The course recommends either of the following two books:
This book is recommended, and is a good reference book for the subject of data communications. I recommend this book because it covers nearly all the subject areas of the course and is well written and with much detail. The book is a classic student textbook on the subject of data communications. It contains much of the information you will need in the course, and also provides a useful text to continue study of networking beyond the level 3 course.
Retail price £24.95 (Hardback, 1995)
This book is recommended, and is a good reference book for the subject of data communications. I recommend this book because it covers nearly all the subject areas of a good communication course and is both well written and includes much detail.
When new to the subject, a simpler book may provide an easier introduction, but once understanding grows, this is one of the best books to refer to. The book covers the operation of protocols at all seven layers of the OSI reference model. It perhaps allocates a little too much space to the OSI protocol suite (such as CLNP) - which has recently been over-shadowed by developments in the Internet.
This book describes only a part of the course, but is appropriate to the Ethernet modules and especially the design and practice exercise:
Retail price £? (Hardback - 437 pages (1999)).
It is probably the best book on Ethernet available. It provides detailed descriptions of the various component parts of Ethernet, the design decisions and a clear description of the operation of Ethernet networks. It describes the full Ethernet specifications, including 10,100, and 1000 Mbps. This is a recommended book for the design and practice laboratory associated with this course, but also provides a good textbook for the Ethernet, LAN and Physical Layer components of the course.
Some recommended books which provide a simple introduction to the course are:
An excellent introductory book to the subject of digital communications. This book is very readable and covers most of the important concepts of data communications with minimal use of jargon.
A good introductory book covering most areas, including new developments in the subject. The style is very clear. This book gives a basic understanding of the concepts involved with data communications.
A good simple elementary book which is written in a style which is easy to read. The book is remarkably free of jargon. Some of the examples describe protocols which are now obsolete, but the general principles do remain the same. This is a book to read to gain basic understanding of the concepts involved with data communications.
A simply written book that covers many of the fundamental concepts handled by the course. This book is up to date with many examples from current networking practice.
Some books providing additional detail about parts of the course are:
This book provides a discussion of the merits and demerits of using bridges or routers to construct Local Area Networks. The book provides a detailed insight into the real issues in deciding which technology to use.
This book has become the reference book for TCP/IP. It is well written and provides many diagrams to support the text. The book adopts a practical approach, with examples taken from using an actual IP network.
It is a good book for anyone wishing to find out the details of the protocols in the TCP/IP protocol suite.
Retail price £39.99 (Hardback, 2000)
The book provides a comprehensive source of TCP/IP and related protocols available. Most importantly, the book is very easy to read, well structured and concise. It is both an excellent tutorial and reference book for the TCP/IP protocol suite.
The Internet is also a potential source of much information about many matters and there is considerable valuable information about the subject of packet data communications. There is also a lot of useless and distracting information. Some of the more useful information to the course may be accessed by clicking on one of the items below:
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