Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach (6th Edition)

This book was required for a graduate course that I had in computer networking. The authors did an excellent job at gradually introducing the reader to the broad and sometimes complex topics in computer networking while still keeping the reader engaged. One thing I did not like was how some of the important concepts, like BGP protocols, were very briefly introduced and brushed off by tagging some references and/or referring to exercises at the end of the chapter. Overall, an excellent book and worth every penny.

Previously I had written a review on "Computer Networks" by Tanenbaum and Wetherall. I had no exposure to Kurose & Ross, so I thought it was the best around. I was incorrect. Don't get me wrong, the Tanenbaum book is still quite good. But I am now using Kurose & Ross for my networking class, and it is far better for an intuitive understanding of networking.What makes Kurose & Ross better for a first course in networking? It reads quite well (except for Chapter 5, I think the editor forgot to take a look at that one), which is an incredible achievement for a networking book. The flow of the book is much better, as is the approach to explanations. They approach their explanations of networking as though you are a person who has no exposure to networking. I do not think the Tanenbaum book is quite so careful. What does this mean in terms of the book? K&R uses many analogies to help you understand. It also has an entire section devoted to everything that happens, step by step, when a user requests a webpage. DHCP, ARP, TCP, HTTP, etc. This is great for the big picture.Also, K&R motivates the materials by explaining the dilemma they faced at the time, what the conceptual design considerations are, and then you are primed for the explanation of the actual protocols. This is vastly helpful. Another point for K&R is the top down approach. It really provide a significant improvement for the average student.Lastly, I think the scope and content of K&R is better for a first course in networking. They are quite detailed, yet they leave out other things that are extraneous to our current understanding of networking (e.g. Shannon's limit and Nyquist's Theorem -- the way my networking prof put it, those have been settled debates for many years, and don't really affect the study of networking today). Which lends itself to my final point: the math used in K&R is WAY more practical and intuitive. Propagation, Transmission, and Queueing delay, queueing efficiency, the difference in time between persistent and non-persistent HTTP, etc. Tanenbaum doesn't really have the unified picture in this regard, and some of the math in it is very unrealistic for a first course.All in all, an incredible networking text.

Do you want to know how the internet works? This is a good book for doing so. It starts you out basic with the application layer of computer networking, which is what most of us are used to seeing everyday when we login to our favorite websites. It gradually guides you through each of the underlying layers and connects them to each other to give you a good idea of how everything fits together and works. It also describes networking in a more local sense and shows you how a computer on the same network can work with others (such as Ad Hoc). The book has some great text about internet security, and the many different ways that systems can be compromised on the internet (which may even help make you more secure when you are doing your personal things online). The text is easy to read, but unfortunately cannot go into much depth with a lot of the concepts as it would be enough to fill a set of encyclopedias. In that sense, having access to other online (or offline if you really like physical text) resources will be a great help for explaining concepts, protocols, and other related material.

Fast shipment as usual and book was in fantastic condition. Was pleasantly surprised. The actual content of the book is good also. I had the previous edition and though I do not notice differences in the content there are difference in the questions (some ask for different things and any numbers when present in questions were different too) and question numbers.

I think it's worth starting off by saying that I'm not going to be too detail specific. I rented this as part of an introductory networking course. Unfortunately, the course and the book don't really work well together. Some aspects of networking are really detailed and thorough - especially when discussing how to build the network layer into software, but when trying to understand the concepts, this book misses pretty significantly. I found myself flipping through several pages looking for the meat of the topic. ("Is there a page missing? Why did it end there?") This could be a good reference book, however some of the core examples are too specific to certain transient solutions or technologies. I liked that the book was organized into the network layers, but there was still some cherry-picking of the details that should have had more content. This has been mentioned in another review as well.

This book has excellent breadth, and covers the vast area of networking well. It is not intended to cover any particular part of networking in great depth, and in keeping with this goal, does not concentrate excessively on any topic.The strengths lie in the explanations and the diagrams. The explanations (especially of important algorithms and topics) combined with well thought out diagrams provide lucid explanations for most of the vital concepts.The organization is also well thought out, because the hierarchy is extremely important, and sufficient emphasis is placed in this book.Would definitely recommend for a beginning course in Computer Networking.