Computer Networks: A Systems Approach, Second Edition (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Networking) (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Bruce S. Davie (Author) "networks and discusses the requirements that a network designer who wishes to support such applications must be aware of. Once we understand the requirements, how..." (more)
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Computer Networks: A Systems Approach, designed for an advanced college-level course in network design and operation, provides the network applications programmer with detailed information about how networks do their thing. While Computer Networks is neither a user manual nor a technical reference, it provides an in-depth background on how network architectures and protocols work.

In the beginning, Larry Peterson and Bruce Davie discuss why networks are important and talk about where networks may go in the long term. The authors then move right into a discussion of protocols. There's a fascinating section--complete with plenty of C code--in which the authors actually develop a network protocol called A Simple Protocol (ASP). They compare switching and packet networks and emphasize tunneling protocols. In the internetworking chapter, you'll learn practically all there is to know about Internet Protocol (IP). The concluding chapters talk about traffic management, congestion reduction, and high-speed networking technologies.

Computer Networks reveals the guts of what's going on with computers that share data. Though way out of the league of most computer users, true geeks with an interest in networking will find what they need here. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

I am pleased to report that this great book has gotten better. ...if you want to understand how networks work, not just how the packet headers are formatted, this is the book to read. -- From the foreword by David Clark, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Peterson and Davie have brilliantly distilled the vast body of seemingly ad hoc knowledge that underlies the Internet architecture into a cohesive and easy-to-understand textbook. The topics are keenly relevant and are covered not just by describing how things work, but more importantly, by providing the rationale for why things were designed as they were. An excellent choice for an introductory course in computer networks that also serves as a valuable reference for the networking professional. -- Steve McCanne, FastForward Networks

This book is the best resource available to appreciate the numerous and detailed design issues underlying modern networks like the Internet. It is thorough yet concise, and many subtle and difficult issues are explained well. The second edition continues this tradition by adding and expanding on issues of intense recent interest, such as wireless access, multimedia, quality-of-service, and security. -- David G. Messerschmitt, University of California, Berkeley

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 749 pages
• Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann; 2 Sub edition (October 25, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558605142
• ISBN-13: 978-1558605145
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #837,187 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A welcome revision of an already fine book, January 31, 2000

By	Jeffrey Mogul (Palo Alto, CA) - See all my reviews

A few months ago, I needed to quickly re-educate myself about Weighted Fair Queueing (WFQ). I have a bunch of networking texts on my bookshelf, but I automatically reached for the first edition of Peterson & Davie. I got what I needed: a clear, thorough, yet self-contained discussion. I even got a little extra from the text, which pointed me at other related topics and raised some open problems.

It's true that several of those other books cover WFQ, but I've learned over the last few years that I might as well start with Peterson & Davie, because I usually end up there. They cover almost all of the interesting topics in computer networks, and at just the right level of depth for a quick introduction or refresher. (The authors wrote this as a textbook, and I don't doubt that it would also be an excellent foundation for a graduate level course.) I'm glad to see the second edition, because they've included new material, as well as expanding some of the existing coverage.

This is not the book for exhaustive and definitive coverage of every network protocol; to get a fuller story, readers should turn to the concise list of references cited at the end of each chapter. (In fact, I found at least one mistake in their coverage of HTTP, an example that simply won't work, which is repeated in exercise 24 of chapter 9 -- some students might find this confusing.) But into a book that one can actually lift, Peterson and Davie have crammed a remarkable breadth and depth of detail, written with a clarity often missing from the primary source material.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good general introduction, not an engineering textbook., January 27, 2005

By	Sander (The Netherlands) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Computer Networks, Third Edition: A Systems Approach, 3rd Edition (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Networking) (Hardcover)

Although this book clarifies the concepts of networking quite good, it lacks in-depth mathematical & statistical theory.
For those who are interested in the general picture, it's an excellent book. The authors actually succeeded quite good in not making it 'too dry'. For those who need 'more', like engineers and students in telecommunications/electronics, such as theories, applications and examples on efficiency, network performance parameters, etc., please look further as this book just doesn't offer that (and it probably never intended to).

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Provides excellent networking foundation, August 24, 2003

By	Scott Parmenter (Hermosa Beach, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Computer Networks, Third Edition: A Systems Approach, 3rd Edition (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Networking) (Hardcover)

This review is for the 3rd edition. I haven't finished reading this book, but I'm really impressed with it. Obviously, computer networking is a huge topic area, and no one book can be all things to all people. But if you're looking for an introductory book that provides a solid foundation of networking concepts and theory, then I strongly recommend this text!

No one area is covered in exceptional detail. Instead, it starts from the ground up in easy to read chunks that manages not to talk down to the reader, covering a wide range of topics in enough detail to allow the interested reader to further his/her studies with more advanced (and focused) material later on.

Contents:

1. Foundation
- Applications
- Requirements
- Network Architecture
- Implementing Network Software
- Performance
- Summary
2. Direct Link Networks
- Hardware Building Blocks
- Encoding (NRZ, NRZI, Manchester, 4B/5B)
- Framing
- Error Detection
- Reliable Transmission
- Ethernet (802.3)
- Token Rings (802.5, FDDI)
- Wireless (802.11)
- Network Adaptors
- Summary
3. Packet Switching
- Switching and Forwarding
- Bridges and LAN Switches
- Cell Switching (ATM)
- Implementation and Performance
- Summary
4. Internetworking
- Simple Internetworking (IP)
- Routing
- Global Internet
- Multicast
- Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)
- Summary
5. End-to-End Protocols
- Simple Demultiplexer (UDP)
- Reliable Byte Stream (TCP)
- Remote Procedure Call
- Performance
- Summary
6. Congestion Control and Resource Allocation
- Issues in Resource Allocation
- Queueing Disciplines
- TCP Congestion Control
- Congestion-Avoidance Mechanisms
- Quality of Service
- Summary
7. End-to-End Data
- Presentation Formatting
- Data Compression
- Summary
8. Network Security
- Cryptographic Algorithms
- Security Mechanisms
- Example Systems
- Firewalls
- Summary
9. Applications
- Name Service (DNS)
- Traditional Applications
- Multimedia Applications
- Overlay Networks
- Summary

It also includes a 23 page bibliography.