Andrew Tanenbaum is a delightful person. He's an authority on Computer Networks. He's nerdy, but in a charming way, and he has a sense of humour. Its been really nice spending time with him, but I have to end it, for a while atleast. That man has been driving me Crazy!(Not the 'Crazy kiya re' crazy, but the 'I am going to kill you' crazy.)
When my Dad heard that we'd be doing CCN this semester, he said "Take Tanenbaum" without missing a beat. I was excited about CCN, thinking that it was going to be feducative (fun and educative) and maybe,maybe I'll find my calling in this field. So it was with a sanguine (Shari, I used the word!)temparament that I faced this new subject.
It was an almost-disaster. We had two teachers assigned to this subject consecutively, and about them, the less said the better. Then there was VTU. Its one thing learning about the OSI model, and quite another learning about the OSI model with 3 internals and a VTU final looming over you. I mean, I enjoyed myself reading about IPv4, the current IP protocol, IPv6, the future one, Virtual LANs,etc. To add to the feel-good atmosphere were the amusing anecdotes added in the chapter, and the informal, easygoing language that Andrew uses, making you feel more like a buddy than a student.
Now, imagine having to know all about the working of the ubiquitous Ethernet, and having to know its frame format by heart, and all its physical variations, their maximum segment distances, their quirks and disadvantages and what not. To read them once is OK. To understand the reason why they are what they are is fine, too. But why-oh-why should we remember the frame formats. I doubt that even the kings and queens of the CCN industry remember these. They may just look it up when they want it. And even though a programmer remembers this, its just because he works with the standard and even there, he doesn't sit in front of the book and fastidiously memorize the format. Ugh!
And so, on the 29th of December at 10:00P.M, you could have found me in my room, with Tanenbaum, in a very foul mood, trying to cram in like a million gigabytes of info, cursing everyone and everything from VTU for being so VTU to the Internet, for being so well-liked. I managed to get in enough, though. There was a lot. I mean, I had to know that there were 7 differences between datagram subnets and VC subnets, 10 ways in which networks differ, 16 bytes addresses in the packet of IPv6, and 13 application profiles using Bluetooth, each of which, by the way, has its own protocol stack, which seems to me as serious overkill. But I got it all in, and poured out enough during the exam the next day.
Now, I'm trying to drain out all the CCN trivia from my memory to make space for Mr.Uyemura, who I hope has not this much info. This is why, I've decided to lay off CCN and Andrew for some time. I'll always have nice memories of time spent with him. Like Rene Descartes said, (Was it really him?) reading a book is like hanging out with the greatest of minds. Its not like I'll never pick up Tanenbaum again. I've made a promise to myself, that someday, I'll read the remaining chapters. But not now. No hard feelings, right Andrew?
From: Bangalore, Karnataka, India
About me: Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all. I choose the former.
