spring 2026

In this project you will design and build out an Aruba wireless network in the ITC lab spaces using a provided Aruba Wireless LAN Controller and Access Points. You will need to research the Aruba wireless system and configure the WLC and APs to provide secure wireless networking to students and staff on separate SSIDs. You will need to coordinate with the ITC lab assistant and your professor for connections to the ITC network after getting a proof of concept network running.

In this project you will design and setup systems which explore different methods and protocols for authentication and access management. You will need to design one or more topologies which can be used to setup and test various methods for authentication and access management as well as to actually setup and test the IAM software. You should demonstrate the use of at least three different authentication methods (such as username/password, passwordless/passkeys, multi-factor authentication, certificate-based authentication, bearer token authentication, etc.). You should also demonstrate the use of at least three different IAM protocols (such as LDAP, SAML, OpenID, OAuth, Kerberos, RADIUS, etc.).

Explore the ability to automate Cisco router and switch configuration using the Ansible tool. Explore both SSH configuration and NETCONF/RESTCONF configuration. Explore methods to get the routers and switches configured enough so that Ansible can take over.

Explore the ability to automate Linux server configuration using the Ansible tool.

Explore the infrastrucutre as code automation landscape by using tools such as Terraform and OpenTofu to create and manage virtual machines and LXC containers.

Explore the automation of tasks in Proxmox including cloning VMs and setting up networks/VLANs for VMs using Python.

In this project you would explore a couple of different intrusion prevention systems and create a lab which could be used in a network security course to demonstrate the use of IPS software. This may require the creation of pre-built virtual machines so that the principal features of IPS can be explored within a reasonable lab time. You may want to explore and create labs for both network (NIPS) and host (HIPS) based IPS.

Overlay networks allow you to build a network of systems (and sometimes subnets) which communicate with each other and appear to be on a local network even when they are connected through other networks. They share some similarities with VPNs but usually allow direct node to node communication without flowing through a central gateway. They can be supported/connected with both software and hardware depending on specific needs.

Digital signage player software is used to show photos and information on TV screens used as signs in public places. This project would be to explore and test at least a few different digital signage players and make a recommendation on ones to use for a few particular organizations with different needs.

Explore the operation of DNS servers, Web servers, and related services by modeling how the Internet DNS system works. Includes deploying at least a root nameserver, a few TLD nameservers, some nameservers for particular domains, delegated nameservers, as well as a root Certificate Authority, experimenting with DNSSEC and DANE, and setting up demo webservers for sample domains (utilizing the DNS infrastructure, DNSSEC, DANE, SSL/TLS certificated, etc.)

Explore the operation of public key infrastructure (security certificates). Includes setting up an enterprise certificate authority on Windows Server and/or Linux and then demonstrating the useful application of security certificates for things like: HTTPS websites, code signing, VPN authentication, Wireless Network 802.1x Authentication, email signing, etc. You will also determine the feasibility of using free public "Let’s Encrypt" certificates for any or all of these in an enterprise intranet setting.

Research, explore, and demonstrate the use of the NUT UPS power monitoring software to manage large numbers of uninterruptible power supplies on the ITC network. Specifically, research the use of NUT and develop/implement a plan to connect a Raspberry Pi running Raspbian Lite and running NUT to every UPS in the ITC labs and connect them with static IPs to the ITC network. Collect UPS statistics over SNMP to a monitoring system such as Zabbix as well. If time allows provide centralized status reporting to a monitoring dashboard.

Your goal with this project is to create a self-updating/sustaining Linux operating system local mirror which would allow ITC students to more quickly install and update their Linux systems. The primary OS which must be supported is Debian Linux but you may choose to include other Linux distributions in the mirror as well. The mirror should include a package repository as well as an ISO repository. Your mirror needs to automatically stay up to date with the latest Linux distribution files and should support delivering files over IPv4 and IPv6. It should meet the requirements for being a public mirror.

In this project your goal would be to design a topology for experimeting with a variety of different type of VPN software, focusing primarily on open source offerings and covering a variety of different types of VPN use cases. Use cases include: remote access to a work network, protecting Internet traffic over an insecure network (such as free wifi), connecting individual client devices to a single virtual network, connecting two separate networks together. You will design and document lab activities which introduce each VPN technology.

There are MANY possible Python programming projects possible and could include local programs as well as cloud based serverless type programs (e.g. Azure Functions). Specific projects would depend on your existing Python knowledge and area of interest. Discuss these with your instructor.

In this project you will design and setup a topology to demonstrate the basic use of an OPNsense firewall. Basic configuration would include setting up outside network access with NAT, basic firewall rules, DHCP and DNS server support, and port forwarding. You will design and write lab activites which explain the configuration and testing of these features. Basic functionality does not include VPNs, intrusion protection, etc.

In this project you will design and setup a topology to demonstrate software dynamic routing as well as combining software routing with hardware routers. Software routing can be done with dedicated software systems like OPNsense or VyOS, or with a regular installation of Linux and software like FRR. You will design and write lab activites which explain the configuration and testing of software routing. You will probably want to base your topology off of some of the CCNA routing labs but replacing the hardware routers with software routers instead. You should also include some work with a hybrid topology where some routers are software and other routers they are exchanging information with are hardware (Cisco) routers. You may want to explore options with multiple different routing protocols as well (such as OSPF, RIP, EIGRP, BGP).

In this project you will complete a learning curriculum on the AWS cloud platform including hands-on lab activities. You will also then attempt to complete essentially the same activities on the Azure cloud platform and compare the advantages/disadvantges and what you like about each cloud platform. You may also consider trying a third cloud platform such as Google Cloud Platform if your time allows it.

In this project your goal would be to test and update Voice over IP lab activities. Existing lab activities need to be tested and updated with better instructions and visuals as well as to work on updated Asterisk and FreePBX versions and with newer Cisco T1 Voice Gateway routers.

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