"tcpmcu" eases teaching and administration of Cisco routers
March 19, 2001
freesoft.org, a website specializing in free software and Internet
networking technology, announces the prerelease of tcpmcu-0.1, a TCP
Multipoint Control Unit. tcpmcu allows multiple users to share a
single TCP Telnet session, all seeing the same output. Allowing users
in different locations to share a Telnet session aids teaching and
improves coordination among users. The software, written in C and
designed for use on UNIX systems, is publicly available from the
following URL:
http://www.freesoft.org/software/tcpmcu/
"tcpmcu" was written by Brent Baccala, freesoft.org webmaster, and
motivated by suggestions from Bruce Caslow and Valeriy Pavlichenko,
authors of Prentice Hall's popular "Cisco Certification" text. The
three men were searching for a way to coordinate router configuration
over the telephone. "The hard part is figuring out what the other guy
is typing if you can't see it," Brent says. "This program lets
everyone see what everyone else is typing, no matter if you're in
Germany or California."
When using "tcpmcu", users telnet to the program, which relays the
connection to another port, possibly on a different computer.
Additional users telneting to the "tcpmcu" are then multiplexed onto
the existing session. Any user can type keystrokes, which are echoed
to everyone sharing the session. Output from the computer system is
likewise copied to all the users. Multiple "tcpmcu"s can run on a
single computer; users can differentiate between them by picking which
port number to connect to.
Possible uses include:
- Distance learning
Using tcpmcu, instructors in remote locations can easily watch student's
keystrokes and offer immediate feedback on mistakes. Instructors can
also demonstrate tasks as students watch exactly what they type.
- Remote configuration
System administrators can more easily coordinate their actions by
watching what other administrators are doing on a webserver or other
Telnet based system.
"tcpmcu" is similar to other MCU technology, including T.120 shared
whiteboards (Microsoft NetMeeting) and shared GUI sessions (AT&T VNC).
Unlike T.120 or VNC, "tcpmcu" is purely text-based, requires much less
network bandwidth, and therefore is better suited for wide area
networks.
Future directions in the development of "tcpmcu" include improved
authentication and implementation of a "view-only" mode, which would
allow some users to watch a session but prohibit them from typing on
it.
Download "tcpmcu" from:
http://www.freesoft.org/software/tcpmcu/tcpmcu-0.1.tgz
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