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Network Devices

Learning Goals

Goals for this unit

  • Understand the logical split of control- and data-plane and their role in a networking device.
  • Learn about the technologies that enable networking device performance.
  • Learn about the architectural structure of networking devices.

Preparation

This lecture unit discusses network device internals, i.e., how switches and routers are structured, the general implications of that, and which specific network functions they provide. It reviews the different components and discusses implications on their performance and behavior when realizing them with and without hardware support.

RATs will take place during the lecture on Thursday, 27th, at 14:15. Please study the book exerpt "What’s Inside a Router?" from Kurose/Ross and the webpage on "Content-Addressable Memory Introduction".

Book Exert

Inside a Router (Kurose/Ross): Will be made available on Canvas.

Blog Post

Introduction to CAM

Optional Study Material

Paper

Content-addressable memory (CAM) circuits and architectures: A tutorial and survey

Blog Post

The 768k or Another Internet Doomsday? Here's how to deal with the TCAM overflow at the 768k boundary

Blog Post

What will happen when the routing table hits 1024k