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Overview
A contemporary, yet classic, introduction to today's key networking technologies
Computer Networks, Fifth Edition, is the ideal introduction to the networking field. This bestseller reflects the latest networking technologies with a special emphasis on wireless networking, including 802.11, 802.16, Bluetooth™, and 3G cellular, paired with fixed-network coverage of ADSL, Internet over cable, gigabit Ethernet, MLPS, and peer-to-peer networks. Notably, this latest edition incorporates new coverage on 3G mobile phone networks, Fiber to the Home, RIFD, delay-tolerant networks, and 802.11 security, in addition to expanded material on Internet routing, multicasting, congestion control, quality of service, real-time transport, and content distribution.
Authors Andrew Tanenbaum and Davis Wetherall describe the inner facets of the network, exploring its functionality from underlying hardware to applications, including:
- Physical layer (e.g., copper, fiber, wireless, satellites, and Internet over cable)
- Data link layer (e.g., protocol principles, protocol verification, HDLC, and PPP)
- MAC Sublayer (e.g., gigabit Ethernet, 802.11, broadband wireless, and switching)
- Network layer (e.g., routing algorithms, congestion control, QoS, IPv4, and IPv6)
- Transport layer (e.g., socket programming, UDP, TCP, RTP, and network performance)
- Application layer (e.g., e-mail, the Web, PHP, wireless Web, MP3, and streaming audio)
- Network security (e.g., AES, RSA, quantum cryptography, IPsec, and Web security)
The book dissects and depicts the principles associated with each layer and then translates them through examples from the Internet and wireless networks.
About the Authors
Andrew S. Tanenbaum is a Professor of Computer Science at Vrije Universiteteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He is a fellow of IEEE and ACM and a member of the Netherlands Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences. He recently won a prestigious European Research Council Advanced Grant of 2.5 million to do research on highly reliable computer systems. Tanenbaum has also authored or coauthored the following titles: Structured Computer Organization, Fifth Edition; Operating Systems: Design and Implementation, Third Edition; and Distributed Systems: Principles and Paradigms, Second Edition, all published by Prentice Hall.
David J. Wetherall is an Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle. He hails from Australia and has worked in the area of networking for the past two decades. His research is focused on Internet protocols, wireless networks, and security. Wetherall's work has been recognized with a Sloan Fellowship, the IEEE Bennett Prize, and the ACM SIGCOMM Test-of-Time Award.
Synopsis
Computer Networks, 5/e is appropriate for Computer Networking or Introduction to Networking courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, CIS, MIS, and Business Departments.
Tanenbaum takes a structured approach to explaining how networks work from the inside out. He starts with an explanation of the physical layer of networking, computer hardware and transmission systems; then works his way up to network applications. Tanenbaum's in-depth application coverage includes email; the domain name system; the World Wide Web (both client- and server-side); and multimedia (including voice over IP, Internet radio video on demand, video conferencing, and streaming media. Each chapter follows a consistent approach: Tanenbaum presents key principles, then illustrates them utilizing real-world example networks that run through the entire book—the Internet, and wireless networks, including Wireless LANs, broadband wireless and Bluetooth. The Fifth Edition includes a chapter devoted exclusively to network security. The textbook is supplemented by a Solutions Manual, as well as a Website containing PowerPoint slides, art in various forms, and other tools for instruction, including a protocol simulator whereby students can develop and test their own network protocols.
Booknews
A textbook providing a clear explanation of the way networks work, from hardware technology up through the most popular network applications. Topics covered include the physical layer (copper, fiber, radio, and satellite communication); the data link layer (protocol principles, HDLC, SLIP, and PPP); the MAC sublayer (IEEE 802 LANs, bridges, new high-speed LANs); the network layer (routing, congestion control, internetworking, IPv6); the transport layer (transport protocol principles, TCP, network performance); and the application layer (cryptography, email, news, the Web, Java, and multimedia). Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Editorials
Booknews
A textbook providing a clear explanation of the way networks work, from hardware technology up through the most popular network applications. Topics covered include the physical layer (copper, fiber, radio, and satellite communication); the data link layer (protocol principles, HDLC, SLIP, and PPP); the MAC sublayer (IEEE 802 LANs, bridges, new high-speed LANs); the network layer (routing, congestion control, internetworking, IPv6); the transport layer (transport protocol principles, TCP, network performance); and the application layer (cryptography, email, news, the Web, Java, and multimedia). Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)Don Bryson
Gee, I Didn't Know That ...
I evaluate every computer book by how many hours it will save me. If it takes twenty hours to read book, then I fully expect it to save me at least twenty hours of frustrated guessing. I'm a businessman first and a hacker second. Everything must have an ROI (Return On Investment).
Computer Networks won't save one minute over the next year. It has no step-by-step procedures, no problem solving sections, and no butt-saving tricks. The only purpose it can serve at a downed site is as a shield against thrown objects from frustrated users. Normally, theoretical books like this one receive a quick skim and are promptly sent to my for-looks-only tome tomb. However, this isn't a normal theoretical book. It's fascinating. In fact, I read it not once but three times. Tanenbaum fills over 700 pages with everything I didn't know, or better still, only thought I knew about networks.
For example, let me tell you what Tanenbaum taught me about modems. I have over ten years trench tech UNIX experience. I've hooked up thousands of modems. I've written more chat scripts, custom dialers, and inittab entries than I have sense to count. I even silently considered myself a modem expert -- before reading Tanenbaum's book.
Being the "expert" that I was, I had used the term carrier many times. I had also used that term many times before my computer days. I worked my way through college at a commercial broadcast station. A broadcast transmitter superimposes audio onto a sine wave called the carrier. However, until I read Computer Networks, I never made the connection between modems and transmitters. Tanenbaum points out that a modem works very much like a commercial transmitter and then proceeds to describe the different types of modem modulation in amazingly great detail. I no longer consider myself a modem expert.
That's why I read this book three times. I learned something new on every page and unlearned at least one misunderstanding in every chapter. I saw the gestalt between seemingly dissimilar things like modems and radio stations. The breadth and depth of the book yielded fresh fruit on every reading.
The book is well organized. Tanenbaum uses a modified ISO OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) reference model as a template for the book. While he drops the session and presentation layers, he leaves the physical, data link, network, transport, and application layers in his reference model. The explanation starts with the physical layer in chapter two and ends with the application layer in the last chapter. This bottom-up explanation is logical and easy to follow.
While the concepts could have been explained with the warmth of a legal brief, Tanenbaum has a gift for explaining them in an entertaining, conversational manner. True, everything must have an ROI. Sometimes, however, when it's entertaining enough, the sole joy of learning is enough of a return.--Dr. Dobb's Electronic Review of Computer Books.