CS544 -- Computer Networks
Winter 2008 – 2009
Professor Mike Kain
Term Paper # 1 – Network Protocol Analysis
Due Date: Wednesday, January 28th, 2009 at 11:59pm EST
The protocol is the heart of the definition of one layer of the computer network. The protocol
defines the messages and the order in which they must be transferred. It is the basic building
block of the network; it helps solve a specific problem by defining a piece of the system.
Your group will have selected one protocol (at any layer of the network, but if you can’t think of
one, use one of the classic ones at the Session Layer (HTTP, DNS, SMTP, FTP, SSL/SSH, etc.))
or something new (Napster, BitTorrent, etc.). There is a link on the course website (and in
BlackBoard) with the 50 most common RFCs.
Summarize in 5-7 pages OF YOUR OWN WORDS:
• What services that it provides (and how it does it),
• What do the messages look like,
• Does it use any of the common themes that we’ve discussed in class?
• Does it do authentication (and other security issues)?
• Describe any DFAs that it uses,
• Is it extensible? (How can new commands/responses/DFA states be added?)
The goal of this paper is NOT to give me a definition of the protocol (although there should be
SOME description and detail of what the protocol does), but your analysis of it. How do you
think of it as a generic protocol (good, bad, simple, complex, etc.?) At the end of this exercise,
you should be to break down any networking protocol into its major parts and understand how
and why it works because of that decomposition. This analysis should help you build a strong
networking protocol later in the semester. Also try to include any ideas or conclusions why you
think the designers chose to implement the protocol the way that they did.
Each member of the group should do the complete analysis, since the process is an important
part of protocol analysis. After everyone has completed the analysis, the group should either
combine the best pieces of each analysis into one paper, or select the best paper. Either way, a
breakdown of the work throughout the group should also be included with the submission.
Ensure that you reference any articles that you use. Please refer to the academic honesty section
of the syllabus and of the Drexel University handbook. Plagiarism is a very serious issue; if you
have any questions what constitutes plagiarism, please contact me. All phrases, pictures, etc that
are taken from a copyrighted work should be referenced through a footnote detailing exactly
where it was taken from. I assume all references can be found on-line, please hand in any that
you use that we can not get through the web for free.
