CSE 534: Fundamentals of Computer Networks (Spring 2017)
Semester
Instructor
Course Time
Location
Class Discussion Forum
Contact Info
Office hours: Monday 12.30 – 2.20, New computer science building, Room 337.
Instructor email: arunab@cs.stonybrook.edu
TA: Conor Kelton (ckelton@cs.stonybrook.edu) and Laraib Malik (laraib.malik@stonybrook.edu)
TA Office hours: Wednesdays 1.00 to 2.20, New Computer Science 348
Announcement
- Sign up for Piazza.
- A tentative schedule is up.
- The Web page is up.
Description
The goal of this course is to cover the introductory topics in networking. We will go through the standard protocols in each layer of the OSI stack and discuss design patterns commonly used in networking protocols. We will cover some of the new topics in networking including data centers and SDNs.
Textbooks
I will teach the course top-down. There is no required textbook, but the recommended book is
Computer Networks, A Top Down Approach by Kurose and Ross [KR]
Prerequisites
Grading
(Tentative) There are several components in this class: Assignments, Projects, Exams, and Summaries. The grading criteria are as follows:
Midterm and Final exam: 40%
Project: 25%
Paper summaries: 5%
Assignments: 30% (10% each)
Project: The project constitutes a fourth of your grade. Around 3 weeks into the semester, we will discuss possible project ideas. You should choose a project and submit a project proposal. Mid-way through the course, you will present a report on project progress. At the end, you will present your projects to the instructor and submit a project report.
I encourage students to do the project in groups of 2 or 3. If you want to do a project without any team members, come talk to me. Of course, the scope of the project is different if you have 1 versus 2 versus 3 team members. All project-related reports should be submitted before 9.00PM on the day they are due.
Paper summaries: There are approximately 5 papers assigned for reading. For each paper, you are expected to provide a summary. More details on how to write a paper summary will be up on Piazza. Paper summaries should be submitted at 2.30PM on the day they are due (that is, just before class starts). No extensions are allowed. If you dont submit by the deadline, you forfeit the points.
For grading, I will choose the top 3 out of the 5 summaries.
Assignments: There will be 3 assignments in all. Assignments should be submitted before 9.00pm on the day they are due.
We will use Blackboard for submissions. If you want to resubmit after you already submitted one version of your assignment/project/summaries, you may do so. But you are allowed a maximum of 2 resubmissions (i.e., a maximum of 3 attempts). You get a 24 hours grace period spanning all 3 assignments. There is no grace period for your project reports and summaries. I should note here that I almost never give extensions on any submissions.
Tentative Schedule
Date | Topic | Readings | Notes |
1/23/2017 | Introduction | No reading. | Syllabus and overview. |
Application Layer |
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1/25/2017 | DNS | KR 2.5 | [lect_dns.pdf] |
1/30/2017 | CDNs, HTTP/HTTP2 | KR 2.2 | [lect_cdn.pdf] |
2/01/2017 | HTTP/HTTP2, Web | [lect_http_http2.pdf] Homework #1 out 2/2. | |
Transport Layer |
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2/06/2017 | TCP/UDP | Web_IMC11 [Summary paper] |
[lect_tcp1] Summary 1 is due before class starts. |
2/8/2017 | More TCP, Flow control | KR 3.5, 3.6, 3.7 | [lect_tcp2] |
2/13/2017 | Congestion control, AIMD | KR 3.3 | [lect_tcp2] |
2/15/2017 | TCP flavors and revisit |
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[lect_tcp3] Homework #1 due. |
2/20/2017 | Project discussion | SPDY [Summary] | Project discussion. Summary 2 due before class starts. |
2/22/2017 | DNSSec/Wireshark discussion | Special class | Special class by TA Conor Kelton. He will go over DNSSec and Wireshark. Homework out before 2/23. |
Network Layer |
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2/27/2017 | Internet Protocol | [lect_ip] |
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3/01/2017 | Networking Protocols | KR 4.1.1, 4.3.2, 4.4 | [lect_ip, lect_routing] |
3/06/2017 | Inter-domain Routing | KR 4.5.1, 4.5.2 | [lect_routing, lect_bgp1] |
3/08/2017 | Intra-domain Routing | KR 4.6.3 |
Homework #2 due 3/09. Project pitches are due 3/10. |
3/13/2017 | Spring Break | No Class | No class |
3/15/2017 | Spring Break | No Class | No class |
Switching |
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3/20/2017 | Switching layer | [lect_switching] Special TA office hours at 4.00 to 5.00 in Room 348 to discuss homework #1 | |
Midterm |
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3/22/2017 | Midterm | Midterm | Midterm |
Special Topics |
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3/27/2017 | Datacenter networking | KR 4.6.3 | [lect_datacenter_networking] Homework #3 out 3/30. |
3/29/2017 | No class | No class | No class, and no TA office hours. |
4/3/2017 | DCTCP/D2TCP | DCTCP(summary paper) | [lect_datacenter_tcp] Summary 3 due in class. |
4/5/2017 | Datacenters + SDNs | [lect_datacenter_tcp][lect_sdn] | |
4/10/2017 | SDNs, Network Function Virtualization | Middlebox paper(Summary paper) | [lect_sdn] Summary 4 due in class. |
4/12/2017 | Middleboxes | MPTCP paper (Summary paper) | [lect_middleboxes] Summary 5 due in class. |
Link layer/Physical layer |
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4/17/2017 | MPTCP | Homework #3 due 4/18 at 11.59PM. | |
4/19/2017 | Link layer | KR 5.3.1, 5.3.2 | |
4/24/2017 | Link layer | Proposal progress due 4/25/2017 at 9.00PM. | |
Projects |
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4/26/2017 | Physical layer/Cellular | ||
05/01/2017 | No class | No class | |
05/03/2017 | In-class exam | 2nd Midterm | 2nd Midterm in Room 120, New computer science |
05/10/2017 | Project presentation | 2.00 to 4.30pm | |
05/11/2017 | Project presentation | 2.00 to 4.30pm | Project report due 9.00pm 05/12/2016 |
Others
Deadlines: All deadlines are tentative in the beginning. The firm deadlines will be announced at least 3 weeks before they are due. The announcements will be made in class as well as on Piazza.
Discussion policy: All discussions will take place on Piazza. Please be respectful of your fellow classmates and your instructor when posting questions. You are expected to read your Piazza posts frequently. I will be posting important announcements on it.
Important: Questions posted on Piazza can take up to 24 hours for a response from the instructor or the TA. If you ask a question very close to an assignment deadline, they may go unanswered.
Office hours policy: Instructor office hours are Mondays 12.30 to 2.20. Some days, the office hours may be rescheduled due to prior instructor commitment. New office hours information will be posted on Piazza.
Grading policy: I will not be able to give any individual student extra credit for additional work or projects. However, for projects that are especially good, I may award additional points. This is at my discretion.