Computer Networks ( 3rd edition) - Andrew S. Review on Computer Networks ( 3rd edition) - Andrew S. Tanenbaum

This classic best-seller is an ideal introduction to today's and tomorrow's networks.

Author, educator, researcher and winner of the ACM Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award, Andrew S. Tanebaum carefully explains how networks work inside, from the hardware technology up through the most popular network application while including the most popular Internet application protocols.

Features

Emphasis on TCP/IP.

The first networking text to treat ATM, TCP/IP and wireless technologies all in one book.

Extensive coverage of the World Wide Web and its protocols including the multimedia Mbone, Java, Domain Names System and Usenet News.

Full treatment of IP including Ipv6, OSPF, Internet Multicasting, and Mobile IP.

Covers all the latest mobile and wireless technologies including CDMA, CDPD and PCS.

Network security including secret and public key algorithms are new to this edition.

In-depth coverage of high speed networking technologies including: ATM, B-ISDN, FDDI and high speed LANs.

Expanded coverage of routing and congestion control algorithms.

The special section on multimedia covers audio, video, data compression, video-on-demand and Mbone.

Table Of Contents

Preface

Introduction

The Physical Layer

The Data Link Layer

The Medium Access Sublayer

The Network Layer

The Transport Layer

The Application Layer

Reading List and Bibliography

Index Does this book really need a review?

To cut a long review short: Must have for anyone connected to computers and/or networking.

Tanenbaum is among better acknowledged people in the computer industry. He is also the founding designer of MINIX OS. As a writer, he has written books worthy of every praise they have received.

This is a good book for anyone venturing into computer networks for the first time. Note that this book limits the discussions on the hardware side of the technology. Rather, large portions of the book are devoted to the soft(ware) side including protocols and algorithm. So if you want to understand how the'm…(Expand)

Review

Read the entire review of this book.

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. -Don Bryson, Dr. Dobb's Journal - Dr. Dobb's Journal.

From the Publisher

This classic best-seller has been completely revised and updated to reflect networking and internetworking technologies that will be most critical for years to come.

Award-winning educator and researcher Andrew S. Tanenbaum explains how computer networks work inside-from the hardware technology up to and including the most popular Internet application protocols. Throughout the book are running examples of ATM and the Internet.

Tanenbaum's extensive coverage of the Internet, Asynchronous Transfer Mode(ATM) and wireless networking makes Computer Networks the first book to cover all three of these essential technologies, in addition to explaining the fundamental principles behind all computer networking. Tanenbaum clearly presents:

Internet applications such as the World Wide Web, Java, email, Usenet, multimedia, the Mbone, and the Domain Name System

Network security, including secret- and public- key algorithms, authentication protocols, and digital signatures.

TCP/IP and the latest internetworking technologies such as Mobile IP and IPv6 which are built atop the Internet's protocols

ATM: How it works in wide area(B-ISDN) and LAN environments

Local area networks, including IEEE, 802, FDDI, HIPPI, and Fibre Channel

The major wireless and mobile technologies, including such as AMPS, GSM, CDMA, and CDPD

Detailed discussions of the principles, modeling, and performance of protocols in various layers

Discussions of the underlying hardware technologies, from fiber optics to wireless communication

With 250 exercises, a separate solutions manual, protocol simulation software files written in C and figure files available for downloading, the book is perfect for students and networking professionals.

From the Back Cover

Computer Networks is the ideal introduction to today's and tomorrow's networks. This classic best-seller has been totally rewritten to reflect the networks of the late 1990s and beyond.

Author, educator, and researcher Andrew S. Tanenbaum, winner of the ACM Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award, carefully explains how networks work inside, from the hardware technology up through the most popular network applications. The book takes a structured approach to networking, starting at the bottom(the physical layer) and gradually working up to the top(the application layer). The topics covered include:

• Physical layer(e.g., copper, fiber, radio, and satellite communication)

  
  




• Data link layer(e.g., protocol principles, HDLC, SLIP, and PPP)

  
  




• MAC Sublayer(e.g., IEEE 802 LANs, bridges, new high-speed LANs)

  
  




• Network layer(e.g., routing, congestion control, internetworking, IPv6)

  
  




• Transport layer(e.g., transport protocol principles, TCP, network performance)

  
  




• Application layer(e.g., cryptography, email, news, the Web, Java, multimedia)

  
  

In each chapter, the necessary principles are described in detail, followed by extensive examples taken from the Internet, ATM networks, and wireless networks.