ICS 651: Computer Networks

Today's Outline

• Course Overview
• What is Networking?
• What is interesting about Networks?
  • Hardware
  • Protocols
  • Software
  • Performance
• Clients and servers
• Homework assignment

Course Overview

• TF 4-5:15 in Kyukendall 204
• textbook: Computer Networks, by Peterson and Davie
• 1 midterm, 1 final
• 3 projects
• homeworks
• Office hours W 4-6pm and F 3-4pm (or by appointment) in POST 303B.
• http://www.ics.hawaii.edu/~esb/
  spring1999.ics651/index.html

Course Organization

• mostly follow textbook
• some different sequences
• protocol implementation:
  • x-kernel (textbook)
  • xinu (supplementary book)
  • linux? (book/web information TBD)
• projects: hands-on learning, co-operation
• homeworks: practice with textbook material

Course Outline

• Basics
• Direct Link
• Packet Switching
• Internetworking
• implementation: x-kernel xinu
• Transport Protocols
• Congestion Control
• Data Presentation
• High Speed Networks

Networking

A computer network is a hardware and software system that enables a collection of computers to communicate.

"Computer Networks are able to carry many different types of data and support a wide range of applications"

Networking is the engineering, science and art of designing computer networks.

Why are networks interesting?

• jobs!
• new technologies: design, understanding
• the Internet: TCP/IP
• protocols are challenging because they must be
  • parallel
  • distributed
  • interoperable (well-defined)
  • fast
  • secure
• software should be able to expect "anything"
• protocol implementation techniques

Client-Server

• a client is a program that requests a service
• a server is a program that provides a service.
• clients and servers run on different machines, and communicate over computer networks

Client-Server Examples

• WWW (clients: Netscape, Internet Explorer, Lynx, etc.. Servers: Netscape, Apache, etc)
• Telnet
• FTP
• Network Time Protocol (NTP)
• Network File Server (NFS)
• SMTP
• NNTP

Homework

• visit {\tt http://www.ics.hawaii.edu/~esb/
  1999spring.ics651/index.html}
• Read sections 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 of the textbook.
• Use UNIX clients to study the Internet network
• Build a client
• Build a server
• Due January 19th.