Advanced Computer Networks - Complete Course Notes
Week 1: High Performance Switching and Routing
- Introduction to performance considerations in switching and routing.
- IP address lookup: basic concepts and optimization techniques.
- Algorithms used in packet forwarding and routing in high-performance environments.
- Hardware implementations of routing mechanisms.
Week 2: Algorithms for IP address lookup and optimization
- Key algorithms like Binary Search, Trie-based approaches, and Bloom Filters.
- Optimization strategies for faster lookup and scalability.
- Hardware acceleration of lookup operations using specialized data structures.
Week 3: Packet Classification
- Need for packet classification in modern networks.
- Methods for packet classification (rule-based, machine learning, etc.).
- Use cases: traffic management, quality of service (QoS), and security policies.
Week 4: Differentiated Service, Quality of Service, Traffic Polishing, Traffic Shaping
- Differentiated Service model and its impact on packet forwarding.
- Understanding QoS and its implementation in modern networks.
- Traffic shaping and traffic policing techniques for bandwidth management.
Week 5: Network Softwarization - Introduction
- Introduction to Network Softwarization and its evolution.
- Overview of SDN (Software-Defined Networking) and NFV (Network Function Virtualization).
- How Softwarization helps in dynamic management and scalability of networks.
Week 6: Software Defined Networking (SDN) - Deep Dive
- SDN architecture and its components: Controller, Switches, and Northbound/Southbound
interfaces.
- Practical exercises with Mininet for SDN simulations.
- How SDN enables flexible and programmable network management.
Week 7: Network Function Virtualization (NFV)
- Overview of NFV architecture and concepts.
- Differences between traditional networks and NFV-based networks.
- Real-world applications of NFV in telecom and enterprise networks.
Week 8: Programmable Networks
- Introduction to P4 programming language for network programming.
- SmartNICs and their integration in programmable networks.
- Lab exercises using Mininet and BMV2 switches for P4 programming.
Week 9: Data Center Networking (DCN) - Introduction
- Overview of data center networking.
- Key challenges in DCN: scalability, low-latency, and fault-tolerance.
- Design principles of modern data center architectures.
Week 10: DCN - Deep Dive
- Detailed study of DCN network topologies: Clos, Fat-Tree, etc.
- Container Network Interfaces (CNIs) and their role in containerized environments.
- Load balancing, redundancy, and fault-tolerant mechanisms in DCNs.
Week 11: Content Distribution on the Internet
- Architectures for Information Centric Networking (ICN).
- Strategies for efficient content distribution on the Internet.
- Use of caching and content retrieval protocols in ICN.
Week 12: Content Naming, Routing and Caching, Security in NDN
- Content naming schemes in ICN: hierarchical and flat naming.
- Routing in Named Data Networking (NDN) using Interest and Data packets.
- Caching strategies and cache management in NDN.
- Security concerns in NDN and cryptographic methods for data integrity and authentication.