Introduction to Networking provides you with a comprehensive overview of the technologies and standards that make the modern connected world a reality. Requiring no previous knowledge of computer networking, this textbook takes you on a tour of the building blocks of modern-day networks. Major concepts, such as OSI and TCP/IP models, network media specifications and functions, LAN/WAN protocols, topologies, and capabilities, are covered in detail. Industry standards and a brief historical development of major networking technologies are surveyed in conjunction with basic awareness of software and hardware components used in typical networking and internetworking environments.

Expert instructor and best-selling author Wendell Odom provides you with a solid foundation of how computer networks function. He then shows you how to build both local-area networks (LAN) and wide-area networks (WAN) for transmission of data over short and long distances. You also learn how TCP/IP uses these LANs and WANs to create corporate networks and the worldwide Internet. The book concludes by showing you how networking connects applications you use on a daily basis with resources that reside on the global Internet.

Full of real-world practical examples, Introduction to Networking provides you with the foundation knowledge and skills you need to start a career in networking.

Powerful features make learning about networking easier!

--  Clear introductions describe the big ideas and show how they fit with what you've already learned

--  Specific chapter objectives tell you exactly what you need to learn

--  Key Terms lists help you identify important terms, and a complete Glossary helps you understand them

--  Author's Notes point out important transitions, key connections to other topics, and items that might otherwise be lost in the detail

--  The On the Side feature points out related items from pop culture, history, and the real world as it relates to networking

--  Chapter Review questions, tools, and activities help you make sure you've learned the material

--  Numeric Reference Tables provide common information about numbers used in networking, including a conversion table for 8-bit binary to decimal

Exclusive Mind Mapping activities!

--  Organize networking ideas visually, in your mind, in your words

--  Learn more, remember more

--  Understand how different ideas fit together

Coverage includes

--  Computer data fundamentals

--  Computer networking basics

--  TCP/IP networks

--  Transmitting bits

--  Ethernet LANs

--  Wireless LANs

--  Wide-area networks (WAN)

--  The Internet protocol (IP)

--  Connecting to the Internet

--  TCP/IP transport