COS-461, Spring 2012: Computer Networks

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Overview

This course studies computer networks and the services built on top of them. Topics include packet-switch and multi-access networks, routing and flow control, congestion control and quality-of-service, Internet protocols (IP, TCP, BGP), the client-server model and RPC, elements of distributed systems (naming, security, caching, consistency) and the design of network services (peer-to-peer networks, file and web servers, content distribution networks).

Prerequisite: COS 217. Although not required, taking either COS 318 or 333 before COS 461 is helpful for the programming assignments.

Information

• Lecture: Mondays and Wednesdays, 10:00am - 10:50am, Architecture N101 (not the COS building)
• Precepts: Fridays (P01 10-10:50am in Friend 109 with Rob Kiefer, P02A 11-11:50am in Friend 108 with Xiaozhou Li, or P02 Friend 109 with Peng Sun).
• Grading: Grading is based on a midterm (20%), a final exam (25%), four programming assignments (12% each), and class participation (7%).

Instructors

Role	Name	Office Hours (Location)
Lecturer	Jennifer Rexford	by appointment
TA	Robert Kiefer	3-3:50pm Wednesdays in CS 318C
TA	Xiaozhou Li	12-1pm Fridays in the CS 2nd floor Tea Room
TA	Peng Sun	3-3:50pm Mondays in CS 318B (systems lab)

For questions about the course material, assignments, etc., please use the class Piazza site.

Textbooks

• Required textbook: Computer Networks: A Systems Approach (5th edition), by Larry Peterson and Bruce Davie. Using the 4th edition is fine, too, though the chapter/section numbers will be different.
• Recommended Books: Other recommended textbooks for reference include: Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach Featuring the Internet (5th edition) and Computer Networks (4th edition). For the programming assignments, the books TCP/IP Illustrated, Volume 1: The Protocols and Unix Network Programming, Volume 1: The Sockets Networking API (3rd Edition) would be useful as reference. Purchasing these books is not necessary; they will be on reserve in the engineering library, and online resources will be made available.

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