As networks become more and more common and indispensable, the troubles and losses caused by inoperable or misbehaving networks become more acute and intolerable. In software and hardware components, testing is a major step toward reliability and performance prediction. Therefore, the concept of testing network systems is important for a healthy and predictable network. Network testing is a timely and important issue for all networking communities.

This book consists of four parts. Part 1 is an introduction to the fundamentals of network testing. Part 2 provides detailed instructions and reference material for testing the network infrastructure. Part 3 is about testing the application and presentation layers. Finally, Part 4 is a brief summary of products and tools available for network testing. All chapters are well written and easy to follow. The editorial quality is high. However, Part 1 seems to be a little too long. Many concepts are repeated. On the other hand, Part 4 is, at best, a decoration. It could be extended to include such topics as criteria for selecting a testing tool, how many tools are needed for successful network testing and maintenance, and the limitations of testing tools.

This is a good book about testing networks. Although it is somewhat lengthy, readers can easily understand what the author says. Due to the popularity of the Internet, perhaps the author should add a chapter on testing TCP/IP networks in the next edition.