Computer Networks: A Systems Approach, Sixth Edition

Computer Networks: A Systems Approach, Sixth Edition, explores the key principles of computer networking, using real world examples from network and protocol design. Using the Internet as the primary example, this best-selling classic textbook explains various protocols and networking technologies. The systems-oriented approach encourages students to think about how individual network components fit into a larger, complex system of interactions. This sixth edition contains completely updated content with expanded coverage of the topics of utmost importance to networking professionals and students, as provided by numerous contributors via a unique open source model developed jointly by the authors and publisher.

Hallmark features of the book are retained, including chapter problem statements, which introduce issues to be examined; shaded sidebars that elaborate on a topic or introduce a related advanced topic; What’s Next? discussions that deal with emerging issues in research, the commercial world, or society; and exercises. This book is intended primarily for graduate or upper-division undergraduate classes in computer networking. It will also be useful for industry professionals retraining for network-related assignments, as well as for network practitioners seeking to understand the workings of network protocols and the big picture of networking.

• Features completely updated content with expanded coverage of the topics of utmost importance to students and networking professionals
• Includes coverage of WiFi and cellular communication, security and cryptography, multimedia, and other applications
• Includes expanded guidelines for instructors who prefer to teach networking using a "top-down" approach
• Features chapter problem statements which introduce issues to be examined and shaded sidebars that elaborate on topics and introduce related ones

About the Author

Larry Peterson is the Robert E. Kahn Professor of Computer Science, Emeritus at Princeton University, where he served as Chair from 2003-2009. His research focuses on the design, implementation, and operation of Internet-scale distributed systems, including the widely used PlanetLab and MeasurementLab platforms. He currently serves as the CTO of the Open Networking Foundation (ONF), where he works on open source software at the intersection of access networks and the edge cloud. Professor Peterson is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the ACM and the IEEE, the 2010 recipient of the IEEE Kobayashi Computer and Communication Award, and the 2013 recipient of the ACM SIGCOMM Award. He received his Ph.D. degree from Purdue University in 1985.

Bruce Davie is VP and CTO for VMware, APJ. He joined VMware as part of the Nicira acquisition, and was Networking CTO until 2017. He has over 30 years of industry experience, and was a Cisco Fellow prior to joining Nicira. He has contributed to many networking standards and authored several networking textbooks. Bruce received his Ph. D. in computer science from the University of Edinburgh in 1988 and is an ACM Fellow.