Internet architectures: an introduction to IP protocols - IEEE Xplore

NEW BOOKS and MULTIMEDIAIEdited by Ioanis Nikolaidis

T h e New Books and Multimedia column contains brief descriptions of new books in the computer communications field. Each description has been abstracted from the publisher’s descriptive materials, minus most of the advertising superlatives, after this material has been checked for accuracy against a copy of the book. Publishers wishing to have their books listed in this manner should send copies and appropriate advertising materials to John Spragins at the address below, with an indication the books are intended for the IEEE Network New Books and Multimedia column. Appropriate books will be listed in the column. Ioanis Nikolaidis Computing Science Department, Universityof Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2HI

Internet Architectures: A n Introduction to IP Protocols Uyless Black, Prentice Hall, 2000, ISBN 0-13-019906, 380 pages, hardcover

The use of the term “IP Protocols” to describe protocols below the network layer is uncommon and reveals much about the current state of affairs in networking. Several network technologies, including protocols, have become household names and synonymous with the Internet. The book by Uyless Black includes the IP protocols as well as data link protocols and an assortment of protocols that appear to be interesting and related to the Internet. The book emphasizes the informal description of the protocols and their corresponding operational aspects. Assuming no prior specialized knowledge for the reader, it provides a mixture of undergraduate networking textbook material and a description of very specific protocols with which the casual reader may be familiar. After a brief historical overview, a one-chapter description of some of the Internet’s most important components is given. In a little more than 60 pages, a summary of the IPv4 address structure, IP routing, and DNS is given. Naturally, the breadth is limited, but is later expanded in subsequent chapters dedicated to individual components of the Internet architecture. Chapter two deals with the data link layer, which also illustrates the difference between the end-to-end error control concept as applied to a transport protocol (TCP) and the hop-by-hop error control using point-to-point data link protocols. T h e third chapter is devoted to the particular set of LAN MACS, with the usual assortment of Ethernet (at various speeds), Token Ring, and FDDI. The attention to the data link layer is concluded in the fourth chapter, which briefly overviews X.25, Frame Relay, and ATM, all presented in the context of WAN-scale protocols. The following two chapters correspond to the I P network layer and transport layer respectively. The routing table structure and the concept behind sub-

IEEE Network Septembcr/Octobcr 2000

neting is revisited and refined in the context of address aggregation and CIDR routing. The transport layer description is relatively simplistic, lacking any presentation of the underlying state machine. The seventh chapter covers PPP and L2TP, both protocols with which a casual user of the Internet may be familiar. A separate chapter is dedicated to routing protocols, but with the exception of BGP, no routing protocols are discussed in detail; rather, the concepts behind link state and distance vector routing are dicussed. Two more chapters briefly discuss security (IPscc in particular and firewalls) and management (SNMP and RMON). The concluding chapter is a surprising inclusion of Voice-over-IP, but stops short of describing protocols; instead, it is a review of the business case and the technical issues behind it.

Data Communications: From Basics to Broadband, 3 r d Edition William J. Beyda, Prentice Hall, 2000, ISBN 0-13-096139-6, 330 pages, softcover

The technologies that transform telecommunications also present a headache for authors who wish to produce new editions of their introductory books in data communications. In the third edition of his book, William Beyda catches up with an array of topics as diverse as telecommunications regulation on one end, to the differences between IPv4 and IPv6 on

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