CST 311 Week 1

CST 311 Week 1

This week I learned about the basic structure of the internet and the networks within it. It is now understood that the network edge consists of clients and servers and the network core is the network of networks that consists of interconnected routers. The idea of packet switching and how it drives the flow of information across networks was also introduced. I learned about packet delay and the various processes that effect packet delay suck as nodal processing, queueing delay, transmission delay, and propagation delay. Formulas for figuring these four delay processes were introduced. The throughput of networks was studied and also how to find the throughput of a given network. Finally we learned about the internet protocol stack and the layers within: application, transport, network, link, physical.

I felt this was a good introduction to the basic structure of how networks and the network core work. It forms a good basis for what I am sure will be a more in depth analysis of computer networks. I found the history of computer networks to be fascinating as far as how they have changed communication so much in so little time considering that for thousands of years forms of communication did not change very much.