Supervision FAQ

Here is a list of questions that I usually get from supervisees.
I hope this will sort out many issues and questions that you
have in your mind before you take (or want to take) up 
supervisions with me.

Q. Which subjects (courses) do you supervise?

A.
I usually opt supervisions for courses that I know the most,
and courses that are typically meant for Part-II students.
I have supervised Digital Communications-II  and Comparative
Architectures. I am also planning to supervise "Computer System
Modelling" and "Security" in the future.


Q. Do you take any kind of revision/extra supervision in Lent 
or Easter upon request and otherwise?

A.
Past experience suggests that my supervisions typically last
for 1.5-2 hrs. And yes, I do take revisions/extra supervisions 
upon request.


Q. In the mean time can we ask questions through emails?

A.
Yes, of course. But you may sometimes find that my reply to your 
questions getting delayed. This may happen when I am busy with 
my own personal assignments. But dont worry, I'll get back to 
you soon after.


Q. When and how do we schedule supervisions?

A.
Typically, it is recommended to take the first supervision 
when a third of the lectures are over. But this may vary with 
the likes and requirements of each group. I am comfortable on 
anything that makes you comfortable.

For scheduling supervisions, e-mail in within your group and 
CC me as well. Once we have all agreed to a time, I can then 
book a room for our discussions. It would be nice if each of 
you can e-mail me separately the list of issues that you find 
most obscure. This way, we can filter out issues that can 
eventually contribute to our available time. Just to start 
with get hold of the past questions papers, that will give 
you a reasonable idea where and what to look for before pinning 
issues of investigation.


Q. DC-II is huge. How do I deal with so many stuff(books?)? 
Which one can be used as a principal reference? Which ones are
the best, in terms of clarity and simplicity and pertinence 
to the course?


A.
I know it looks huge but I think its quite very interesting.
Once you get yourself involved, it would be easy...
There is NO one good book for everything, but there are many
good books for many things. Oftentimes, you will need to refer
to 2 or more (good) books to get your concepts clear. And if 
you still have some time left, I would recommend you to read 
some very interesting papers listed in your lecture handouts 
for extra reading.

From (so many) books, here's my take:

TCP/IP operation - Vol 1 Richard Stevens. (nice description 
of intricate details of TCP/IP operation, details TCP -Tahoe, 
Reno variants only).

Routing (DV/LS, OSPF, BDP etc.), multicasting, Internet 
Quality of Service (IntServ, DiffServ models etc.)  - a good 
book would be the recommended one by S. Keshav. On routing issue
there's one more that I read last year - by Mark Dickie named 
"Routing in today's internetworks" gives cosy description on 
routing.

Good overview books to get to understand things fast on
"everything" 
Computer Networks - Peterson and Davie
Computer Networks - Andrew Tanenbaum

Other than that you will need to search the web for more info 
on IPv6, TCP Vegas and other typical TCP variants,  RFC's may 
be of help ofcourse but you need to just skim through them though 
not very seriously. I have listed a pointer by Vangelis in my 
webpage, have a look at it - his web-page lists some very useful 
pointers. Some papers on router design would be very useful. I'll 
post a slide from Nick Mckeown's talk on router design later, our 
lab is quite involved in all these stuff. Apart from all this, 
your lecture hand-out is always your best-friend.

And if you still have additional questions, feel free to get 
in touch!