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Finally, there's a practical primer on all the basics of IP networking -- ideal for Web professionals, LAN managers, MIS managers, application developers, network administrators, and ISPs. Author Thomas Maufer, formerly a senior network engineer at NASA and participant in Internet standards development, teaches all the fundamentals of IP addressing and routing with unprecedented clarity. This hands-on, authoritative guide is full of real-world examples and exercises designed to make sure you gain a rock-solid understanding of IP -- today's "gold standard" of networking.

• IP: What it is, why it was developed, how it works
• Internet addressing: address classes, routing tables, subnet masks/VLSM, CIDR, and the challenge of scalability
• Routing domains and routing protocols, including OSPF, RIP, and BGP-4
• DNS and DHCP
• Emerging multimedia and "converged" IP applications -- and techniques for ensuring quality of service

You'll discover how IP operates over Ethernet, Token Ring, FDDI, PPP, and Frame Relay; how IP addressing and routing interrelate; the implications of BGP-4 for edge customers; and how to manage routing protocol interactions for maximum simplicity. You'll find detailed information about IP resources and software; learn the basics of IP troubleshooting; and much more. If you really need to master IP, and want to master it now, one book fits the bill perfectly: IP Fundamentals.