Real networks (review of "hands-on networking: from theory to practice"; merani, m.l., et al;2009)[book/software reviews]

This book is big on practical exposure to how networks operate and small on mathematics. The initial foundation chapter does describe Fourier transforms and discuss signals but does not contain a course in statistics even athough it does discuss quality-of-service (QoS). This chapter is a fast overview of types of networks and how everything from personal networks to wide area networks operates. Other chapters in the book focus on how the routing of larger networks is done. The simple bridges and switches of local area networks lead into how routers translate addresses and firewalls protect networks. The book does an excellent job of describing networks with minimal mathematics, but routing algorithms is one area that gets a bit of mathematics. Finally the book concludes with a chapter on how long distances and wide area networks (WANs) are handled. If you want 250 pages to get a comprehensive overview of networks then this is your book. One thing found lacking was a collected list of acronyms at either the front of the book or as an appendix.