Welcome to module 1: January 24 – March 13, 2022

Learning Outcomes – Introduction to Data Plane Programming (DVAD41)

January 24 – March 13, 2022

During the initial seven course weeks, the focus will be on familiarizing oneself with the online learning spaces, connecting with peers and facilitators. In addition, you will start reading about the theoretical foundations of data plane programming in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the area. You will get a basic introduction to the P4 language, and can work on three basic labs, that will make you familiar with programming in P4. For that, you will be getting access to a Virtual machine that comes preinstalled with developing environment and mininet network emulator. On the discussion slack, you will share expectations, background knowledge, as well as your own experiences and practices.

Week 1: 24/1-30/1/2022

Participate in the Course Introduction Webinar

Time: Monday, January 24th at 17.00-18.30 CET

  • The course will start with an introduction webinar where we will present the structure of the course and will get to know each other. The webinar will consist of presentations from the course facilitator followed by questions and discussions regarding the course. We will finish the webinar with an overview on what is the data plane. In order to participate, simply click the following link and enter your name. You might be required to install the program Zoom: https://kau-se.zoom.us/j/66276262445
  • Learn more how to participate in the webinar.
  • View the Slides Webinar – Module1-CourseIntro-min
  • View the Slides DVAD41-DataplaneIntro
  • View the Webinar
  • View the Mentimeter

Course Introductory Mentimeter

Please visit this Voting Link to participate in the Mentimeter Q&A session. Alternatively, go to menti.com and enter code XXXMentimeter is an online tool for engaging the audience. We use this tool to collect feedback from you for your expectations, etc.

Results available, check out!

Register

All participants (also the students reading the credit bearing course) need to register on the course homepage, if you have not done so already. Officially registered students also need to register on “My page” on kau.se in order to be able to receive ECTS for the course. Note that you need to have a StudentID or KauID which also gives you access to Canvas and other IT systems at Karlstad University. If you are unsure what kind of participant you are read more here.

Watch the videos

In this introductory video “Control Plane vs Data Plane | The Ancient Soldier” the difference between control and data plane is explained.

In this introductory video “Control and Data Planes – Georgia Tech – Software Defined Networking” a more technical discussion on control and data plane split is given.

In this introductory video “What is software-defined networking (SDN)?”, a short introduction to Software Defined Networking is given.

In this introductory video “Introduction to the Data Plane”, a short introduction to the Data Plane and Software Defined Networking is given. Slides available here.

In his IEEE ICC 2018 Keynote, Nick McKeown, Professor from Stanford University, talks about Programmable Forwarding Planes and why they are Here To Stay. The presentation is also available here.

Beeing successful in the course
In the first four weeks of our course, the main focus is on getting ready for open networked learning and participating successfully in Data Plane Programming. It is probably useful to think about what successful participation in a course like this means. What does it mean for you? The following video provides one example of what success is and how to study in a course like ours:

Read the articles

Click here to get information about how to find and acquire the articles.
Additional reading (for interested) can be found in the following quite extensive and actively updated reading list maintained by Roberto Bifulco, Stefan Schmid and Gábor Rétvári
https://rg0now.github.io/prog_dataplane_reading_list/README.html

Assignment 1 – Introduce yourself

The first assignment is for you to introduce yourself to your course learners (mandatory for credit bearing course). Tell us a bit about why you are taking this course and who you are as well as what your current understanding of Software Defined Networking and data plane programming is in brief and share your expectations for the course. The course will be much more meaningful and enjoyable if we take the time to get to know each other!

Assignment 2 – Short Quiz

In this Quiz, you will test your basic understanding of Data Plane Programming and P4. The material is based on this weeks videos and the paper P. Bosshart et.al.: P4: Programming protocol-independent packet processors. The Quiz is available Here. Credit bearing users, please use your Canvas account.