The Adaptable Network COntrol and Reporting System (ANCORS) project merges technology from net- work management, active networking, and distributed simulation in a unified paradigm to assist in the assessment, control, and design of computer networks. After motivating our approach to network engineering, we describe an initial ANCORS prototype system. In particular, we describe a high-fidelity model of a Unix-based networking protocol stack, and characterize and compare two different distributed simulation synchronization mechanisms that were used to simulate an Ethernet-based Local Area Network.