Printable Version in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format -->

Reg-IIT: Automated Network Registration Software

Students:
David Hunt, Undergraduate, Information Technology and Management
Terry Lunn, Graduate, Information Technology and Management
Michael Schorr, Graduate, Information Technology and Management

Faculty:
Bill Lidinsky, Alva C. Todd Professor and Assistant Director of Information Technology And Management

Project:
Reg-IIT is an automated system that requires wireless network users to register their hardware before gaining full network access. Through a simple web interface users are able to gain access to the Rice Campus wireless network after Reg-IIT prompts for basic identification information. Powerful scripts retrieve the user’s network “fingerprint” and store it along with the user's information in a database. Registration is only required upon first use of the network. Also the database provides administrators with real-time information for troubleshooting and auditing their networks.

Outcome:
Reg-IIT has been proven to allow controlled access to both wired and wireless networks with extensive but low administrative overhead. It can be customized for situations with multiple email infrastructures. Reg-IIT also accommodates guest access and has low capital expense and running cost.

All software was free. Red Hat Linux was used as the operating system, Apache as the web server, BIND as the DNS server and ISC for the DHCP server. PERL was used as the scripting language and all the software was installed on a low cost hardware platform.

With the extensive documentation provided by the team, others interested in using the system can configure it for their needs in a few hours. Reg-IIT would be ideal for a college or small business environment.

The project was presented at the Computer and Network Security Workshop on April 7, 2005 and to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) on May 12, 2005 as part of an IEEE student colloquium.