Computer Networks: A Systems Approach

"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. Mogul, Compaq Western Research Laboratory