Appropriate for all introductory to intermediate-level courses in networking. How Networks Work is the most accessible, most visual introduction to the inner workings of networks ever written. This Seventh Edition has been fully updated for the latest networking technologies, including Voice over Internet (VoIP), advanced wireless networking, and broadband, as well as issues surrounding convergence. Its stunning four-color graphics take students on an unforgettable journey through the inner workings of todays networks. Authored by Les Freed and Frank Derfler, who cover networking for PC Magazine, this book delivers simple explanations that cut through networking jargon. The authors first illuminate the basic principles of signaling and information packaging that are used in all networks, and then describe every significant type of network, from the Internet to wireless to traditional telephone networks, as well as every significant piece of network equipment. Up-to-the-minute coverage

Table of Contents

Introduction. I. Communicating by Wire. 1. How Telegraphs Work. 2. How Telephones Work. II. Mixing Computers and Telephones. 3. How Early Networks Worked. 4. How Early Communications Terminals Worked. 5. Alphabet Soup: Morse, Baudot, ASCII, and EBCDIC. 6. How Modems Work. 7. How Terminals Work. 8. How Serial Communications Works. 9. The PC As a Terminal. 10. How Broadband Works. 11. How Computer Telephony Integration Works. III. Local Area Networks (LANs). 12. How Local Area Networks Work. 13. How Networking Operating Systems Work. 14. How Network Interface Cards Work. 15. How Network Cables Works. 16. How IP Works. 17. How Server-Based LANs Work. 18. How Peer-to-Peer Networks Work. 19. How Enterprise Network Systems Work. 20. How LAN-to-LAN Connections Work. IV. Links Between LANs. 21. How Bridges, Routers, and Switches Work. 22. How Metropolitan Area Networks Work. 23. How Circuit-Switched Digital Networks Work. 24. How Packet-Switched Networks Work. V. The Internet. 25. How Internet Connections Work. 26. Network Security. VI. Networks for e-Business. 27. e-Business Infrastructure. VII. Intertainment. 28. Convergence and Telematics. Index.

About the Author

Frank Derfler and Les Freed are a proven networking best-selling combination. In addition to authoring the wildly successful How Networks Work, Fourth Edition, Millennium Edition and Sixth Editions they also wrote Get a Grip on Network Cabling, a success for Ziff Davis Press and still being used in many college and technical school classrooms as the course book for cabling classes. Frank is a Senior Networking Editor and Les is a Contributing Editor at PC Magazine, where they review the latest networking products and technology for the world's largest computer magazine.

Prizes

Ever wonder how your office computer network works? Or how the Ethernet card inside your computer connects you to that network or to the Internet? How Networks Work will give you a thorough, detailed explanation of the inner-workings of network systems without getting you caught up in network jargon. Learn the basic principles of networking and how those principles work inside pieces of network equipment. Complete with illustrations to show how things work together, this latest edition also includes information on the newest technologies, including VoIP, wireless networks, broadband and more.