Franske ITC 2900 SP21 Possible Projects

Possible Projects

NOTE: These are some ideas, there are many other possible projects. Discuss your own ideas with the instructor to see if they might be feasible.

Support for vTPM and Encryption with VMWare

Introduction

VMWare has support for a virtual TPM chip in it's VMs as well as the ability to encrypt Virtual Machine files. IN theory enabling the vTPM feature should allow you to use Bitlocker on the boot drive of a Windows VM running in VMware as well as to provide additional security enhancement of VMware VM files. Normally enabling this support in VMware requires the use of a commercial KMIP key management server (KMS). In this project you would explore how KMIP KMS systems operate and implement an open source KMIP server for VMware culminating in a demonstration of the enhanced security features including vTPM possible with KMIP on VMWare.

Resources

• PyKMIP
• VMWare ESXi
• VMware vSphere

Deliverables

• Working vTPM VMware setup
• Bitlocker running on boot drive in VMWare

DNS and Web Deep Dive

Introduction

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.)

Resources

• Lots of Linux server VMs
• BIND DNS Server (and/or Unbound DNS server)
• nginx web server

Deliverables

• Public Key Infrastructure setup (certificate creation, signing, etc.)
• DNS Server hierarchy with working DNSSEC/DANE access to webservers/sample domains
• Prepare a whitepaper and presentation detailing your research, testing process, and results

PKI Certificate Deep Dive

Introduction

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.

Resources

• Windows and Linux server VMs
• Certificate creation and signing software

Deliverables

• Public Key Infrastructure setup (certificate creation, signing, etc.)
• Demonstration of certificate use
• Prepare a whitepaper and presentation detailing your research, testing process, and results

UPS Power Monitoring

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. If time allows provide centralized status reporting via MQTT.

Resources

• Lots of Raspberry Pis
• UPSs

Deliverables

• Working NUT servers on every UPS
• Documentation on setup and configuration
• Prepare a whitepaper and presentation detailing your research, testing process, and results

Network Access Control

Introduction

The Inver Hills ITC department has an academic, demonstration, and research network ("ITCnet") which uses network devices from Cisco and HP and supports a number of virtual machines, hosts, and devices including Windows, Linux, Android, iPhone, and more. Network ports are not physically securable but it may be possible to improve security on this network by implementing some type of Network Access Control (NAC) which restricts access to network resources until a user authenticates to the network. Users on our network are stored in an Active Directory system which is also accessible through LDAP and RADIUS methods. It has been determined in previous groups that PacketFence is a reasonable option for NAC but test implementations with switches and wireless APs have not been completed. You task would be to setup and test PacketFence with the Cisco and HP/3Com switches we use as well as with the Ubiquiti UniFi APs (running OpenWrt)and Aruba Wireless APs, and to document your results.

Resources

• Cisco Switches
• HP/3Com Switches
• Wireless APs and Controllers
• Windows Server / Active Directory
• PacketFence Open Source NAC

Deliverables

• Design and implement a test network environment
• Determine, test, and document configurations which will meet the 802.1x and captive portal requirements
• Prepare a written whitepaper and oral presentation detailing the process, criteria, results, and configurations

Linux Software Mirror

Introduction

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.

Resources

• Linux VM
• SAN backed storage

Deliverables

• A working and self-updating Linux distribution mirror (at least for Debian, possibly other distributions as well)
• Configuration documentation of the mirror
• Prepare a written whitepaper and oral presentation detailing the process, criteria, results, and configurations

Internet Archiving

Introduction

In this project your goal would be to work on Internet Archival projects with the ArchiveTeam. Specifically, installing and running their Warrior VM for archival purposes as well as the ArchiveBot and possibly other archival systems.

Resources

• Linux VMs

Deliverables

• Running archival VMs
• Configuration documentation of the system
• Prepare a written whitepaper and oral presentation detailing the process, criteria, results, and configurations

Internet Video Conferencing Systems

Introduction

In this project your goal would be to compare and install a variety of open source video conferencing server systems and compare them with each other and with commercial offerings such as Zoom and WebEx. Examples could include Jitsi, Wire, Jami, Element.io, BigBlueButton.

Resources

• Linux VMs
• Various client devices

Deliverables

• Running conferencing servers
• Configuration documentation of the system, comparisons of various video conferencing server options
• Prepare a written whitepaper and oral presentation detailing the process, criteria, results, and configurations

VPN Systems Comparison

Introduction

In this project your goal would be to compare and install 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 should explore differences in how the different software allows for authentication, how they provide rules limiting which clients traffic can flow between, speed differences, usability, flexibility, etc.

Resources

• VMs
• VPN Server and Client software
• Various client devices

Deliverables

• Running VPN systems
• Configuration documentation of the software, comparisons of various software options
• Prepare a written whitepaper and oral presentation detailing the process, criteria, results, and configurations

Python Programming Projects

Introduction

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.

Resources

• Python!
• Possibly other things depending on specific project

Deliverables

• Code as open source under MIT license
• Other deliverables depend on specific project
• Prepare a written whitepaper and oral presentation detailing the process, criteria, results, and configurations

Lecture Capture System

Introduction

In this project you would be installing, testing, and documenting the Opencast lecture capture system

Resources

• Lecture Capture PC
• Lecture Capture Hardware (cameras, pen display, audio interface, etc.)
• Opencast software

Deliverables

• Working lecture capture system
• Configuration documentation of the system
• Prepare a written whitepaper and oral presentation detailing the process, criteria, results, and configurations

Taken

Internet Text Chat Systems

Introduction

In this project your goal would be to compare and install a variety of text internet chat server systems. Examples could include IRC, XMPP (Jabber), RocketChat, Mattermost, Zulip, or Matrix. These can also be compared with commercial offerings such as Microsoft Teams, WebEx Teams, Slack, HipChat, Discord, etc.

Resources

• Linux VMs
• Various client devices

Deliverables

• Running chat servers
• Configuration documentation of the system, comparisons of various text chat server options
• Prepare a written whitepaper and oral presentation detailing the process, criteria, results, and configurations

Linux Course Lab Updates

Introduction

In this project you would work with the instructor to review and update various lab activities in the Linux System Administration course (ITC-2480) based on current Linux best practices and software. This could also involve replacing activities, creating new automatic systems for students to self-check successful activity completion, creating new explanatory videos, etc.

Resources

• Linux VMs

Deliverables

• Updated written activity instructions (depending on activities)
• Updated activity video demonstrations (depending on activities)
• VMs which can auto-check successful activity completion (depending on activities)
• Prepare a written whitepaper and oral presentation detailing the process, criteria, results, and configurations