This book is both a reference for the professional in the field and an outstanding tutorial for the novice. Author Martin P. Clark takes an incredibly vast and complex set of information about networks and Internet protocols and organizes it into definitive yet finite blocks of digestible data, complete with terminology.

In the first part of the book (Chapters 1 to 3), the author does an excellent job of covering the general principles of data communications. This part is intended to introduce the concepts to data communications newcomers. Chapters 4 to 15 build on this foundation to describe in detail the Internet protocol (IP) suite of data communications protocols and networking procedures. The extensive index, glossary, and other appendices allow the reader to find the meaning of individual terms, protocols, and other codes quickly. Overall, the book is structured in a way that is intended to ease the reader in working from "cover to cover."

You will absolutely want this book at your desk so you can grab it for any networking question that might arise. Furthermore, while the range and capabilities of network management tools for complete service and network management continue to increase, there is bound to be a role for the human network specialist. This book will help you achieve that role!