15-441: Syllabus

The required textbook for the course is Computer Networks: A Systems Approach, fifth edition, by Larry Peterson and Bruce Davie. Almost all the material that we will cover is in the textbook.

Other good textbooks that you can use as a substitute are Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach, Jim Kurose and Keith Ross, Addison Wesley, and Computer Networks, Andrew Tanenbaum and David Wetherall, Prentice Hall.

For the programming projects, please see Dave's Notes on Software Engineering for Systems Hackers.

There are a few recommended texts which are useful references (especially if networking becomes your career).

• TCP/IP Illustrated, Volume 1: The Protocols by W. Richard Stevens.
• Unix Network Programming: Networking APIs: Sockets and XTI (Volume 1) by W. Richard Stevens.
• Advanced Programming in the Unix Environment by W. Richard Stevens, Addison-Wesley, 1993.

Finally, if you have not taken 15-213, you may find its textbook useful as a gentle, software-focused introduction to computer architecture.

• Computer Systems: A Programmer's Perspective by Randal E. Bryant and David R. O'Hallaron. Prentice Hall, 2003

This semester we will again have recitations for 15-441. Recitations will cover systems hacking techniques designed to save you time and pain on the projects, will go into more detail about certain topics such as TCP, and will serve as review sessions before exams.

Your final grade for the course will be based on the following weights for the individual assignments:

• 15% Project 1
• 15% Project 2
• 15% Project 3
• 15% Homework
• 15% Midterm
• 25% Final Exam

The midterm will be an in-class, closed-book exam, covering all material up to that point in the course. The final exam will be a closed-book exam, covering m aterial from the whole year, with emphasis on the second half of the course.

Project 1 will focus on the implementation of a standards-compliant HTTP 1.1 server, ensuring familiarity with socket programming. Project 2 will build upon your web server from the first project by supporting it with a distributed, CDN-like backend. Project 3 will focus on file transfers and the protocol components necessary for efficient and reliable file transfer (retransmission, congestion control, caching, etc.) Project 1 is a solo project; projects 2 and 3 are to be done in groups of two students.

The homework will combine both textbook-like questions as well as hands-on experimental exercises. There will be three homework assignments.

Because of the importance of understanding both the theoretical and hands-on elements of networking, students must pass all three components of the course (homeworks, exams, and the projects) in order to receive a passing grade for the course.