CS 251 Computer Networks

Dr. Steven K. Andrianoff, Spring 2014

Tuesday & Thursdays
8:30 - 9:45 in Walsh 204
Lab on Thursday
2:30 - 4:30 in Walsh 101

Downloadable Resources

Course Announcements

• Tues, Mar 4 - In place of lab this Thursday, please attend the talk by Laura Cole at 2:30 in Walsh 204 (our classroom).
• Tues, Jan 14 - Welcome to class.
• Hello World

Readings

• Tues, Mar 4 - Chapters 15 & 16 of Comer
• Thurs, Feb 20 - Chapter 14 of Comer
• Tues, Feb 18 - Chapters 12 & 13 of Comer
• Tues, Feb 11 - Chapters 10 & 11 of Comer
• Thurs, Feb 6 - Chapters 8 & 9 of Comer
          Read the article, How the NSA Almost Killed the Internet, from this month's Wired magazine
• Thurs, Jan 30 - Chapters 6 & 7 of Comer
• Tues, Jan 28 - Chapter 5 of Comer
• Thurs, Jan 16 - Chapters 3 & 4 of Comer
• Tues, Jan 14 - Preface and Chapters 1, 2 of Comer
          Appendix from Blown to Bits (this book is available for free as a PDF)
   

Homework

• Tues, Mar 4 - Exercises 14.4, 14.6, 14.11; 15.1, 15.3, 15.5
• Thurs, Feb 20 - Exercises 13.3, 13.4, 13.9, 13.10, 13.11, 13.13, 13.14, 13.16
• Tues, Feb 18 - Exercises 11.1, 11.10, 11.12; 12.2, 12.6, 12.9
              Also: What is statistical multiplexing and how does it differ from synchronous TDM?
              Give the typical data rates for: i) dial-up, ii) DSL, iii) cable modem, iv) wireless (describe the wireless technology you are giving a rate for), v) T1 circuit  (provide references for answers)
• Thurs, Feb 13 - Exercises 8.11, 8.12, 10.4, 10.7, 10.8
• Tues, Feb 11 - Exercises 9.1, 9.3, 9.6, 9.7, 9.8
          Answer the following questions on the article from Wired about the NSA vs. tech companies:
              What are two of the recent actions taken by the NSA that has made the tech companies (including Google, Yahoo, Facebook) angry?
              What is Prism?
              What is Muscular?
              What are the tech companies afraid will be the fallout from the NSA's actions?
• Thurs, Feb 6 - Exercises 7.18, 7.22; for extra credit: 7.25
  Also: What is attenuation?
          How are Nyquist's theorem and Shannon's theorem similar? different?
• Tues, Feb 4 - Exercises 6.4, 6.9, 6.11, 6.12, 6.14, 6.15, 6.17
• Thurs, Jan 30 - Exercises 4.26, 4.29
  Also: Where does one go to obtain a domain name?  How much does a domain name cost?
          What organization has responsibility for managing top level domain names?
          Explain the difference between iterative lookup and recursive lookup in DNS.
• Tues, Jan 28 - Exercises 4.12, 4.13, 4.14, 4.18, 4.21, 4.22
• Thurs, Jan 23 - Exercises 4.6, 4.7, 4.9, 4.11
  Also: Approximately how many computers/devices connected to the Internet? (Give source.) How does this compare to the world population?
• Tues, Jan 21 - Exercises 3.5, 3.11, 3.14, 3.16
  Also: Answer the following questions from the appendix to Blown to Bits:
          Describe the "service metaphor".
          What is an ISP?
          Describe what a router does.
          Explain the "hourglass" organization of the Internet:
              What is at the middle?
              What is at the top?
              What is at the bottom?
          What is "net neutrality"?
          Where does one find the standards that define the Internet?
• Thurs, Jan 16 - Exerc. 1.6, 1.13, 2.4
• Tues, Jan 14 - Find a definition for protocol and hand it in on Thursday.  Also, how does the Blown to Bits book define protocol?

Labs

• Thurs, Feb 20 - Lab 6: Ethernet Packet Traces
• Thurs, Feb 13 - Lab 5: Network Programming in Java - URL's
• Thurs, Feb 7 - Lab 4: Java Email Client
• Thurs, Jan 30 - Lab 3 - Configuring Basic Network File and Printer Sharing
• Thurs, Jan 23 - Lab 2: Investigating Application Layer Protocols with telnet and An Introduction to Socket Programming in Java
• Thurs, Jan 16 - Lab 1: System Tools for Network Host Identification