Rating: 
Summary: A must-read
Review: This is probably the most complete and in depth theoretical approach to Computer Networks book you can buy.The structure of this book is based mainly on the OSI Reference Model which is divided in 7 different layers. Each chapter in the book is dedicated to a layer, in this way, one can get an insight of a broad variety of subjects such as IEEE standards (Ethernet, Token Ring, etc,), Congestion control and routing Algorithms, network and transport layer protocols (IP, TCP and UDP) and many more topics. As a complement you should read Richard Stevens TCP/IP Illustrated, volume 1 for a more practical approach to TCP, UDP and IP. The best book for beginner, intermediate and advanced users.
Rating: 
Summary: Out of Date, But Still a Good Start
Review: I've been teaching Intro to Netwking for 7 years (half electrical engineering and half computer science students). I'm also a practicing network engineer in satellite (and ground) communications (15 years experience). Until this year (2001) I used Tanenbaum to teach my graduate level course, but this year I think I may have to abandon him. On the plus side the book is clearly written, well illustrated, combines both theory and practice, and is very well organized. I strongly endorse the layered approach both for teaching and for practice. On the negative side is Tanenbaum's relatively-poorly written physical layer. He also does not have a consistent approach to networking performance. But the biggest problem now is that since 1996, when this book was last updated, there has been a major shift due to the convergence of the telecommunications and computer networking (Voice over IP). Also the development of fiber optics has become a major factor. Finally, the convergence of wireless with the Internet is rapidly taking shape. These changes are touched on by parts of this book, but these changes are more than mere additions. They affect the fundamental engineering approaches used by network engineers. For example, statistical traffic models now cannot be ignored, availability (always a major topic in telecomm) must now be covered, the full implications of mixed traffic types must now be explored, multiplexing needs greater attention, scheduling is now essential, etc. Although it is NOT obvious that commercial voice will merge with the Internet, it is obvious that the future is VoIP (lots of implementation approaches). Tanenbaum still has a lot to offer. No other textbook is as well organized. This is the first duty of an author: to organize the topic. For example, I agree with Tanenbaum's putting ATM at the network layer even though in practice it is treated as a data link protocol (ATM obviously has a limited future). My recommendation to someone considering this textbook is that there is no "killer-textbook" in this area. If Tanenbaum updated this book, he could (in my est) ascend to the position. For now this should be supplemented with more up-to-date textbooks. Perhaps I'll consign my students to two textbooks this year (torturous), but for sure they need supplemental material. I refuse to allow my students to enter the networking world unprepared . The networking world is changing!
Rating:
Summary: Problem Answers
Review: Hi, how can i get the answers of the Problems in this book?
Rating:
Summary: The classical introduction to networking.
Review: When I just started working as a programmer, I came across the 2nd edition international student reprint of this book, in red softcover, at a students' bookshop, and bought it. I treasure that copy in my library to this day - it gave me a solid background in computer networking that served me well in the past and is an asset that will serve me in the future. Previous reviews have mentioned Tanenbaum's excellent and concise writing style and the breadth of the material covered, which are two of the good qualities that made this book a classic. What wasnt mentioned and I consider important is : - The bottom up explanation of networking, starting with the physical layer, up through the OSI layers (link layer, network layer, transport layer) to the application layer. This structure makes it very clear how networks work, how they are designed, and why. - The well made balance between broad coverage of topics and the depth of coverage of each topic. After reading this book it's easy to start studying in depth any subtopic covered in this book (e.g. TCP/IP through Comers' books) as the reader knows how the subtopic fits in the big picture and knows enough to make a smooth start. Some previous reviewers asked about solutions to problem, so I'll note that this book does have booklet with problem solutions, which is apparently made available only to academical staff [ and people mistaken to be such :-) ]. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has any type of network related job, students who study networking, and anyone who wants to study computer networking.
Rating:
Summary: Answers
Review: Where can i find answers to the problems of this book?
Rating:
Summary: Solution booklet
Review: I was very fascinated about this book and the way it brings a sometimes difficult to understand content to the reader in a funny and easy way. But I was angry about the problems in the book and that there weren't any solutions available.
So more or less accidentally I came to the booklet „Problem Solutions" of the fourth edition. Take a look at amazon.de and lothar_ast here you can buy the book+booklet for 54,90 Euro.
Rating: 
Summary: The professor is crazy
Review: Anyone trying to learn about networking in this very expensive tome of a book, gets not only the material, they will get a piece of Tanenbaum's mind on the way. Not saying that is inappropriate, but when you have so much material to cover, adding endless snipes and comments at everyone from standards organizations, corporations and standards writers, to name a few, this is so not necessary.
Tanenbaum offers you reasonably understandable explanations, but every two or three pages he gets back on the podium and blabbers out of control. What you get are hundreds of wasted pages, full of opinions and not of facts.
There are plenty of other books, opinion-free and much better written, such as Douglas Comer's TCP/IP book and James Kurose's excellent 'Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach Featuring the Internet'. Spare yourself the wasted time and anguish. Get a better book. The fact that many professors use this book is just a sign of how lazy they are finding a better book.
Rating:
Summary: Great Overall Introduction to Networking
Review: This book is a "must read" for anyone starting out developing networking products, whether hardware, software or both. It is required reading for our Network Product Development Group. We do outsourced System on Chip (SoC) design for the leading networking companies. The sections on IP, TCP, UDP and Ethernet are well organized for first time reading and as a reference. Thumbs up !
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful book!
Review: In depth explanation of concepts. Can be understood easily. The language is simple. The flow of the content is good.
Rating:
Summary: Clear and Thorough. Engineer's point of view.
Review: Computer Networks are a wide and fastly growing subject. Finding a textbook that covers all of the topics in a detailed way is simply impossible. Perhaps for this reason good textbook authors have, in a probably implicit way, established two possible approaches: the Engineers' and the (mostly Software) Developers'. Once again Tanenbaum has done a great job with this book (and its updated-more-than-revised 4th edition), which takes the former approach. The book presents general issues and impacts (on technology as well on the society) of Computer Networks in the first chapter, and then move in a detailed exposition of the lower layers of a general network architecture (similar to the OSI one). The great value of the books stems from the clarity and thoroughness of the exposition. Indeed, it presents all of the most known technologies and algorithms (both today's and historical) from physical mediums to algorithms for routing, congestion and flow control and so on. Plenty of details are provided at the level of mathematical performance analysis for some algorithms like those presented in the Medium Access Sublayer chapter (e.g. ALOHA and CSMAs). The "tone" of prof. Tanenbaum is an added values as well. He rarely becomes boring and sometimes results hilarious in his comments of famous anecdotes that led to the born of this technology or that algorithm (have you ever heard how automatic phone calls switching was born ?). I never underestimate the value of an easy exposition, as sometimes studying is already hard enough to cope also with a overwhelmingly boring book. Enough for the lower layers/protocols so far. About the upper ones the book actually does not spend too much emphasis on network applications nor on the high level tools for building network applications (e.g. there are a very few pages for sockets, but no more). Indeed, this area is more properly in the competence of the second kind of books (Developer's) as noted at the beginning of the review. However, there's one (unsurprising but happy) exception: as already done in his "Modern Operating Systems, 2e", Tanenbaum has put a detailed and rigorous treatment of the Security issue (Network Security in this case). About editions, the third was already a very good book. Reasons for considering the fourth edition are the inclusion of updated technologies like ADSL, Bluetooth, Gigabit Ethernet, JavaScript, XHTML or XML, etc. More than this, however, technologies like fiber optic were on the wave of great improvements in 1996 when the third edition was published (and deformation due to day-night thermal excursions were not cited) so that now the treatment is more reliable (in terms of updates, not in technicalities). All in all, given that imho there's no serious "complete bible" (or the like) book on computer networks, this book is a full five-stars one if the Engineers' perspective is that of interest. If one is more interested in the Developers' perspective (take again the sockets example), then a good choice would be Douglas Comer's "Computer Networks". For TCP/IP fans, my best choices would be the more focused Comer's "Internetworking with TCP/IP, vol. I" (1/3 Engineer's, 2/3 Developers') or Stevens' "TCP/IP Illustrated. vol I" (1/5 Engineer's, 4/5 Developers').
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