[Fun] Project to create a "Virtual Internet"
Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2019 4:00 pm
Hi,
I am thinking of a fun and educational project to create a virtual Internet. This would appeal to beginner / intermediate hobbyists who would like to learn more about the software that runs the real Internet, and to get practice doing so.
This virtual Internet would have its own domains, root nameservers, IP addresses to delegate, routing tables to configure and best of all, the chance to make mistakes and learn from them - without, you know, goofing up the real Internet.
OpenVPN software could be used for this, although it is a hub-and-spoke system and wouldn't be able to replicate the capabilities of Internet routers which can re-route if a node goes down. Maybe there is software which is more suitable, or a project of this kind already which is already underway... I am just starting to look into this.
If you're interested in participating or have any leads on where people might be doing this kind of thing, please let me know!
Thanks
EDIT: This from #openvpn on IRC:
[quote<@ecrist> ca-on-adam: there are articles on setting up RIP and OSPF with OpenVPN, even BGP if you wanted.
<@ecrist> no reason losing a node has to be a major even if you engineer it right.
[/quote]
If a web of OpenVPN servers can have the redundancy of the real Internet, then there may not be a readily-available piece of software which is more suitable than it. And this will hopefully make the project even more appealing to other hobbyists or people studying Internet infrastructure.
I will keep looking for communities that have similar interests to try and find an existing project rather than start my own. This is something that I'd really like to work with a group of people on. So far I have not found a similar project on-line. The search terms "virtual" and "Internet" are very broad and unlikely to help me find an existing project with the same goals. The only remotely close search hit was an expensive piece of simulator software for Cisco hardware.
I admit that because I'm not in school, nor am I a member of any large organization related to computers, I won't have an easy time finding people. But I will keep trying -- what's the point of building another Internet if I'm the only one there?
I am thinking of a fun and educational project to create a virtual Internet. This would appeal to beginner / intermediate hobbyists who would like to learn more about the software that runs the real Internet, and to get practice doing so.
This virtual Internet would have its own domains, root nameservers, IP addresses to delegate, routing tables to configure and best of all, the chance to make mistakes and learn from them - without, you know, goofing up the real Internet.
OpenVPN software could be used for this, although it is a hub-and-spoke system and wouldn't be able to replicate the capabilities of Internet routers which can re-route if a node goes down. Maybe there is software which is more suitable, or a project of this kind already which is already underway... I am just starting to look into this.
If you're interested in participating or have any leads on where people might be doing this kind of thing, please let me know!
Thanks
EDIT: This from #openvpn on IRC:
[quote<@ecrist> ca-on-adam: there are articles on setting up RIP and OSPF with OpenVPN, even BGP if you wanted.
<@ecrist> no reason losing a node has to be a major even if you engineer it right.
[/quote]
If a web of OpenVPN servers can have the redundancy of the real Internet, then there may not be a readily-available piece of software which is more suitable than it. And this will hopefully make the project even more appealing to other hobbyists or people studying Internet infrastructure.
I will keep looking for communities that have similar interests to try and find an existing project rather than start my own. This is something that I'd really like to work with a group of people on. So far I have not found a similar project on-line. The search terms "virtual" and "Internet" are very broad and unlikely to help me find an existing project with the same goals. The only remotely close search hit was an expensive piece of simulator software for Cisco hardware.
I admit that because I'm not in school, nor am I a member of any large organization related to computers, I won't have an easy time finding people. But I will keep trying -- what's the point of building another Internet if I'm the only one there?