Computer Networks: A Systems Approach [With Access Code]

By Larry L. Peterson, Bruce S Davie, Davie, Bruce S., et al.

Book Overview

Computer Networks: A Systems Approach, Fifth Edition, explores the key principles of computer networking, with examples drawn from the real world of network and protocol design. Using the Internet as the primary example, this best-selling and classic textbook explains various protocols and networking technologies. The systems-oriented approach encourages students to think about how individual network components fit into a larger, complex system of interactions. This book has a completely updated content with expanded coverage of the topics of utmost importance to networking professionals and students, including P2P, wireless, network security, and network applications such as e-mail and the Web, IP telephony and video streaming, and peer-to-peer file sharing. There is now increased focus on application layer issues where innovative and exciting research and design is currently the center of attention. Other topics include network design and architecture; the ways users can connect to a network; the concepts of switching, routing, and internetworking; end-to-end protocols; congestion control and resource allocation; and end-to-end data. Each chapter includes a problem statement, which introduces issues to be examined; shaded sidebars that elaborate on a topic or introduce a related advanced topic; What's Next? discussions that deal with emerging issues in research, the commercial world, or society; and exercises. This book is written for graduate or upper-division undergraduate classes in computer networking. It will also be useful for industry professionals retraining for network-related assignments, as well as for network practitioners seeking to understand the workings of network protocols and the big picture of networking.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0123850592
• ISBN13: 9780123850591
• Release Date: March 2011
• Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers
• Length: 884 Pages
• Weight: 4.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.0" x 7.7" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Excellent background on TCP/IP

This was a required textbook for one of my courses, so I started out by borrowing a copy from the library, but I liked the book so much, that I ended up buying it. This book gives an excellent insight into the design decisions that went into original TCP/IP design, the subsequent problems and the changes that were made to counter those. The problem set after each chapter is interesting and rigorous. One downside, though, is that it does not focus so much on the application layer of TCP/IP model.

Great textbook

I've read all of the standard CS networks textbooks for both undergrad and grad classes. This one is my favorite as both an introduction to networking and as a reference for graduate coursework. The new 4th edition updates and expands coverage in the 4 years since the 3rd edition was covered. Highly recommended.

The way to write books!

I used this book for two courses that I taught: One was for a graduate course at Carnegie-Mellon University and the other was for a group of Software Engineers in a startup company. The students in both setting overwhelmingly liked this book. I carefully considered about dozen books before selecting this book. The organization of the book is very logical and makes even the difficult concept very simple for the students to understand. This is the way to write computer networks textbooks.

Computer Networks: A Systems Approach

I am a marketing professional and was asked to read this book by a client. Needless to say, the prospect of wading through a dry, historical summary of how computer networks arrived at their current state was less than appealing. I was pleasantly surprised, however, right from the beginning. The writing is clear and while it does cover certain topics in more detail than I required I wasn't penalized for glossing over them. This book is something rare, a great introduction to the topic for laypersons and a detailed examination of how networks have evolved and where they will likely go in the future. I read it a few months back and find myself still using it as a reference since almost every term catalogued in the index is explained at several levels in the text. Simply put, this book is well written and easily read, a rarity in this field.

Highly Recommended

For a reader with a background in programming and/or computer science, this book is a great introduction to all major aspects of computer networking. The writing is easy to understand -- it seems the author is more interested in really communicating the ideas than in dazzling the reader with unnecessarily complicated language. The book is long on the underlying principles of networking, but also maintains a certain level of practicality that I really appreciated. I highly recommend this book.