Your first step into the world of computer networking
- No experience required
- Includes clear and easily understood explanations
- Makes learning easy
The best-selling introductory networking author
Your first step to computer networking begins here!
- Learn basic networking terminology
- Understand how information is routed from place to place
- Explore Internet connectivity secrets
- Protect your computer from intrusion
- Build local-area networks (LANs)
Welcome to the world of networking!
Networking and the Internet touch our
lives in untold ways every day. From connecting our computers together at home
and surfing the net at high speeds to editing and sharing digital music and
video, computer networking has become both ubiquitous and indispensable.
No experience needed!
Computer Networking First-Step explains the
basics of computer networking in easy-to-grasp language that all of us can
understand. This book takes you on a guided tour of the core technologies that
make up network and Internet traffic. Whether you are looking to take your first
step into a career in networking or are interested in just gaining a
conversational knowledge of the technology, this book is for you!
Table of Contents:
I. NETWORKING BASICS.
1. What Is a Network?
No, Really, What Is a Network? What an
Elephant-err, a Network-Looks Like. Three Blind Men-The Server Guy, the Cabling
Guy, and the Network Guy. Different Types of Traditional Computer Networks. Big
Company, Multiple Sites: An Enterprise WAN. Just You and Me and the Whole
World-The Internet. Chapter Summary. Chapter Review Questions.
2. A Network's Reason for Existence.
Using the Network by Accident. Using the Network
on Purpose. Web Browsing. Electronic Mail (E-Mail). Downloading and Transferring
Files. Chapter Summary. Chapter Review Questions.
3. Building a Network: It All Starts with a
Plan.
Conforming to the Rules. Rules, Schmools for
Networking. Examples of Good Rules for Networking. The Book(s) of Rules.
Proprietary Network Models Prevent Pervasive Population of Networking Devices.
Public Network Models Provide Pervasively Popular Networks. How TCP/IP Standards
Grow. Some Pretty Popular TCP/IP Protocols. TCP/IP Standards That Aren't TCP/IP
Standards. How to Eat an Elephant, TCP/IP Style. How to Eat a T-Rex, OSI Style.
T-Rex Versus the Elephant. Chapter Summary. Chapter Review Questions.
II. RUNNING THE LOCAL DEPARTMENT OF (NETWORK) TRANSPORTATION.
4. How to Build a Local (Network) Roadway.
Driving Bits Across the Network Roadway. What's
a Local-Area Network? Transmitting Bits Across the Local Network Roadway.
Sharing the Local Roadway: Ethernet Hubs. Dirt Roads Versus the DOT. Chapter
Summary. Chapter Review Questions.
5. Rules of the Road: How to Use the Local
(Network) Roadway.
Preparing for a Trip: How to Make Your Car
(Data) "Street Legal". LAN-Legal Data: An Ethernet Frame. Driving Where I Want
and When I Want Is Pretty Cool. Why Wrecks (Collisions) Happen on Ethernet. How
to Avoid Most Wrecks. What to Do When a Wreck Happens. Stopping at the
Destination: What Happens When Someone Comes to See You. Are They Coming to Our
House or the Neighbor's House? Who Is It, Honey? I Don't Understand a Thing
You're Saying. Two Standards for Ethernet. Chapter Summary. Chapter Review
Questions.
6. Reducing Congestion and Driving Faster on
the Local (Network) Roadway.
Reducing Congestion by Opening Up More Lanes on
Each LAN. Hubs: A One-Lane Road. Switches: How to Create Dozens of Lanes on the
LAN. The Perfect Roadway: No Wrecks Allowed! Using Full Duplex: Making the
Streets Two Way. Switches: The Rest of the Story. Painting the Road Signs:
Learning MAC Addresses. The Forward Versus Filter Decision. What to Do When the
Road Sign (Address Table) Doesn't List Your Destination. How to Go Everywhere at
the Same Time. Summary of Switch Logic. I Feel the Need, the Need for Speed. A
New, Improved, and Faster Ethernet-Let's Call It Fast Ethernet. If Fast Ethernet
Is Good, Even Faster Is Better: Gigabit Ethernet. Ultra Super-Fast Fast
Ethernet: 10 Gigabit Ethernet. Summary of Ethernet Speeds. A Switch for All
Speeds. Chapter Summary. Chapter Review Questions.
7. Adding Local (Network) Roadways for No
Extra Money.
The Physical Reality Precedes the Virtual
Reality. Physical LANs: It's All About Broadcasts. Master of Your Own
(Broadcast) Domain. Multiple Physical LANs Require Multiple Switches. Virtual
(LAN) Reality: One Switch, but Multiple LANs. How to Create a Virtual LAN. Why
You Need More Than One LAN. Packing Your VLAN's Frames in a Trunk When Leaving
the Switch. How to Pack Your Trunk for the Trip to the Other Switch. Tale of Two
Trunking Protocols. Chapter Summary. Chapter Review Questions.
III. SHIPPING AND LOGISTICS: COMMERCE USING THE (NETWORK) ROADWAYS.
8. Shipping Goods over a (Network) Roadway.
Neither Rain, Nor Sleet, Nor Dark of Night:
E-Mail. Dropping Off and Getting Your (e)Mail. Postal Address Versus E-Mail
Address. Rules, Schmools: Even More Rules? Building a Centralized Warehouse:
File Transfer. Warehouse Lingo and Procedures. Rules, Schmools for FTP. Browsing
Around the Internet Shopping Mall: The World Wide Web. Rules, Schmools for Web
Retailing. Buy One, Get a Bunch for Free. Chapter Summary. Chapter Review
Questions.
9. Choosing Shipping Options When
Transporting the Goods over the (Network) Roadway.
"Hello, I'm at Your Service". Full-Service
Shipping. Shipping Basics: Controlling Shipments Using Shipping Labels.
Purchasing Insurance for Your (Network) Shipment. Big Box, Small Truck-What Do
You Do? Why Three Smaller Segments Is Better Than One Big Segment. My Little
White Lie About Acknowledgments. Delivering the Package to the Right Person, Not
Just the Right Address. The Chicken, the Egg, and the Destination Port of the
First Segment. Starting Off on the Right Foot Using a TCP Connection. Chapter
Summary. Chapter Review Questions.
IV. NAVIGATING THE ROADWAYS TO FIND THE RIGHT STREET ADDRESS.
10. Delivering the Goods to the Right Street
(IP) Address.
Navigation Basics: Driving to the Right
Destination. IP as the Postmaster General of the Network. Knowing the Address
Before Driving to the Destination. Putting a Name on the Shipping Label. How to
Run a (Network) Postal Service. One Location, One Zip Code, One Network Number.
Three Sizes Fit All. The Actual Class A, B, and C Network Numbers. Subdividing a
Network into Subnets. The Problem: Wasting IP Host Addresses. The Solution:
Subnetting Saves IP Host Addresses. Chapter Summary. Chapter Review Questions.
11. Knowing Where to Turn at Each
Intersection (Router).
A Short Trip from Your House (PC) to the Local
Store (Server). Overview of the End-to-End Routing Process. Step 1: Leaving Your
Neighborhood the Same Way, Every Time. Step 2: Choosing Which Road to Take at
the First Intersection. Step 3: Choosing Which Road to Take at the Final
Intersection. The Still Useful, but Still Short Life of an Ethernet Frame. The
Routing Table at R2: Same Destination, Different Forwarding Instructions. Yet
Another Short-Lived Ethernet Frame. Other Rules of the Road. Routing with
Subnets. How to Drive When You Aren't Leaving the Neighborhood (Subnet). Chapter
Summary. Chapter Review Questions.
12. Painting the Road Signs on Your
Interstate (Internetwork).
Routing to Nearby Places. Painting Road Signs
and Other Long-Lasting Directions. Dynamically Learning and Changing Routing
Tables. Picking the Best Road (Route). Introducing the Long List of Routing
Protocols. Chapter Summary. Chapter Review Questions.
13. People Like Names, but Computers Like
Numbers.
Looking Up the Name and Number in the Phone Book
(Host Table). Asking Someone Else to Look Up the Phone Number (IP Address) for
You. Asking for Name Resolution Help Inside the Company. Asking for Name
Resolution Help Outside the Company. How Names Should Be Formatted. Chapter
Summary. Chapter Review Questions.
V. BUILDING AN INTERSTATE (INTER-LAN) HIGHWAY SYSTEM.
14. Leasing a (Network) Roadway Between Two
Points.
Leasing the Cable When You Can't Run the Cable.
You Can't Lease the Cross-Over Cable, So Lease Something Almost Just Like It.
Differences Between a Cross-Over Cable and a Leased Circuit. A WAN Link
Installation Plan. Routers and WANs: A Match Made in Heaven. You Can't Just Send
Data; You Have to Send a Frame. Addressing on WAN Serial Links. The Choice of
Two Data Link Protocols. Chapter Summary. Chapter Review Questions.
15. Leasing a (Network) Roadway Between Lots
of Places.
Making the Telco Look Like One Big Whopping
Switch. Cabling a Router to the Big Frame Relay Switch. Basic Logic Used by the
Big Whopping Frame Relay Switch. If Two Sites Are Good, Three (or More) Must Be
Better. It's Virtually Like a Leased Circuit, So Let's Call It a Virtual
Circuit. Faster, Cheaper, Better-You Can't Go Wrong with Frame Relay. You Can
Still Use Serial Links, but It Will Cost You Up Front. Get Your Free Bandwidth
Here!Free Bits! Routers and WANs: Still a Match Made in Heaven. You Can't Just
Send Data-You Have to Send a Frame Relay Frame. Addressing Is Much More
Interesting on Frame Relay Than on Serial Links. Chapter Summary. Chapter Review
Questions.
16. Driving from Home onto the Globally
Interconnected(Internet) Roadway.
Once on the Interstate (Internet), You Can Go
Anywhere. Using a Phone Line for Data. Making Data Sound Like Voice. What Phones
Do for Voice, Modems Do for Data. How Fast Can You Talk? Calling the
Internet!Calling the Internet! Now That I Know How to Talk, Whom Should I Call?
Now That I Know Whom to Call, What Do I Say? Using the Phone Line for Data-the
DSL Way. Dr Analog Voice and Mr Hiding Digital. Faster Is Better. Sending Data
from Home Without Using a Phone Line. Chapter Summary. Chapter Review Questions.
VI. SECURING THE NETWORK.
17. Accepting the Right People and Rejecting
the Wrong People.
Safe Driving by Using AAA. Checking for Fake
Drivers' (Users') Licenses. Hey! How Did You Get in Here? Checking the License
to Find Out if He Can Drive That Kind of Vehicle. Tracking Drivers' (Users')
Violations. Making Sure (Internet) Drivers Have Valid Drivers' Licenses. No
Appls Yet? Be a Good CHAP and Ask PAP. Stopping Someone from Using Your License
(Password). You're Wearing Your Credit Card Number on Your T-Shirt. Chapter
Summary. Chapter Review Questions.
18. Keeping a Watchful Eye Over Who Drives
into Your (Network) Neighborhood.
Setting the Ground Rules. Enforcing the Ground
Rules. Ways to Watch Your (Network) Neighborhood. Deciding When to Stop the
Traffic. Safe Places Outside of Your Neighborhood (Network). Using the Police to
Watch for Bad Guys. Watching for Wolves in Sheep's Clothing. Avoiding Catching
Cold. Profiling What the Bad Guys Want to Do. Chapter Summary. Chapter Review
Questions.
VII. APPENDIXES.
Appendix A: Answers to Chapter Review
Questions.
Appendix B: Converting IP Addresses Between
Decimal and Binary.
Glossary.