On Sun, Feb 6, 2022 at 6:41 PM Marc Petit-Huguenin <marc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
And to be sure that these beginners keep an open mind, let's add
Day J. Patterns in Network Architecture: A Return to Fundamentals. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall; 2008. 429 p.
Many of the books that have been recommended are, IMO, quite heavy reading. They are certainly good, and worth the time, but handing a newcomer a big pile of dense academic textbooks seems like it will turn them off.
Previously, when I hired relatively newcomers to network operations, I'd buy them two books:
1: "BGP4: Inter-Domain Routing in the Internet: Inter-Domain Routing in the Internet" by John W. Stewart - https://amzn.to/3GEYbkm
2: "Internet Routing Architectures" by Sam Halabi - https://amzn.to/3LmltyX
Both of them are somewhat dated now (~2000), but both are still relevant. BGP4 is really short and friendly, and are "non-scary" introduction to BGP routing.
"Internet Routing Architectures", which, like Cher or Madonna or Sting was sufficiently well known that everyone would just call it "the Halabi book" is a classic. It is much broader than BGP4, but is still very friendly and approachable.
Sure, there are other books which are important, and probably more important to read to be able to design a perfect protocol -- but, this started off as a discussion to "get newcomers better able to participate", and I believe that 99.9% of that is simply helping them to be interested and willing, and so I think that "interesting, friendly, approachable" is more important than strict theory.
Actually, I think that the most important "book" then is "RFC1925 - The Twelve Networking Truths" by R Callon - https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc1925
This really does encapsulate much of what is needed to participate.
In a similar vein, "RFC5218 - What Makes for a Successful Protocol?" - https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc5218
Yes, having formal knowledge is useful, and reading the textbooks is good - but, being *interested* and willing to learn is, IMO, more important.
W
On 2/6/22 13:27, Greg Skinner wrote:
> Bertsekas/Gallager is available <https://web.mit.edu/dimitrib/www/datanets.html> via Bertsekas’ MIT home page. (Some pages may be difficult to read.)
>
> A data communication networks class taught at MIT <https://web.mit.edu/modiano/www/6.263/> using Bertsekas/Gallager lists Peterson/Davie and Tanenbaum as supplemental reading.
>
> Greg
>
>> On Feb 5, 2022, at 6:17 PM, touch@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
>>
>> My apologies for the misspelling.
>>
>> There are many editions of the books below, but only the most recent is currently in print; they are vary quite a bit, as Lloyd noted.
>>
>> Other books that are out of print, but useful if you can find:
>>
>> Bersekas/Gallager - Data Networks
>> Halsall - Computer Networking and the Internet
>>
>> I also strongly recommend another, still in print:
>>
>> Shannon/Weaver - The Mathematical Theory of Communication
>>
>> Joe
>>
>> —
>> Joe Touch, temporal epistemologist
>> www.strayalpha.com <http://www.strayalpha.com/>
>>
>>> On Feb 5, 2022, at 5:50 PM, Lloyd W <lloyd.wood@xxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:lloyd.wood@xxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
>>>
>>> I recommend the second edition of Tanenbaum (note spelling) for giving a clear, structured view of decomposition of functionality and layering, with a range of protocols as examples.
>>>
>>> Later editions were rewritten to describe a grab bag of protocols in the IP suite, badly. Thank the added co-authors.
>>>
>>> Lloyd Wood
>>> lloyd.wood@xxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:lloyd.wood@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>
>>>> On 6 Feb 2022, at 05:31, touch@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:touch@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Other common texts include the following:
>>>>
>>>> o Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach, Kurose/Ross (Pearson/Addison-Wesley)
>>>>
>>>> o Computer Networks, Tannenbaum/Feamster/Weatherall (Pearson/Prentice-Hall)
>>>>
>>>> o Computer Networks and Internets, Comer (Pearson/Prentice-Hall)
>>>>
>>>> All these are subtly different, but all are widely used.
>>>>
>>>> Joe
>>>>
>>>> —
>>>> Joe Touch, temporal epistemologist
>>>> www.strayalpha.com <http://www.strayalpha.com/>
>>>>
>>>>> On Feb 4, 2022, at 10:47 AM, Greg Skinner <gregskinner0=40icloud.com@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:gregskinner0=40icloud.com@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> In their latest diversity and inclusiveness draft <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-gont-diversity-analysis>, the authors have identified some challenges in getting newcomers better able to participate in the IETF, such as knowledge of mature IETF protocols, and the ability to assess protocols critically. They recommended two textbooks that can help here. I have two more suggestions, and am interested in other resources that could be useful in this regard.
>>>>>
>>>>> Principles of Computer System Design: An Introduction <https://ocw.mit.edu/resources/res-6-004-principles-of-computer-system-design-an-introduction-spring-2009/> (Saltzer, Kaashoek)
>>>>> Computer Networks: A Systems Approach <https://book.systemsapproach.org/> (Peterson, Davie)
>>>>>
>>>>> In addition to communications protocols, both books cover principles of security and some of the analytic techniques used to assess network performance. Several chapters from the first textbook, and all of the second textbook, are online. Also, Saltzer has been an influence on many key IETF contributors, historically.
>>>>>
>>>>> If you feel there is a better list for this discussion (such as the diversity list, which has been inactive for over three years), please provide your suggestions.
>>>>>
>>>>> Regards, Greg
>>>>>
>>>>
>>
>
>
--
Marc Petit-Huguenin
Email: marc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Blog: https://marc.petit-huguenin.org
Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petithug
The computing scientist’s main challenge is not to get confused by the
complexities of his own making.
-- E. W. Dijkstra
complexities of his own making.
-- E. W. Dijkstra
