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

"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

"...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."

Jeffrey C.Equip your students with an understanding that helps them keep pace with Internet time.

In this carefully focused revision of the best-selling first edition, authors Peterson and Davie reiterate their commitment to a systems-oriented approach to networking instruction. Focusing on the why of network design—not just the specifications comprising today's systems but how key technologies and protocols actually work in the real world to solve specific problems—they promote an enduring, practical understanding of networks and their building blocks.

The second edition incorporates coverage of Quality of Service issues, mobile and wireless networks, VPNs, and much more. Over 100 new exercises help users consolidate and expand their knowledge.

No other textbook offers a more solid grounding for aspiring network professionals. Computer Networks: A Systems Approach gives your students the knowledge and perspective they need and gives you the tools you need to maximize their learning experience:

• Unparalleled instruction from an expert team of authors. The authors bring over 30 years of experience in networking research, development and teaching to the task of describing the principles and practical implementation of computer networks. Both have played key roles in defining and implementing many of the protocols discussed inside.
  
• Cutting-edge coverage. The second edition has been thoroughly updated to cover the most recent advances in networking, including:
  
  
  
  • a new chapter on security techniques - PGP, IPSEC, secure sockets and firewalls
    
  • a new chapter on application layer protocols - SMTP, HTTP, SNMP, DNS and RTP
    
  • new material on wireless and mobile technology- spread spectrum techniques and 802.11
    
  • new section on building VPN's on top of the public Internet
    
  
  
• Expanded treatment of key issues. Topics such as Internet routing, Quality of Service, congestion control, ATM, compression and multimedia communications now delve deeper to reflect changes that have taken place over the past four years.
  
• Effective pedagogical components. Alongside the authors' clear explanations and insights, you'll find pedagogical components that significantly enhance students' understanding:
  
  • Problem statements—the practical design challenges met by the techniques covered in each chapter
    
  • Shaded sidebars— explorations of advanced topics
    
  • Highlighted summary paragraphs— distillations of key network design principles
    
  • Open Issues—guided discussions of controversial networking issues
    
  • Further reading—pointers to definitive papers related to each chapter's coverage
  
  
• Completely revamped end-of-chapter exercises The second edition offers over 100 new end-of-chapter exercises, the result of a substantial editing and development effort by a seasoned networking instructor, Peter Dordal of Loyola University.
  
• The optimal pedagogical approach. Encyclopedic and "layered" approaches cover required material but leave critical questions unanswered. Peterson and Davie focus on systems—how they interweave technology and technique to meet practical needs. Adding layer-focused considerations where necessary, the authors teach students why networks are designed as they are and cultivate the skills needed to build the networks of the future.
  
• Real-world implementation examples. New to this edition, operating system-independent C code is used with pseudocode to illustrate protocol implementation throughout. The first edition's x-kernel examples continue to be available online.

Larry L. Peterson is a Professor of Computer Science at Princeton University. He has been involved in the design and evaluation of several network protocols, as well as the x-kernel and Scout operating systems. He is Editor-in-Chief of ACM Transactions on Computer Systems, has served on program committees for SOSP, SIGCOMM, OSDI, and ASPLOS, and is a member of the Internet's End-to-End Research Group.

Bruce Davie joined Cisco Systems in 1995, and was awarded recognition as a Cisco Fellow in 1998. He leads an architecture group with responsibility for the development of Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) and Quality of Service (QoS) capabilities for IP networks. He has more than 15 years of networking and communications industry experience. Some of his most prominent contributions to the industry include authoring numerous books, RFCs, journal articles, and conference papers on IP networking. He is also an active participant in both the Internet Engineering Task Force and the Internet Research Task Force, and is a senior member of the IEEE. Prior to joining Cisco, Bruce worked at Bell Communications Research (Bellcore) and led a number of networking research projects as director of internetworking research and chief scientist. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Edinburgh University and a B.E. from the University of Melbourne.