CS 6250 Computer Networks – Summer 2024 Review

Even though the Fall 2024 term has started, here’s a review of CS 6250: Computer Networks, which I took during Summer 2024. The topics covered were:

Assignments

There were five assignments, including an extra credit task. As noted in many reviews on Reddit, the difficulty level wasn’t very high. The tasks mainly involved solving problems using Python. Although I had no prior experience with SDN, it turned out to be a valuable learning experience. Personally, I found the last extra credit assignment the most interesting. For that task, I investigated internet blocks imposed by the Syrian government as part of anti-cheating measures during exams. Observing how BGP logs disappeared exactly at exam times made me realize how internet freedom is not guaranteed everywhere. Reading about internet outages, such as YouTube Hijack also highlighted the challenges of providing stable internet access. Additionally, I enjoyed working on a small toy implementation of a recursive DNS resolver as a side project.

Textbook

Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach

Exams

There were both midterms and finals, and they weren’t open book, so I had to memorize a fair amount. I spent a lot of time going through the preparation quizzes provided by the class (which was tough).

Summary

In the end, I was happy to get an A. Since it was a summer course, the workload was relatively lighter, and as someone interested in this field, I felt it was the right choice. It was a good opportunity to revisit the fundamentals of computer networking. However it might feel a bit basic for those already specialized in the field.

Although Fall 2024 has already started, I’m currently enrolled in CS 6340: Software Analysis (SAT). Initially, I planned to take a compilers course, but with work getting busier, I decided to postpone it.