Internet Design: Protocols, Architecture, and Security

This course explains from a technical perspective how the internet actually works, how it is managed, how it is secured, and how it supports billions of users and all types of systems and devices. We do this by presenting a structured approach to the design, analysis, and implementation of the internet's core protocol suite (IPv4, IPv6, TCP, and UDP), and by studying in detail the building blocks of today's internet (such as routers, switches, firewalls, and hosts). With this as the foundation, we then study other important protocols and systems, including SMTP/email, the domain name system (DNS), routing protocols (RIP, OSPF, and BGP), autonomous systems (AS), and the IEEE 802 LAN protocol suite. In each case, the protocol's functionality and the underlying reference model are described. The internet's architecture and security protocols, including software defined networks (SDN), virtual networks, critical security protocols (such as IPsec, IKE, AES, RSA, and ECC), content delivery networks (CDN), and cloud-specific protocols (VXLAN) are also discussed in detail so that students understand the trade-offs that must always be made whenever networks are designed and implemented. The course also discusses some new areas of work, including delay-tolerant network protocols (DTN) for the interplanetary internet and protocols for the internet-of-things (IoT).