Blink - Fast Connectivity Recovery Entirely in the Data Plane

This course explores the concept of fast rerouting in the data plane using programmable switches to detect and recover from Internet traffic disruptions efficiently. The learning outcomes include understanding how Blink utilizes TCP-induced signals to detect failures, selecting flows to track, detecting traffic disruptions, and recovering data-plane connectivity. The course teaches skills such as analyzing TCP flows, implementing Blink in P4, and evaluating its performance on real and synthetic traffic traces. The teaching method involves presenting an end-to-end implementation of Blink and conducting an extensive evaluation. The intended audience for this course includes network engineers, system architects, and researchers interested in data-driven systems for connectivity recovery in the data plane.