Computer Networking

This class is offered as CS6250 at Georgia Tech where it is a part of the Online Masters Degree (OMS). Taking this course here will not earn credit towards the OMS degree.

This course covers advanced topics in Computer Networking such as Software-Defined Networking (SDN), Data Center Networking and Content Distribution. The course is divided into three parts:

Part 1 is about the implementation, design principles and goals of a Computer Network and touches upon the various routing algorithms used in CN (such as link-state and distance vector).

Part 2 talks about resource control and content distribution in Networking Applications. It covers Congestion Control and Traffic Shaping.

Part 3 deals with the operations and management of computer networks encompassing SDN's (Software Defined Networks), Traffic Engineering and Network Security.

• Introduction
• Computer Networking Overview,What This Class is Not About
• Architecture & Principles
• A Brief History of the Internet,Architectural Design Principles,Packet Switching,File Transfer,End to End Argument Violations
• Switching
• Switching and Bridging,Bootstrapping: Networking Two Hosts,ARP: Address Resolution Protocol,Interconnecting LANs with Hubs,Switches: Traffic Isolation,Spanning Tree,Switches vs. Routers,Buffer Sizing for a TCP Sender
• Routing
• Internet Routing,Intra-AS Topology,Distance-Vector Routing,Link State Routing,Interdomain Routing,IGP vs. iBGP,BGP Route Selection,Multiple Exit Discriminator (MEI),Interdomain Routing Business Models
• Naming, Addressing & Forwarding
• IP Addressing,Pre-1994: “Classful” Addressing,IP Address Allocation,Classless Interdomain Routing (CIDR),Multihoming Frustrates Aggregation,Address Lookup Using Tries,Memory Efficiency and Fast Lookup,Alternatives to LPM with Tries,NAT and IPv6,Network Address Translation (NAT)
• Router Design Basics
• Router Design,Basic Router Architecture,Decision: Crossbar Switching,Switching Algorithm: Maximal Matching,Head of Line Blocking,Scheduling and Fairness,Max-Min Fairness
• Domain Name System (DNS)
• Record Types,Examples (using “dig”),Lookup IP Address
• Congestion Control & Streaming
• Congestion Control,AIMD (TCP Congestion Control),Data Centers & TCP “Incast”,Barrier Synchronization & Idle Time,Multimedia & Streaming,Digitizing Audio & Video,Streaming Video,Skype
• Rate Limiting and Traffic Shaping
• Traffic Classification & Shaping,Source Classification,Leaky Bucket Traffic Shaping,(r, t) Traffic Shaping,Shaping Bursty Traffic Patterns,Power Boost,Effects on Latency,Buffer Bloat,Packet Monitoring
• Content Distribution
• The Web and Caching,HTTP Requests,Persistent Connections,Content Distribution Networks (CDNs),Server Selection,Content Routing,Bit Torrent,Solution to Freeriding: “Choking”,Distributed Hash Tables,Consistent Hashing
• Software Defined Networking
• Network Management Overview,Software Defined Networking (SDN),Control and Data Planes,Different SDN Controllers,NOX: Overview,Ryu, Floodlight, Nox and Pox,Customizing Control
• Traffic Engineering
• Traffic Engineering Overview,Interdomain Traffic Engineering,Measuring, Modeling and Controlling Traffic,Link Utilization Function,BGP in Interdomain Traffic Engineering,Multipath Routing,Data Center Networking,Valiant Load Balance,Jellyfish Data Center Topology
• Network Security
• Internet is Insecure,Resource Exhaustion,Routing Security,Origin and Path Authentication,DNS Security,DNS Cache Poisoning
• Internet Worms
• Viruses and Internet Worms,Internet Worm Lifecyle,First Worm: “Morris” Worm,Worm Outbreaks in Detail,Modeling Fast-Spreading Worms
• Spam
• Spam,IP Blacklisting
• Denial of Service (DoS) Attacks
• TCP 3-Way Handshake,Inferring Denial of Service Activity using Backscatter,Automated DoS Attack Mitigation,MTPCP