About this Course

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In this course, you will learn about software defined networking and how it is changing the way communications networks are managed, maintained, and secured.

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Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

100% online

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Approx. 32 hours to complete

English

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Flexible deadlines

Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.

Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

100% online

Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.

Approx. 32 hours to complete

English

Could your company benefit from training employees on in-demand skills?

Try Coursera for Business

Instructor

Instructor rating

4.67/5 (78 Ratings)

Dr. Nick Feamster

Professor

Department of Computer Science

61,647 Learners

2 Courses

Syllabus - What you will learn from this course

Week1

Week 1

4 hours to complete

Week One

4 hours to complete

11 videos (Total 162 min), 4 readings, 2 quizzes

11 videos

Introduction to SDN (Summer 2015): What's New4mOverview Part 14mOverview Part 28mCentral Control6mActive Networks11mNetwork Virtualization12mFrom FORCES to Ethane: Control Plane Evolution9mThe Road to SDN7mMartin Casado Interview27mNick McKeown Interview1h 7mTutorial: Setup Vagrant/Mininet Course VM Setup1m

4 readings

Syllabus10mScoring and Logistics10mWeek One10mSet up Your Own Virtual Network: A Virtual Box/Mininet Environment for SDN10m

2 practice exercises

Pre-Assesment Quiz30mQuiz 1: History and Evolution of SDN30m

Week2

Week 2

5 hours to complete

Week Two

5 hours to complete

8 videos (Total 178 min), 2 readings, 3 quizzes

8 videos

Mininet Topologies and Mininet Python API16mControl/Data Separation6mOpportunities in Various Domains13mChallenges in Separating the Data and Control Planes13mRouting Control Platform10mThe 4D Network Architecture10mDavid Clark Interview1h 1mTeemu Koponen Interview45m

2 readings

Week Two10mMininet Quiz Instructions10m

3 practice exercises

Quiz 2: Mininet Setup30mQuiz 2.1: Control and Data Separation30mQuiz 2.2: Routing Control Platform and 4D30m

Week3

Week 3

3 hours to complete

Week Three

3 hours to complete

8 videos (Total 133 min), 1 reading, 1 quiz

Week4

Week 4

5 hours to complete

Week Four

5 hours to complete

11 videos (Total 197 min), 1 reading, 3 quizzes

11 videos

Virtualization14mApplications of Virtual Networking10mNetwork Virtualization with Mininet10mSlicing Network Control7mVirtualization in Multi-Tenant Datacenters8mNetwork Functions Virtualization5mDocker and Containerization4mNetworking in Docker5mBrent Salisbury Interview40mLarry Peterson Interview42mRob Sherwood Interview46m

1 reading

Week Four10m

3 practice exercises

Quiz 4.1: Virtual Networking30mQuiz 4.2: Data-Center Virtualization30mQuiz 4.3: NFV and Docker30m

Week5

Week 5

4 hours to complete

Week Five

This module is relatively independent from some of the other modules, as programmable data planes involve new types of technology. Still, you should by now have a very good understanding of SDN-based control and virtualization. OpenFlow's design was somewhat of an accident of the hardware support that was available at the time. More recently, people are exploring how programmable hardware can help us design a control protocol with the benefit of being able to change the data plane.

4 hours to complete

10 videos (Total 200 min), 1 reading, 2 quizzes

10 videos

Programmable Data Planes8mMaking Software Faster: RouteBricks13mProgrammable Hardware Overview2mProgrammable Chipsets: RMT13mHigh-Level Programming Languages: P49mP4 Examples3mIntermediate Representations: NetASM7mPat Bosshart Interview51mChang Kim Interview47mDan Daly Interview43m

1 reading

Week Five10m

2 practice exercises

Quiz 5.1: Programmable Data Planes30mQuiz 5.2: Protocol Independent Forwarding30m

Week6

Week 6

3 hours to complete

Week Six

In this part of the course, you'll learn about programming languages and controllers that make this programmability possible. We will focus on one language in particular, Pyretic, which is from the Frenetic family of languages. We will also look at a runtime and northbound API called Resonance, which allows network programmers to write policies that respond to changing network conditions (e.g., security events, shifts in peak vs. off-peak time, traffic fluctuations or link failures).

3 hours to complete

7 videos (Total 139 min), 1 reading, 1 quiz

Week7

Week 7

4 hours to complete

Week Seven

In this module, we will apply that knowledge to explore how SDN can be used to solve problems in various networking domains. We'll start by looking at data-center networking, where SDN has arguably gained the strongest foothold (to date). We'll then explore applications of SDN to interdomain routing, where new applications and deployments are emerging. Finally, we'll explore the application of SDN in home networks, which has seen some preliminary work, deployments, and ideas.

4 hours to complete

8 videos (Total 185 min), 1 reading, 1 quiz

Week8

Week 8

4 hours to complete

Week Eight

In this module, we'll be looking at another control framework built using Pyretic called "Kinetic". Kinetic is a domain-specific language embedded in Pyretic that allows programmers and network operators to automatically verify the correctness properties of the control program. Your previous experience with Pox and Pyretic should provide you with very useful experience and perspective for comparing the three ways of programming a controller. In the assignment, we ask you to compare Kinetic to either Pox or Pyretic, so the experience you gained from those assignments should prove very useful.

4 hours to complete

9 videos (Total 215 min), 1 reading, 1 quiz

Reviews

4.6

68 reviews

5 stars
74.40%
4 stars
16.53%
3 stars
5.51%
2 stars
1.18%
1 star
2.36%

TOP REVIEWS FROM SOFTWARE DEFINED NETWORKING

by AIAug 28, 2020

Good and informative for basics of SDN. Wish to work on more programming exercises especially on data plan,

by NSFeb 9, 2021

One of the best courses offered by Coursera. Thank you for providing knowledge for free. I am grateful to you guys.

by CCSep 8, 2020

give a comprehensive overview of SDN networking and provide details about tools and technologies from the state of art.

by AGMay 9, 2020

For a beginner this course is highly recommended. Although many important topics are not discussed in detail. Happy to take this course.

View all reviews

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Is financial aid available?
Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.

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Software Defined Networking

Software Defined Networking

About this Course