Local and Metropolitan Area Networks, 6th Edition

About

Features

• NEW - Increased emphasis on high-speed networks—Dictated by new trends in computer systems, video applications, and client/server computing.

  • Allows students to assess the relative merits and application areas of new schemes for moving large volumes of data at high rates within the local area. Ex.___

• NEW - Detailed treatment of Gigabit Ethernet and 100-Mbps token ring.

  • Familiarizes students with the dominant approaches to satisfying demands on local networks. Ex.___

• NEW - Added background chapter on TCP/IP.

  • Offers students additional material on IPv6, so that they can obtain a more complete understanding of LAN design. Ex.___

• NEW - Updated material on wireless LANs.

  • Gives students background information pertaining to the 802.11 standards in an increasingly important area of network installations. Ex.___

• NEW - Focus on bridges.

  • Helps students grasp the significant topic of LAN traffic classes, and the relationship between 802.1D traffic classes and layer 3 quality of service (QoS). Ex.___

• NEW - Current description of SNMP.

  • Introduces students to the new SNMPv3 standard to broaden their perspective on network management. Ex.___

• Complete treatment of standards—Includes IEEE 802; ANSI; specifications from the ATM forum; and the Fibre Channel Association.

  • Provides students with an understanding of how the range of such standards defines the available products and future research directions in this field. Ex.___

• Unified treatment of internetworking.

  • Encourages students to examine and compare the concepts of bridges and routers for enhanced comprehension. Ex.___

• In-depth coverage of network management.

  • Enables students to understand the technical issues involved in managing complex network configurations as well as the fundamentals of the most important network management standard, SNMP. Ex.___

• Coverage of structured cabling systems and cabling types.

  • Gives students the necessary information to understand the nearly universal strategy used to wire buildings, and the emerging use of Category 5 UTP cable to achieve high data rates. Ex.___

• Chapter-end recommended Web sites and reading lists.

  • Serve as references for students to access up-to-date and supplementary information related to the material currently being studied. Ex.___

• 100 homework problems—With a range of difficulty.

  • Provides students with an opportunity to test and expand their knowledge of chapter material. Ex.___

Description

This fully updated Sixth Edition of Local and Metropolitan provides a clear, comprehensive presentation of LAN/MAN technology for students and professionals. The author emphasizes both the fundamental principles as well as the critical role of performance in driving LAN/MAN design. This new edition covers alternative approaches to high-speed and wireless LANs and related issues of QoS and interconnecting networks. Nowhere else can you find a complete and detailed survey of all the LAN/MAN systems.

• Includes the full treatment of competing approaches of LAN and MAN technologies
• Details high-speed LANs: Gigabit Ethernet, 100-Mbps token ring, Fibre Channel, and ATM LANs
• Covers complete treatment of standards: IEEE 802 and ANSI standards, specifications from the ATM forum and the Fibre Channel Association, plus TCP/IP
• Presents structured cabling systems and cabling types
• Companion Web site at provides links to important sites, course support for instructors, as well as a link to the Computer Science Student Support Site maintained by the author

Extras

Related Articles

A View of the LANscape

Ethernet

Ethernet Case Study: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum

Local Area Networks: An Overview

Local Area Networks: To Probe Further

Masters of the LAN Universe: The IEEE 802 Committee

Wireless LANs

Sample Content

Table of Contents

 1. Introduction.

I. TECHNICAL BACKGROUND.

II. LAN/MAN ARCHITECTURE.

III. LAN/MAN SYSTEMS.

IV. DESIGN ISSUES.

Preface

PREFACE

OBJECTIVES

This book focuses on the broad and evolving field of local and metropolitan area networks. The aim of the text is to provide a reasoned balance among breadth, depth, and timeliness. The book emphasizes topics of fundamental importance concerning the technology and architecture of these networks. Certain key related areas, such as performance, internetworking, and network management, are also treated in some detail.

The book explores the key topics in the field in the following general categories:

• Technology and architecture: There is a small collection of ingredients that serves to characterize and differentiate local and metropolitan area networks, including transmission medium, topology, communication protocols, and switching technique.
• Network type: This book covers the important types of networks, including those defined in the IEEE 802 standards, plus FDDI, Fibre Channel, ATM LANs, and wireless LANs.
• Design approaches: The book examines alternative design choices and assesses their relative merits.

PLAN OF THE TEXT

The book is organized into four parts:

• Part One. Background. This part provides a preview and context for the remainder of the book, covering basic topics in data communications as well as TCP/IP.
• Part Two. LAN/MAN Architecture. This part examines technology areas common to all LAN and MAN systems. The various topologies and transmission media are discussed; this includes a consideration of cabling types and wiring lay out. There is also a discussion of the communications protocol architecture within which LAN/MAN protocols are defined. Finally, logical link control (LLC), which is the common interface to upper-layer protocols, is described.
• Part Three. LAN/MAN Systems. The major types of LANs and MANS arecovered. These include Ethernet, token ring, Fibre Channel, wireless LANs, and ATM LANs.
• Part Four. Design Issues. This part covers the use of bridges and routers for network interconnection. It also discusses network management and the use of SNMP. Finally, Part Four looks at issues relating to the relative performance of various LAN/MAN approaches.

The book includes an extensive glossary, a list of frequently used acronyms, and a bibliography. Each chapter includes problems and suggestions for further reading.

Throughout, there is an emphasis on both technology and on standards. The book provides a comprehensive guide to understanding specific LAN and MAN standards, such as IEEE 802 and FDDI, and the specifications issued by the ATM Forum and the Fibre Channel Association. This emphasis reflects the importance of such standards in defining the available products and future research directions in this field.

INTERNET SERVICES FOR INSTRUCTORS AND STUDENTS

There is a Web page for this book that provides support for students and instructors. The page includes links to relevant sites, transparency masters of figures in the book in PDF (Adobe Acrobat) format, and sign-up information for the book's Internet mailing list. The Web page is at WilliamStallings.com/LAN6e.html. An Internet mailing list has been set up so that instructors using this book can exchange information, suggestions, and questions with each other and with the author. As soon as typos or other errors are discovered, an errata list for this book will be available at WilliamStallings.com. Finally, I maintain the Computer Science Student Support Site at WilliamStallings.com/StudentSupport.html.

WHAT'S NEW IN THE SIXTH EDITION

In the four years since the fifth edition of this book was published, the field has seen continued innovations and improvements. In this new edition, I try to capture these changes while maintaining a broad and comprehensive coverage of the entire field. To begin the process of revision, the fifth edition of this book was extensively reviewed by a number of professors who teach the subject and by professionals working in the field. The result is that, in many places, the narrative has been clarified and tightened, and illustrations have been improved. Also, a number of new "field-tested" problems have been added.

Beyond these refinements to improve pedagogy and user friendliness, the most obvious change in the sixth edition is the increased emphasis on high-speed networks. A number of trends dictate the rapid move to high-speed technology in the LAN/MAN field: the continued, relentless increase in the speed and capacity of computer systems; the evolution of applications to include greater emphasis on graphic and video; and the increased volume of data generated by the move to client/server computing. The result of these trends has been the introduction in recent years of a number of new schemes for moving large volumes of data at high rates within the local area. These schemes are both complementary and competing, making it difficult for the observer to assess their relative merits and areas of application. This new edition covers these alternative approaches to high-speed local networking and addresses the issues relating to interconnecting these networks with each other and with wide area networks.

Some of the most noteworthy changes are the following:

• A new background chapter on TCP/IP has been added, pulling together material scattered throughout the fifth edition and adding material on IPv6. This material is vital to an understanding of LAN design.
• Chapter 7, on IEEE 802.3 and Ethernet, now includes coverage of Gigabit Ethernet.
• Chapter 8, on token ring, now includes coverage of 100-Mbps token ring and Gigabit token ring.
• Chapter 10 covers the increasingly important area of wireless LANs; this material has been updated to reflect the evolution of the 802.11 wireless LAN standards.
• Chapter 12, on bridges, now includes a discussion of the important topic of LAN traffic classes and the relationship between 802.11D traffic classes and layer 3 quality of service (QoS).
• Chapter 14, on network management, includes an updated description of SNMP, including the new SNMPv3 standard.

Updates

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