by Andrew Tanenbaum.I first read a significant portion of this book a few years ago when I took a class in computer networks at the University (it's a 4th year graduate course, considered by most to be one of the hardest in the program) that was mostly based on it. Since I'm a big fan of reading books cover to cover (which is BTW the ideal way to read this particular book), I took some time the last few weeks and did just that. Having read most of it before, and dealing with networks quite a lot in my work and spare time, I read it mostly for review value.
As the title suggests, this is a very general book, and as such holds real value. After all, in today's world, who can ignore networking? If anything, networks will become more and more important, and understanding them is already pretty much mandatory for anyone in ICT. This book will give you a great framework for dealing with all sorts of networks you might come across in the wild. For the most part, it explains how networks are built in layers, with each layer offering services to the layer above it and consuming the services of the layer below it. Two major reference models are covered: the OSI/ISO one and the TCP/IP one. You will get a solid understanding of just how much politics influences standard's bodies and better understand why some things are not as good as they could be :).
For the most part, the book then goes through the layers (of something that I've heard called the "Tanenbaum hybrid model" which is basically what is used in practice (in the Internet for example). You will learn some basic things about the physical layer like the kinds of cables in use and their characteristics, fiber, radio, microwave and satellite transmission..., encoding bits with volts. After the physical layer, there's a high level explanation of how the telephone system works. Then he goes on a detailed tour of the data link layer (which is basically a direct "wire-like" connection between two machines), talking about error correction codes (Hamming code, CRC), framing and flow control. Here he also discusses Bluetooth, Ethernet (in some detail), WLAN etc. In covering the network layer, the main focus is on routing, congestion control and internetworking. There's also a relatively detailed discussion of the network layer in the Internet where IPv4 and IPv6 are discussed (among other things). Then he goes on to cover the transport layer which mainly deals with establishing connections, retransmissions and congestion control. Here he talks a bit about UDP and TCP, which are the "main" transport layer protocols in the Internet. Finally, there's a chapter about the application layer that features pretty much anything you've heard about, from DNS and e-mail to the World Wide Web and its protocols, to multimedia.
The book finishes with about 200 pages on network security, which covers your basic cryptography and different protocols in the different layers that implement various measures. There is also a great section on further reading per topic.
One final note. Although this is the 4th edition of the book, the book was released in 2002. which is (in computer terms) ancient. To put things in perspective, Wikipedia was started in 2001., YouTube in 2005., social networks didn't really exists in 2002. etc. Still, the things covered in this book have not changed that much so this should not worry you too much.
So to summarize, this is an awesome book that I think everyone in ICT should read. It's OK as a reference, although you'll probably want to consult specialized literature for specific topics (like the relevant RFCs for Internet related stuff). It's pretty expensive, so you might want to get a used copy, but it's worth owning!
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