Junosphere: Towards Professional Networks Education

Computer networking courses are in deep need of efficient educational approaches and tools. The classical physical labs are burdened by the equipments\´ initial costs and maintenance with a frequent upgrading demanded by ever changing technology. The use of Network Simulators, like ns2, ns3, OPNET, and others, are also overloaded by a group of technical limitations and hence unreliable results. In this paper, we address the "Junosphere" tool, developed by Juniper Networks, in which network planning, modeling, designing, testing, examining "what-if" scenarios and training exercises could be conducted in a risk free environment. Hereby, this paper addresses solutions provided by Junosphere in the educational perspective, and goes through their features and components.