Rita Puzmanova
ROUTING AND SWITCHING: Time of Convergence?
Addison-Wesley, Boston, 2002
Hardcover, pp. 984, plus XXII, $ 61,99
ISBN 0-201-39861-3
http://www.pearsoneduc.com

In general about the book

During the past few years, the importance of internetworking has grown considerably in the telecommunication \& computer industry. The book {\it Routing and Switching: Time of Convergence?}, by Rita Puzmanova, covers almost all the most important topics related to internetworking. This book does not describes in details the hardware structure and organization of the devices, called bridges, routers, switches and hubs, that move data around the telecommunication \& computer networks, but gives a comprehensive background to internetworking. As the author in the Preface of the book notes: "The primary aim of the text is to show what is behind the evolution in network interconnection, and give some clue as to where industry developments and standardization efforts are heading..." I agree with the author. The book is divided into five parts. Part I covers the general aspects of communications networks. Part II concentrates on bridging. Part III is devoted to switching. Part IV deals with routing. In Part V the main themes discussed are the hot topics related to quality of service (QoS) support, and high performance network interconnecting. The text of the book is accompanied by six appendices and an Index.

Chapter content

Part I, composed of Chapters 1 through 5, presents an introduction to the development of computer networks. Chapter 1 concentrates on OSI seven-layer model. Chapter 2 deals with technical aspects and potential for interconnection of Local/Metropolian Area Networks (LANs/MANs). Some details concerning IEEE 802.3, Token Ring, FDDI and Fibre Channel are given. Chapter 3 focuses on discussion of the basic features of widely used Wide Area Networks (WANs) such as ISDN, X.25, Frame Relay, SMDS/CBDS, ATM and SONET. Chapter 4 briefly points to the network management concept and remote monitoring principle. The main functions of four primary types of internetworking devices (repeaters, bridges \& switches, routers, and gateways) are identified in Chapter 5.

Part II of the book, includes Chapter 6, is confined to bridging as one of the approaches to extend LAN segments by their interconnection. In Chapter 6 more information about the transparent bridging, source route bridging, remote bridging, source route transparent and translational bridging, and bridge applications are given.

Part III, contains chapters 7 and 8, is on routing and covers the specifications on switching principles (circuit and packet switching), switch architectures, and switch deployment in the networks. Chapter 7 describes different possibilities of LAN switching. It focuses on the following topics: shared versus switched LANs, frame processing and address learning by LAN switches, virtual LANs, and interconnecting LANs. Chapter 8 concentrates on the specifics of the switching in the WAN environments.

Part IV, composed of chapters 9 through 12, provides a detailed analysis of routing and routers. Chapter 9 deals with routing principles, i.e. subjects related to selecting a part and moving packets across that path from a source to a destination. Overview of TCP/IP architecture is given in Chapter 10. In Chapter 11, the IP support for dynamic routing is presented. In addition different methods deployed in the IP routing protocols, as well as some details concerning non-routing protocols optionally used by routers, are given. Chapter 12 addresses in a clear and concise manner, the wide subject of routing in a non-IP environment.

Part V, composed of chapters 13 through 16, focuses on high-performance network interconnecting and QoS support in the network. In Chapter 13 high-speed networking is studied. Chapter 14 focuses on analysis and understanding of QoS as a tool which provides a consistent predictable service. Chapter 15 discusses Multiprotocol Label Switching as the most promising approach to increasing data transfer through the network. Finally, Chapter 16 is devoted to optical switching.

Six appendices are included to support the material in the text. Appendix A gives a list which decodes abbreviations used in the text. In Appendix B a network standardization overview is presented. Appendix C concentrates on quick guide to internetworking troubleshooting. Appendix D gives a condensed list of reference to the commonly used abbreviations relating to speed, bandwidth, and/or signaling. A quick reference to the most common IP numbers is given in Appendix E. Appendix F deals with references, including recommended reading of books, articles, surveys, research notes and on-line sources.

Useful for researchers and practice engineers

This text is certainly not an introductory, but it clearly gives a broad view of the currently hottest topics in internetworking. The quality of all the contributions is generally high. This book is clearly suitable for readers with an advanced internetworking background knowledge. Its contents represent the current state-of-the-art in the field where innovation and technological advancements proceed at an extremely fast pace. Having in mind all above mentioned, this book can be strongly recommended for-all people, either experienced professionals or graduate, involved in the area of networking, who want to go deeper in the subject of understanding internetworking.