The Network Book aims to provide a comprehensive introduction to networking and distributed computing technologies. Unlike traditional textbooks, it pursues a top-down approach to the topic, starting with the application layer and then describing the transport and network layers, finally covering the physical layer.
Book Description
Among others, the Network Book describes in details the network applications such as Web and Email and network services such as file service provided by Network File Server(NFS) and directory service provided by Domain Name Server(DNS); the design and implementation of client-server computing using Sockets and remote procedure call(RPC) mechanisms; the architecture and design of communication protocols; the operations of the transport layer provided by TCP and UDP; the packet routing layer as provided by IP and routing mechanisms and protocols (RIP, BGP); the physical layer of LANs and media technologies (Ethernet, Token Ring, FDDI, bridging); the physical layer of WANs (modulation, multiplexing, T1) and emerging switched networks (switched Ethernets, ATM).
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- The Application Layer Environment
- The Transport Layer: UDP, TCP
- The network Layer: IP, Addressing, Routing
- The Physical Layer: LANs, WANs, Switching
- Advanced Topics