This module covers the evolution of data center networks, including the origins of software defined networking and the networking technology prevalent today in data centers. The module also discusses the traffic engineering challenges specific to data center networks.

This module presents one example of a data center network, namely, Azure’s VL2. It starts with a general overview of the design principles for data center networks that laid the foundation for the specific design decisions in VL2, which is the foundation for how Azure’s data center networking is architected today.

This module covers topics including metrics for network performance evaluation, tools for testing and debugging DC networks, measurement, and case studies of analyzing DC network traffic.

This module is a hands-on project to familiarize the student with implementing an SDN controller and testing the performance of traffic engineering rules using Ryu.