Introduction to Software-defined Networking (Winter 2015/2016)

Details

Note: Please register for the course. In order to register, please subscribe to the mailing list "Sdn_course_16@gwdg.de" by subscribing at the following site (and write a message of the SDN course(s) that you plan to attend): https://listserv.gwdg.de/mailman/listinfo/sdn_course_16

Note: Please bring a laptop to class. In case that you do not have one, please notify Sameer or David well ahead of the course. Please have Python 2.7 installed and running on your machine.

Workload/ECTS Credits:	150h, 5 ECTS
Module:	AI: M.Inf.1130: Software-defined Networks (SDN); ITIS: 3.31
Lecturer:	Dr. David Koll
Teaching assistant:	Sameer Kulkarni, MSc
Time:	15th to 19th February 2016 (temporary, subject to change)
Place:	TBA
UniVZ	[1]

Course Overview

Software-defined networking (SDN) has recently attracted both researchers in academia and big players in communication technologies, and is currently probably the 'hottest' topic in computer networking. In this course, we will discuss the basics of SDN.

The course is organized as a block course as follows: Initially, two lectures introducing the main motivation, concepts and state-of-the-art of SDN will be given. Afterwards, we will have a short peak into the most recent research from both industry and academia, which is going to define the future of SDN. In this session, students will select one paper of interest that they will present towards the end of the course. The course then continues with an introduction to Mininet [2], and students are expected to perform some basic experiments on creating and using a virtual network based on Mininet. After the experimentations, students will present the paper they selected earlier.

For all parts of the course, exercises will be provided, in which students must obtain at least 50% of the total points to be admitted to the examination of this course. The exam is taken by submitting a report of 10-15 pages summarizing the lessons learned during the lectures and exercises as well as the research papers investigated (a LaTeX template will be provided). Depending on the number of attendees, several parts will be conducted in teams of students.

The course Advanced Software-defined Networking (M. Inf.1230) will follow a similar structure to provide a more profound knowledge of SDN.

Schedule (tentative)

Type	Date	Morning Session I	Morning Session II	Afternoon Session I	Afternoon Session II
	Time	9:15 - 10:45	11:00 - 12:30	14:00 - 15:30	15:30 -
Theory	15.02.2016	Lecture I: Introduction to SDN	Exercise I	Lecture II: OpenFlow and its Applications	Exercise II and Quiz I
Theory	16.02.2016	Lecture III: Network Virtualization via SDN	Exercise III	Lecture IV: SDN Controllers	Exercise IV & Quiz II
Theory / Practical	17.02.2016	Lecture V: Research in SDN	Exercise V	Tutorial I: Python: Recap	Exercise VI and Quiz III
Practical	18.02.2016	Tutorial II: Mininet: Basics	Exercise VII	Tutorial III: Mininet: OpenFlow & Network Topologies	Exercise VIII and Quiz IV
Practical	19.02.2016	Tutorial IV: Mininet: SDN Controllers	Exercise IX	Tutorial V: Mininet: Network Virtualization	Exercise X and Quiz V
Seminar	March 2016	Final Presentations	Final Presentations

Requirements

• Basic knowledge in computer networking (e.g., successfull completion of the course "Computer Networks") and object oriented programming is required.
• Knowledge of the Python programming language. Students can pursue some online learning courses to get to know Python syntax. (See, for instance, here) There will only be a short recap on Python during the class.

Grading

• Grading will be based on a written report to be submitted by each student, which includes:
  • Slides used for presentation in the seminar (25%)
  • A review of a SDN research paper (25%)
  • Two graded quizzes (25%)
  • Two graded exercises (25%)
• No exam

Reading List

If you are interested in reading into some material before the course starts, NEC maintains a somewhat up-to-date reading list.