1 - Introduction: What is This Book About?

Abstract

TCP/IP internetworks move data in much the same way the post is moved: network data moves from one point to another, is processed in some way by intermediate systems (if necessary) and moves around the network one step at a time. The first part of this book, Concepts and Fundamentals of Networking, provides the reader with a basic vocabulary of networking and introduces the fundamental concepts of networking and internetworking upon which the rest of the book is built. Part II, Internet Applications, examines how people and other entities interact with each other across a network transport (in this case, the internet). Part III, The Transport Layer, examines the protocols that mediate communication between processes. This is where internetworking can be said to begin, as each of these protocols treats the data it transports as commodity-mere bits to be packaged and transmitted. Part IV, The Internet Layer and Below, digs into the processes by which different computers all around the world with different operating systems, hardware architectures, and different local area network mechanisms interoperate seamlessly. Part V, Internet Infrastructure and Special Applications, addresses some of the pressing issues that continue to challenge the growth of the internet, including Quality of Service, IP security, and the next generation of IP. In Part VI, Practical Internetworking, there are practical applications of all the material in this book — as well as issues that arise from the implementation and administration of networks based on IP protocols.