Computer Networks: A Systems Approach

Reviewed by Shahab Hussain, Adjunct Professor, North Shore Community College on 6/10/20

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

This book presents majority of the networking critical areas and explains latest hot topics in the industry. More pictures, charts and tables can make it more attractive for students.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

This book provides an unbiased approach with all possible ways and does not specifically attached to any industry networking equipment provider other than in few real life examples.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The latest version of the book contains 5G and SDN topics as well as some details of cloud networking. Due to changing technologies the future updates will be required and authors agility is appreciable so far.

Clarity rating: 5

This book presents the material with clarity, details and relevant real examples as possible

Consistency rating: 5

Authors tried their best to be focused and deliver required information with good sequence and consistency.

Modularity rating: 5

Content of this book is very well organized in chapters.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Authors did excellent work by putting every critical area and topic in separate chapters making the flow transition smooth.

Interface rating: 5

The book's interface is well written without navigation, distortion of images / charts, or other display failures. Visual display works well.

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

Could not find any grammatical errors during review of the book text.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

No negative impact or relation on any culture or community.

Comments

I like this book’s title and material included. This book can be an excellent reference & textbook for network related courses. I will provide with any further comments and updates necessary when I use it in class.

Reviewed by Mya T. Bowen, Assistant Professor, Roxbury Community College on 5/29/20, updated 7/14/20

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

This book will be used to identify problems in the information technology industry. Every chapter presents a problem to be analyzed by students which is suitable for developing the critical thinking skills of students.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

This book provides an unbiased presentation of relevant concepts and issues with the information technology industry.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

This book has a copyright of 2019; based on the topics presented, the content is relevant to students considering or pursuing a career in information technology.

Clarity rating: 4

This book presents the material with clarity; any areas that may be unclear can be researched and expounded upon during class discussions.

Consistency rating: 4

This book presents consistent and relevant terminology in each chapter.

Modularity rating: 5

This book presents the material in page formats that are not overwhelming to the reader.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

This book 's structure presents a well organized, logical, and clear flow of information regarding each topic.

Interface rating: 5

The book's interface works well. I did not find any issues with navigating from page to page, or chapter to chapter.

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

This book did not present any grammatical errors that I identified while reading it.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The book did not present any culturally insensitive or offensive material.

Comments

I am going to use this book for my IT problem-solving course during the Fall 2020 semester; I am hoping to identify feedback from students to be added to this review in the future.

Reviewed by Yiheng Liang, Asst. Prof., Bridgewater State University on 5/27/20

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

Almost all important areas in computer networks are covered in this book.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

I have not checked every word and every piece of information from this book. But from what I had looked at, this book appears to be accurate and unbiased.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

This book is about computer networks, of course. However, like all tech books, they will have to update with new content, e.g. SDN, 5G, ...

Clarity rating: 4

This depends on who will read the book. For me, I have no difficulty reading this book.

Consistency rating: 5

Did not see a major problem.

Modularity rating: 3

This book is a bit "heavy" for some students in computer science to follow in a single semester. It is a challenge for the instructors to pick up specific contents that will be suitable for a typical one-semester course.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 3

I am not sure that putting the "applications" as the last chapter is a good approach. Additionally, some terms are addressed earlier in the book, but the concept is later introduced. For example, the term "Content Distribution Networks" is mentioned in previous chapters but it is only formally introduced in chapter 9.

Interface rating: 5

The content of this book is not intended to distract or confuse the reader.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

Did not observe any obvious grammatical error.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

Like most tech books, this book is culturally neutral.

Comments

Lack of homework questions, lab questions, and programming assignments. This book will be better served as a reference book, not a textbook.

Reviewed by Pamela Jensen, Instructor, Minnesota State University System on 3/7/20

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The bool appears to be comprehensive, but a little wordy. Perhaps say the same thing without repetition and stay focused on the subject.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

I did not find any errors

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

This is fairly fundamental networking, however it is a topic that changes rapidly, which is not the fault of the author

Clarity rating: 4

I understood it fairly easily, but this could be difficult depending on the audience and their ability and familiarity with the subject.

Consistency rating: 5

Nicely laid out.

Modularity rating: 5

The book is logically divided into subjects that could be used individually.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

I like how they started with the application layer of the OSI model that is the easiest to understand. I would stick with the OSI format throughout the course.

Interface rating: 4

The interface is fairly straightforward. I personally like ebooks with links to appropriate videos, but then it would not be a "textbook".

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I did not find any errors, however I am not an English instructor.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

This is not a cultural subject.

Comments

I would consider using part of this book in my class

Reviewed by Jon Craton, Assistant Professor, Anderson University on 2/8/20

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

This book does an excellent job of covering all of the major topic areas in computer networking. It provides a good overview of networking and then dives into the details of the most important sections of the network stack.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

I found no inaccuracies of note in the content of the text.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

This book covers historical networking topics well. It also highlights the primary tools used in modern networked mobile and web applications (HTTPS, REST, etc) and explains the forces that have caused much of the industry to settle on these tools. This book should remain relevant for years, especially if it continues to be regularly updated.

Clarity rating: 4

There's a lot of jargon in computer networking, but this book does a good job of recognizing this and carefully introducing new terms. It could perhaps benefit from an index of important terms and acronyms.

Consistency rating: 4

I found the book to be consistent throughout. I think that it could benefit from using a structure and set of chapter names the connect more tightly to established layers of the one of the common network stack models, or simply being more upfront in defining its own view into the network stack to provide readers more direction on where the text is headed and what content is found in each chapter.

Modularity rating: 5

The text is well structured to be divided into course topics.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The book begins with a high-level overview of networked application and then explores the network stack from the bottom up. This is the approach that several other texts use, and I find it to be a clear way to teach the content.

Interface rating: 5

I had no problems viewing or navigating the text or figures.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The text appears to be well edited and largely free of grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

I did not note any content in the text that I found to be inappropriate or offensive nor any content that I would expect is probable to offend others.

Comments

Overall, this is a helpful text that provides a good overview of the most important concepts in computer networking and could be easily applied for teaching and learning this topic.