Chapter 4 in the Snort textbook is at least the third time in this course that you will see information about placing IDS within a network architecture.
We will pick up this theme with our first lab assignment, which will be due at the end of the session. Your assignment is to create a network "architecture" diagram representing your home network (presuming each of you have Internet access from home) and to indicate on the diagram where you might locate IDS sensors.
You need not use a technical drawing tool such as Visio, nor do you need to find relevant clip art or other graphics for your diagram. Lines and boxes such as those you can produce in PowerPoint are sufficient. If drawing via computer is not feasible, I will accept a scanned image of a hand-drawn diagram as well.
For those of you interested in creating technical diagrams but not interested in the expense of a professional program like Visio or MagicDraw, there is an open-source drawing program called Dia that offers many similar features, and is suitable among other things for network diagrams. It is available for Windows and Linux platforms.
Since the assignment asks you to use your own home network as a focus, and many home networks are quite understandably simply in design, it is acceptable and even encouraged for you to produce a diagram of what your home network might look like if you determined you had a need for components like dedicated IDS solutions. Your diagram should include the following elements at a minimum:
1. Representation of your Internet connection (whether dial-up, cable modem, router, etc.)
2. Computers connected to the network, as well as a designation of whether the connection type is wired or wireless (or both)
3. Any other devices attached to the network
4. The location and type of any IDS sensors you would place on the network
Support your decision on placement of your IDS by providing a strong argument explaining your choices about IDS placements. Your lab assignment should be submitted via your Assignments folder.