NetFPGA: A Tool for Network Research and Education

NetFPGA is a platform that allows students to build real networking hardware, using industry-standard design tools (e.g. Verilog), then deploy and debug their hardware in an operational network. In the canonical classroom design exercise, a student builds an Ethernet switch, or an Internet router and makes it interoperate with other students’ solutions. NetFPGA-v1 has been used in classes at Stanford for several years, and is just being replaced by NetFPGA-v2, which has four Gigabit Ethernet interfaces. NetFPGA-v2 is designed for teaching and research; it is open, easy to use, and simple enough to give away for free.