Data Communications From Basics to Broadband

This book prepares readers to make intelligent decisions on the appropriate design, purchase, integration, and use of data communications equipment and systems.The book's coverage is designed to be both accessible for the novice and challenging for the expert, offering a broad overview throughout the narrative and advanced discussions in special-interest sidebars. Discussions reflect the latest Internet technologies -- the increasing importance of the Internet with new/expanded coverage of the Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) and cable modems; ISDN lines; TCP/IP and related protocols -- including SMTP and MIME for electronic mail, HTTP for hypertext, Telnet and Rlogin for remote access, FTP for file transfer, UDP for sending individual packets, SNMP for network management, and SLIP and PPP as data link protocols -- S/MIME, SSL, and IPSec; the differences between IPv4 and IPv6; various encryption standards, algorithms, and software; the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF); Virtual Private Networks (VPNs); and the latest information on telecommunications regulation; increased competition and mergers among carriers.