Presentation of the computer networks course

Hello everyone and welcome to this course about computer networks.

This course aims at providing a complete set of information about computer networks, their history and the way they have been designed. It presents how the different parts of the Internet are interconnected and how the information is transmitted from a point to another. A goal of this course is also to view networking in terms of security and to give advices on security matters related to the different blocks of computer networks.

This course is organized as following:

1. Introduction.
   This chapter presents in a general way the history of computer networking and what are its goals. It presents the OSI model as a way to standardize communications and focuses as well on the TCP/IP model.
2. Physical layer: how to physically transmit information.
   In this chapter, we will learn about how it is possible to transmit information using a physical link. It also presents the different kinds of links that can be used.
3. Data link layer: how to send information to your neighbour.
   This chapter talks about how two devices can be physically connected and how is the information transmitted from one device to another.
4. Network layer: how to send information far away.
   Now that we know how one computer can talk to its closest neighbours, we can learn about how information can travel from a location to another one that would be farther away.
5. Transport layer: how to talk to many people at the same time.
   We are now able to send information to anyone in the world. We are ready to learn about how to distinguish different kind of information that is being sent or that is received by a computer.
6. Session layer: how to establish a long-term conversation.
   Communications usually are more about conversation than sending a single message. In this chapter we will learn about establishing sessions between two devices.
7. Presentation layer: how to talk to foreigners.
   Information can represent many things. This chapter presents how data can be encoded in different ways and be understood by different protocols.
8. Application layer: how to say something meaningful.
   The application handles data that is actually meaningful for the end user.
9. Bonus layer: the Chair-To-Keyboard interface.
   This chapter will focus a bit more on some security matters.