Introduction to

Computer Networks Student Questions

Duong Tran Duc

Faculty of Information Technology
Posts and Telecommunications
Institute of Technology ducdt@ptit
.edu.vn
 Student Questions
Overview

 Why Study Computer Networking?

 The Goal of This Course
 Instructor
 Grading
 Contents of the course
 Tentative Schedule
Networking = “Plumbing”
 Networking is the “plumbing” of computing Student Questions
❑ What is the internet of things?
 Almost all areas of computing are network-based. Non-computer devices, such as thermostats,
and cameras connected to the Internet, are
 Distributed computing called “Things.”
 How are all the fields related to each
 Big Data other? Only through networks or by other
means as well? Does one impact the other?
 Cloud Computing One enables the other. Cloud computing will
only be possible with the Internet. Distributed
 Internet of Things computing will not be possible without
networking.
 Smart Cities Which network-based areas of

computing make the most money? It

 Networking is the backbone of computing. depends. Apple is currently the most valued
company. It makes money by selling
network-based communication devices.

We are in the Internet Age.

Networking is Fueling All Sectors of Economy
 Networking companies are among the most valued companies:
Apple, AT&T, Samsung, Verizon, Microsoft, China Mobile, Student Questions
 What are some examples of networking-
Alphabet, Comcast, NTT, IBM, Intel, Cisco, Amazon, related job roles that someone would apply

Facebook, … for?
Networking Researcher,
Network administrator,
 All tech companies that are hiring currently are networking Datacenter Support,

companies Cloud App developer, …

 Note: Apple became highly valued

only after it switched from
computing to communications
(iPhone)

Networking = Economic Indicator

 Internet Age


Student Questions
Distributed Computing ❑ What do you think will be the age
after the Internet Age? Cyborg Age? The
 Cloud Computing future is everyone’s guess. I don’t know the
future. I try to keep at the leading edge of
 Mobile Computing  Smart Phones the “present.” Also, I think only about
issues that I can impact.
 Streaming Video  YouTube
 Social Networking  FaceBook
 Big Data
 Machine Learning  Artificial Intelligence
 Online Shopping  Amazon, ebay, Google
 Most fields today – Education, Health, Environment –
are advancing simply because of advances in networking.
 Goal of This Course
 The first course in networking Student Questions
 Fundamentals How would you define a good
networking architecture? If it is good, it will be
adopted.
 Broad coverage of key areas of networking Is the course more theoretical or
applicational? Could you explain more about
what the course is designed to help us do? Will it
 Networking background for networking help us build/design better computer programs?
This is a system (S) course. It is not a software
/hardware /theory (T) course. It will help you
applications in other areas of computing efficiently use networks in your field, including
programming.
 This is a course on Networking Architecture
 This is not a course on network building or usage
 You will be able to understand protocols
 What Will You Learn?
1. What messages and messages are exchanged when you fetch a
web page? Student Questions
2. What messages are used to send/receive emails?
3. How the names such as www.google.com gets translated to IP
addresses such as 74.125.73.104?
4. What is done to avoid congestion under overload?
5. How is the path in the Internet determined?
6. What happens if bits in a packet get corrupted?
7. How does WiFi or Ethernet work?
8. What is the difference between WiFi, Ethernet, IP, and TCP?
9. What is done to handle audio/video on the Internet?
10. How can you guarantee security on the Internet?
 Textbook
 J.F. Kurose and K.W. Ross,
“Computer Networking” 8th
Student Questions
Edition, Pearson, 2021, ISBN:
9780136681557, 764 pp.
Required.

 Get the latest edition. Do not

use older editions. If you use
the international edition, it
should be dated later than 2020
and have 764 pages.
 Textbook (Cont)
 It is recommended that you read the relevant chapter of
the book chapter before coming to the class. Student Questions
 Class time will be used for discussing and clarifying key
concepts
 Only key concepts will be covered in the class.
You are expected to read the rest from the book.
 Please ask questions in the next class about any concepts
that are not clear to you.
 The material covered in the class will include some concepts
from other textbooks. Please pay attention to the class
lecture.
 Prerequisite
 General knowledge of computer systems organization
 Memory Student Questions
 I have learned the term System bus in a
 System bus computer systems course, but it was used
to describe the transferring of data between
 Interrupt CPU and memory, so how would it be
connected to networking?
 CPU You read/write data to network devices just like
the memory.
 Binary, decimal, and hexadecimal representations
 Bits, bytes
 Storage: Memory and disk
 Tentative Schedule
Lecture Q&A Topic Chapter
1 Course Overview Student Questions
2 Computer Networks and the Internet (Part 1) 1
3 Computer Networks and the Internet (Part 2) 1
4 Application Layer (Part 1): HTTP 2
5 Application Layer (Part 2): SMTP,DNS,P2P 2
6 Transport Layer (Part 1): Design Issues 3
7 Transport Layer (Part 2): UDP,Flow Control 3
8 Transport Layer (Part 3): TCP, TCP Congestion 3
Control
9 The Network Layer: Data Plane (Part 1: 4
Network Layer Basics)
10 Network Layer Data Plane 4
(Part 2: IP Datagram,NAT,UPNP,DHCP)
 Tentative Schedule (Cont)
Lecture Q&A Topic Chapter Student Questions
11 The Network Layer: Control Plane 5  Do I need to read all the content of
chapters 1-8 in the textbook, even if some
(Part 1: Dijkstra's,Bellman-Ford Algorithms) of the contents don't appear in the slides?
In other words, does the exam only test
12 The Network Layer: Control 5 the knowledge in the slides, or all the
book content may be tested? The sections
Plane (Part 2: OSPF and BGP ) you need to read are identified in the
13 The Network Layer: Control Plane 5 slides.

(Part 3: SDN Controller + ICMP + SNMP )

14 The Link Layer and LANs (Part 1): Functions 6
15 The Link Layer and LANs (Part 2): 6
Multiple Access,Ethernet,VLANs,MPLS,Data Centers
 Grading

Student Questions
 Can you explain how class participation
 Exams 60% works? Answering question. Attendance.
Bringing up interesting issues in class
 Class participation 10% 
discussions.
How many HWs/Labs do we have
 Exercises + Mid-term test 20% throughout the semester? How long do you
expect them to take? 26 homework and 12

 Labs 10% labs. All home works are short but requires
reading/understanding. Labs may require
programming.
 Is there a grade distribution scheme? No.
You get points for the method and result.
 Summary

Student Questions

 Computer networking is important for all areas of computing

 The first course in computer networking
 Goal: To prepare you for a career in networking
 Get ready to work hard
 Quiz 0: Prerequisites
 True or False?
 T F
1. ◻ ◻ Transmitting 100 bytes @ 800 bit/sec will take 1 sec. Student Questions
 Problem understanding problem 7
2. ◻ ◻ A system with 32kB memory can hold only 16000 ASCII characters You need to know trigonometry.
 Would every video have such quizzes besides the
3. ◻ ◻ A system with 2GB memory is same as that with 2GB disk. No.
video embedded quizzes?

4. ◻ ◻ Interrupts are used by CPU to stop an ongoing I/O.  Are we required to finish it and upload
it somewhere? Are these topics covered in

5. ◻ ◻ Binary representation of 9 is 1001 No.

exams?

6. ◻ ◻ 0A in Hexadecimal is 11 in decimal system.

7. ◻ ◻ For I = A Sin (2ft+ ), the frequency is f.
8. ◻ ◻ 5 modulo 2 is 1
9. ◻ ◻ Two entries “P” and “Q” are pushed sequentially on a
stack. A “pop” operation on the stack will produce P.
10. ◻ ◻ If x is 0, then after x++, x will be 1.
11. ◻ ◻ The sum of two vectors [1, 1] and [1, 2] is [1, 2].
Marks = Correct Answers - Incorrect Answers =