Customer Reviews

Practical Computer Network Analysis and Design (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Networking)

5 star:		(3)
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This book is amazing. Design, of any type, is an artform. Jim McCabe is an amazing artist. He has a unique grasp of the design process. Networks are notoriously complex systems to design; so many layers, so much technology, so much interdependence. Jim has captured the essence of this non-linear design process and has distilled it quite elegantly. This is an excellent primer on design in general, on networks particularly and ATM based networks most specifically.

I am a network teacher that is preparing two courses: "Network engineering", which has to do with network design from a systems point of view. (ex. thinking about the network in a bigger context, including hosts, service, etc.) and "Information Flow analysis" which deaks with the how-to's of elaborating a workflow model for networks and planning networks based on information flow. I have read this book and have found that it thoroughly addresses all the areas these two courses will cover. I will use it as a text and reference throughout the course of the term and would encourage others to do so as well.

In the vast body of knowledge dedicated to network design this book stands out as a single, shining example of how to do it right.

The approach given in this book is to focus on the larger end goal, providing services via the network, instead of the lower-level technical details. This approach requires greater emphasis on requirements to which three chapters are devoted. Mr. McCabe's treatment of requirements gathering and analysis is among the best in literature and is consistent with best practices that are performed by other engineering disciplines.

What I especially like about this book, however, is the flow analysis that ensures you will produce a network design that has the following characteristics: (1) traceable to requirements, (2) focused on providing application response and network services to users, and (3) is a solid baseline for performance and capacity management of the network as it evolves.

If all networks were designed using the approach and techniques provided in this book service level management would be a less daunting endeavor. This is a five star book that adds a true engineering methodology to network design.