ECE 577 601 Switched Network Management
3 Credit Hours
(Also offered as CSC 577 601)
The students learn the principles of cloud infrastructure and architect services against common PaaS vendors. Furthermore, students learn how to focus on service decoupling towards microservices and the principles of a Cloud native enterprise. Students with no CLI experience should contact the TA asap to arrange for a crash course very early in the semester.
Prerequisites
Knowledge of basic network design and operations (e.g., the content of ECE570) is a prerequisite for this course. Experience in router/switch configuration (e.g., Cisco CLI) is desirable.
Topics covered
Details will be supplied in the course Moodle page.
- Addressing and subnetting
- Switch and router architecture
- LAN and VLAN basics
- STP
- LAN design
- VLAN design
- (Switch fabric) Load balancing
- Virtualization
Course Objectives
The objectives of this course are to:
- Expose the students to the fundamental issues that arise in the design and management of computer networks, with special emphasis on campus enterprise networks. Such issues include, among others:
- Business objectives and technical design requirements
- VLAN network design
- Management of campus networks
- Data center network (aka switch fabric) design (if time permits)
- Outline available methods and tools for operating and managing such Such methods include, among others:
- virtualization,
- automation.
- Provide the students with practical experience on available tools in the network design and management A series of ten lab exercises and demos are used for that purpose.
Course Requirements
Examinations: There will be two (upto) 75 minute in-class exams; no final exam. An oral presentation will be required in lieu of a missed exam.
Homework: Five to six homework assignments will be assigned throughout the semester (approximately one per topic). All homework will be submitted online using the “Submit and Grade” link next to each assignment in Moodle. Giving or receiving assistance on assignments is allowed, but you may not share any paper and/or electronic material (source code, data files, reports, charts, photos, screen-shots, etc. There will be no tolerance for cheating. An academic integrity violation report will be filed, in case of cheating.
Late Homework: Homework will be due at 11:59pm EST on the due date posted on the course web-site. There will be a 12 hour grace period, after which homework will not be accepted.
Labs: There will be labs on the following topics.
- Demo on IPv4 addressing and subnetting
- Basic Operations in Switch-based LAN
- Basic VLAN operations
- STP, basic and advanced
- VLAN design and verification plan
- Demo on High Availability designs
- Virtualization
Online Resources
- Main Course Web-Page (link TBA)
- Video Lectures – A recording of each lecture session will be available shortly after it meets. These recordings can be accessed with a link next to each lecture’s slides on the course web page.
- Online Grade Book – Grades will be made available Details will be discussed in class.
- Tutorials – We will announce useful tutorials in due time. Students will be expected to work through tutorials as part of the homework and/or reading assignments.
Grading Policy
| Item | Weight | Comment |
| Homeworks | 10% | Theory based |
| Homeworks | 20% | Lab based |
| Lab exam | 20% | |
| Two midterm exams | 50% | Highest grade 40%, Lowest 10% |
Grading Scale: All assignments will be graded on a 100-point scale. The average of these assignments (using the weights above) will be used to compute your final score. The following scale will then be used to assign your final grade:
| [97-100] | A+ | [93-97) | A | [90-93) | A- |
| [87-90) | B+ | [83-87) | B | [80-83) | B- |
| [77-80) | C+ | [73-77) | C | [70-73) | C- |
| [60-70) | D | ||||
| <60 | F | ||||
Audit Requirements: Students auditing this course are expected to complete the homework assignments with at least a score of 75. No need to take the exams.
Curving: We will curve if need be. Curving is not linear; lower grades will be curved more generously than higher ones.
Textbooks
Instructor notes and a lab manual will be available free of charge.
Selected handouts (for which you are responsible come exam time) will be available free of charge.
Updated 6/21/2023