CSI2103

Computer Networks and Data

Communications I

LECTURE 0
Course Leaders
• Mr. Dave Sarran (dave.sarran@uog.edu.gy)
• Mr. Devindra Kashrinandan (TBA)
• Mr. Timothy Velloza (TBA)
Aims
• This course is intended for students pursuing the two-year full time
Associate Degree in Computer Science program.

• This course will equip the students with the foundational knowledge
required to understand major aspects of modern computer networks.
Learning Outcomes
• Discuss the evolution of modern computer networks and the internet.

• Describe the responsibilities of the physical, data link, network, transport,

and application layers.

• Explain how a packet is routed over the Internet.

• Explain how a network can detect and correct transmission errors.

• Assign IP addresses to various interfaces

Learning Outcomes
• Create and configure a simple network with two clients and a single
server using standard host configuration software tools such as DHCP
and DNS.

• Build simple server applications

• Summarize the strengths and weaknesses associated with different

approaches to security.
Course Content
1 Network Architectural principles:
• History of data communication networks and the Internet
• Network architectures
• Network Protocols

2 Network Architectural principles:

• Layering principles (encapsulation, multiplexing)
• Client/server and peer-to-peer paradigms
• Switching techniques (e.g. circuit, packet)
Course Content
3 Network Communication
• Network standards and standardization bodies
• The ISO 7-layer reference model in general and its instantiation in TCP/IP.
• Overview of physical and data link layer concepts (framing, error control, flow
control, and protocols)

4 Link-layer:
• Introduction to Transmission Media - signal types, signal spectrum, signal to noise
ratio, attenuation

• Ethernet networks, switches

• Wireless networks
Course Content
5 Network layer:
• Names and addresses: ARP, IPv4, IPv6, and NAT
• Routing and flooding, source routing, and spanning trees
• Routing algorithms: Bellman-Ford, Dijkstra Routing: Intra-AS
routing (RIP and OSPF), Inter-AS routing (BGP), and multicast

6 • Network services: DHCP, DNS

Test #1
Course Content
7 Transport layer:
• Connectionless transport: UDP
• Connection-oriented transport:TCP

• Client/server and peer-to-peer paradigms

8 Applications Layer Protocols and Services:

• Web/HTTP, Email/SMTP

• Socket programming in TCP and UDP

9 Client-server programming: Sockets

Course Content

10 Introduction to distributed systems:

• Issues, challenges
• Distributed system models (architectural, interaction, failure, security)

11 Test # 2

Network security:
• Fundamentals of cryptography
o Secret-key algorithms
o Public-key algorithms
• Authentication protocols
• Network attack types, e.g., denial of service, flooding, sniffing, and traffic redirection.
Course Content
12 Network security:
• Basic network defense tools and strategies

o Intrusion detection
o Firewalls
o Detection of malware
o Kerberos
o IPSec
o Virtual Private Networks
o Network Address Translation

13 Network design and operation:

• Infrastructures; enterprise/campus, ISP/home networks

• Network monitoring and management, SNMP

• Virtual network environments

Methods of Teaching
• Lectures (39 hrs per semester)
• Labs/ Tutorials (26 hrs per semester)
Methods of Assessment
• Coursework (40%)
• 2 Tests - 20 %
• 2 Labs/Assignments - 10%
• 1 Project – 10%

• Final Examination (60%)

Facebook Connect
• Group Name: CSE2103 (2019/2020)
Recommended Readings
• Tanenbaum, A. S. and Wetherall, D. J., ( 2011), Computer Networks, 5/E, Prentice Hall, 2010, 960pp. ISBN-13: 978-0132126953.

• Computer Networks: A Systems Approach

by Larry Peterson and Bruce Davie
Morgan Kaufmann, 5th Edition, 2011. ISBN 978-0123850591

• TCP/IP Sockets in C: A Practical Guide for Programmers

by Michael J., Kenneth L. Calvert
Morgan Kaufmann, 2nd edition, ISBN 978-0123745408

• Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach

Kurose, J. F. and Ross, K. W., 6th Edition, Pearson, 2012, 864pp, paper, ISBN-13: 978-0132856201; ISBN-10: 0132856204

• TCP/IP Illustrated volume 1

by W. Richard Stevens.
Addison-Wesley. ISBN: 0-201-63346-9.
• IETF, Official Internet Protocol Standards, Mar. 2013, [Online]. Available: http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfcxx00.html