Computing Reviews
Today's Issue Hot Topics Search Browse Recommended My Account Log In
Review Help
Search
The illustrated network : how TCP/IP works in a modern network (2nd ed.)
Goralski W., Morgan Kaufmann Publishers Inc., San Francisco, CA, 2017. 936 pp. Type: Book (978-0-128110-27-0)
Date Reviewed: Feb 22 2018

Old network geeks surely remember the TCP/IP illustrated series of books [1,2,3], written by the late W. Richard Stevens at the end of the previous century, which served as a reference to many, as witnessed by hundreds of citations in ACM’s Digital Library [4]. One original contribution from that book series was the use of actual network traces to explain the protocols, rendering the original request for comment (RFC) specifications in an “illustrated” form to support the active hands-on learning of readers. More than 20 years have passed, and the Internet we know is much different from what it used to be. For this reason, there is room for a refreshed definition of what constitutes the new “illustrated network,” to explain how transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP) works in the Internet of today: Walter Goralski hits the mark and delivers an authoritative and comprehensive contribution to answer that need.

This book is thick, heavy, substantial, and organized in eight parts, adding up to 34 chapters. The start is very smooth in Parts 1 and 2, with an introduction to network basics, network link technologies, IP addressing, and routing basics, continuing with a deeper look at routing protocols (interior and border gateway protocols, multicast) in Part 3. Part 4 deals with IP switching and virtual private networks (VPNs), while Part 5 illustrates what happens at the application layer: the coverage includes the dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP), both for IPv4 and IPv6, the domain name system (DNS), to include DNSSEC, the file transfer protocol (FTP), simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP) and email, the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), and the secure sockets layer (SSL). Part 6, on network management, covers basic concepts of the simple network management protocol (SNMP) and includes a section on cloud computing service models and software-defined networking.

Part 7, on security, talks about secure shell (SSH), network address translation (NAT), firewalls, and IP security (IPSec). The final part deals with streaming media, with a special emphasis on the voice over Internet protocol (VoIP).

One thing that becomes evident while browsing the book is the author’s experience as a technical instructor: the approach he chose makes it an excellent introduction to networking in general and the Internet in particular. Among the interesting choices made is the use of the same network topology and addresses for every example and chapter, and his treatment of IPv4 and IPv6 with comparable dignity. Another aspect worth mentioning is the availability of questions at the end of each chapter, to facilitate verification of the concepts exposed, and the companion website, containing capture files to explore the protocols hands-on.

To sum up, this book is a good learning companion for beginners and a nice addition to the reference libraries of all network geeks, both older and younger.

More reviews about this item: Amazon

Reviewer:  Alessandro Berni Review #: CR145870 (1805-0186)
1) Stevens, W. R. TCP/IP illustrated (vol. 1): the protocols. Addison-Wesley, Boston, MA, 1993.
2) Stevens, W. R.; Wright, G. R. TCP/IP illustrated (vol. 2): the implementation. Addison-Wesley, Boston, MA, 1995.
3) Stevens, W. R. TCP/IP illustrated (vol. 3): TCP for transactions, HTTP, NNTP, and the Unix domain protocols. Addison-Wesley, Redwood City, CA, 1996.
4) TCP/IP illustrated (vol. 1): the protocols. https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=161724&preflayout=flat#citedby (01/27/2018).
Bookmark and Share
  Featured Reviewer  
 
Network Operations (C.2.3 )
 
 
TCP/ IP (C.2.2 ... )
 
 
Reference (A.2 )
 
Would you recommend this review?
yes
no
Other reviews under "Network Operations": Date
FDDI networking
Nemzow M., McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York, NY, 1993. Type: Book (9780070463226)
Feb 1 1995
Networking the Macintosh
Woodcock B., McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York, NY, 1993. Type: Book (9780070716841)
Aug 1 1994
Network administration survival guide
Plumley S., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, NY, 1999. Type: Book (9780471296218)
Apr 1 1999
more...

E-Mail This Printer-Friendly
Send Your Comments
Contact Us
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.   Copyright 1999-2024 ThinkLoud®
Terms of Use
| Privacy Policy