Software Defined Networking

This course provides an introduction to data center networking technologies, more specifically software-defined networking. It covers the history behind SDN, description of networks in data-centers, a concrete data-center network architecture (Microsoft VL2), and traffic engineering.

• Course Overview & Introduction
• This module is a general introduction to cloud computing to set the tone for the technical details to follow in the later modules: What is the origin of cloud computing? Why now? The introduction will cover the current service models in Cloud computing, the Marketplace, and some of the technological challenges with Cloud computing
• Evolution of Data Center Networks
• This module covers the evolution of data center networks, including the origins of software defined networking and the networking technology prevalent today in data centers. The module also discusses the traffic engineering challenges specific to data center networks.
• Data Center Network Example
• This module presents one example of a data center network, namely, Azure’s VL2. It starts with a general overview of the design principles for data center networks that laid the foundation for the specific design decisions in VL2, which is the foundation for how Azure’s data center networking is architected today.
• DC Networking: Testing, Debugging, and Traffic Evaluation
• This module covers topics including metrics for network performance evaluation, tools for testing and debugging DC networks, measurement, and case studies of analyzing DC network traffic.
• Project
• This module is a hands-on project to familiarize the student with implementing an SDN controller and testing the performance of traffic engineering rules using Ryu.