Diseño y desarrollo de una aplicación gráfica para la configuración de redes virtuales de área local en un sistema operativo LINUX

Abstract

Nowadays computer networks are a necessity for people, because these networks offer a vast quantity of services designed to perform any kind of work, and the most important thing is that we can manipulate that information. Due to technological advances there are more network platform vendors who have given solutions to the difficulties that have arisen in the development of Networks implementation. Among them is the creation of virtual local area networks known as VLAN. Such networks allow the creation of independent logical networks from a physical network through a switch, with the aim of reducing the broadcasting domain, giving us the opportunity of having a better network administration. With such a great variety of brands on the market, and taking into account the fact that every technology works in a different way, the acquisition of previous knowledge is necessary, so we can use the pieces of equipment in order to perform any implementation. There is another alternative, which in recent years has had a successful progress in the networking area since there are many people making contributions, sharing the growth in this field. We are talking about the LINUX operating system. With LINUX you can implement Virtual Local Area Networks with the usage of a tool called vconfig, which allows the creation of virtual network interfaces, associated with a physical network card, and these can be then configured like any other network card. In this operating system that configuration is possible only in the command line mode, so the objective of this thesis is to use this tool as a base and provide a graphical interface with a more practical and efficient environment, so the same configuration can be carried out. This thesis shows the vulnerabilities of a free software system, focusing specifically on the distribution of Open Suse 11.2, but also shows the advantages and disadvantages of using computers that have a back-up from the manufacturer and others that are generic. Additionally, it offers the creation of a new graphical interface as a tool for basic configuration of Virtual Local Area Networks in a LINUX operating system. The purpose of creating this tool is to offer users an alternative to develop these kinds of implementations, since the usage of a graphical interface allows to configure in a more practical and simple way.