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Ask HN: Resources to Learn Computer Networking

18 points by chana_masala ↗ HN
Are there any resources - books, blogs, or videos - that are similar to e.g. "Computer Networking: A Top Down Approach" but more abbreviated and specific to what a working software engineer would utilize or benefit from knowing?

4 comments

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rramadass
Not quite clear what you are asking for; Are you looking for "operational" books like the Cisco ones which talk about configuring appliances and setting up networks or books which deal with how networks/protocols work and the theory behind them?

Nevertheless, you will find the following books useful;

* An Engineering Approach to Computer Networking: ATM Networks, the Internet, and the Telephone Network by S. Keshav.

* Mathematical Foundations of Computer Networking by S. Keshav.

* The TCP/IP Guide: A Comprehensive, Illustrated Internet Protocols Reference by Charles Kozlerok.

* The All-New Switch Book: The Complete Guide to LAN Switching Technology by Seifert and Edwards.

* Wireless Networking: Understanding Internetworking Challenges by Burbank et al.

chana_masala
Thanks very much for sharing.

> or books which deal with how networks/protocols work and the theory behind them?

Mostly this (i.e. the latter)

rramadass
The books that i have listed fall into this category. They are all foundational. Some more overview/foundational books on aspects of Networking are;

* Foundations of Modern Networking: SDN, NFV, QoE, IoT and Cloud by Stallings.

* Network Security: Private Communication in a Public World by Kaufman et al.

* Web Protocols and Practice: HTTP/1.1, Networking Protocols, Caching, and Traffic Measurement by Krishnamurthy and Rexford.

That should give you an overview of all important aspects of Computer Networking. Each of them is a huge domain on its own and you would need to look up detailed books specific to that domain as needed.