Computer Networks ISE: A Systems Approach (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Networking) [Paperback]

I have known and used this book for years and I always found it very valuable as a textbook for teaching computer networks as well as a reference book for networking professionals. This Fifth Edition maintains the core value of former editions and brings the clarity of explanation of network protocols in the introduction of the most up-to-date techniques, technologies and requirements of networking. Beyond describing the details of past and current networks, this book successfully motivates the curiosity, and hopefully new research, for the networks of the future.

Stefano Basagni, Northeastern University

Peterson and Davie have written an outstanding book for the computer networking world. It is a well-organized book that features a very helpful "big picture" systems approach. This book is a must have!

Yonshik Choi, Illinois Institute of Technology

The Fifth Edition of Computer Networks: A Systems Approach is well-suited for the serious student of computer networks, thou --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

"Computer Networks, 4E" is the only introductory computer networking book written by authors who have had first-hand experience with many of the protocols discussed in the book, who have actually designed some of them as well, and who are still actively designing the computer networks today. This newly revised edition continues to provide an enduring, practical understanding of networks and their building blocks through rich, example-based instruction. The authors' focus is on the why of network design, not just the specifications comprising today's systems but how key technologies and protocols actually work in the real world to solve specific problems.The new edition makes less use of computer code to explain protocols than earlier editions. Moreover, this new edition shifts the focus somewhat higher in the protocol stack where there is generally more innovative and exciting work going on at the application and session layers than at the link and physical layers. It is completely updated with new sidebars discussing successes/failures of previously deployed networks. It provides thorough companion website with downloadable OpNet network simulation software and lab experiments manual. It includes expanded coverage of topics of utmost importance to today's networking professionals, e.g., security, wireless, multimedia applications.

Larry L. Peterson is the Robert E. Kahn Professor of Computer Science at Princeton University, as well as Vice President and Chief Scientist at Verivue, Inc. He serves as Director of the PlanetLab Consortium, which focuses on the design of scalable network services and next-generation network architectures. He is a Fellow of the ACM and the IEEE, recipient of the IEEE Kobayashi Computers and Communications Award, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. Professor Peterson recently served as Editor-in-Chief of the ACM Transactions on Computer Systems, he has been on the Editorial Board for the IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking and the IEEE Journal on Select Areas in Communication, and he has served as program chair for SOSP, NSDI, and HotNets. Peterson is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the ACM and the IEEE, and the 2010 recipient of the IEEE Kobayahi Computer and Communication Award. He received his Ph.D. degree from Purdue University in 1985. Bruce Davie has worked as a system architect at Cisco Systems since 1995, where he is a Cisco Fellow. For many years he led the team responsible for Multiprotocol Label Switching and IP Quality of Service. In 2007 he joined Cisco's Service Provider Video group. He has over 20 years of networking and communications industry experience and has written numerous books, RFCs, and articles on IP networking. In 2009 he became the chair of ACM SIGCOMM, and was recognized as an ACM Fellow. He is also an active participant in the Internet Engineering Task Force. Prior to joining Cisco he was director of internetworking research and chief scientist at Bell Communications Research. Bruce holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Edinburgh University and is a visiting lecturer at M.I.T.