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Dedication

To Margaret, without whose love, support, dedication, patience, and friendship this book would never have been possible. Margaret, I love you truly and always will be by your side.

To Mark Miller, who read my course manual, saw a book in it, and ensured its technical integrity. Mark, thank you for your true friendship and unswerving support.

To my mother, Maxine Horak Winslow, who instilled in me a love of books and learning and taught me the art of listening. Thanks, Mom, you were right—I never learned anything by talking.

To my father, Adolph Alois Horak, who left this earth all too soon. Dad, I miss you very much and hope to have made you proud of me in some small way.

Acknowledgments

A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature.

–Ralph Waldo Emerson

I owe a great deal to a a great many true friends who freely gave of their knowledge, expertise, time, effort, and technical resources to make this book a reality.

This book began in 1995 as a course manual for Fundamentals of Networking and Data Communications, sponsored by Network World as a cornerstone of its Technical Seminar series. Bill Reinstein of Network World, with the encouragement of Mark Miller of Diginet Corporation, had the courage to depart from his highly successful model and sponsor a series of seminars on fundamentals. The result was a seminar designed to introduce datacom and the underlying network technologies to a new generation of communications professionals.

Mark Miller, further, saw a book in that manual. Paul Farrell, Vice President and Associate Publisher of M&T Books, agreed and was willing to take on a first-time author. Debra Williams Cauley, Acquisition's Editor, worked tirelessly to edit the manuscript and graphics, coordinating the many pieces and processes to turn it into a book.

As consulting editor, Mark Miller was invaluable, applying his considerable knowledge and skill to ensure its technical integrity at every level. Rick Luhmann, as technical editor, provided guidance across a wide range of technologies and applications; his skill and experience as an author and editor also enhanced the style and flow.

A number of individuals provided me with free and easy access to their technical libraries: John Bray, Don Hiatt, Dr. Heather Hudson, Rick Luhmann, Jeff Owen, and Gerry Ryan. In particular, I owe a great debt of gratitude to Dr. Hudson, Director of the Telecommunications Program at the McLaren College of Business, University of San Francisco. Dr. Hudson offered me a position as Adjunct Faculty and supported me with unrestricted access to her substantial library.

Ron Andersen is a great friend who provided me with a home-away-from-home during portions of my research and was always supportive in every way. My children, Brenna and Barrett, understood that they couldn’t visit their father while he was working on the book during the summer of 1996, despite the fact that we miss each sorely.

Most of all, I am forever indebted to Margaret Blanford. Her love and devotion translated into long hours of graphics development for both the original course manual and this book. Her common sense, level-headedness, cheerful attitude, good nature, and wonderful sense of humor kept this author on the right track.

Margaret’s daughter, Kristin Goodman, helped with the graphics, in addition to keeping us on our toes. Finally, thanks to Max, the brave and fierce wiener dog, who kept me safe, loved me unconditionally, and provided considerable comic relief.

I get by with a little help from my friends.

The Beatles

Tools, Etc.

Word Processor Software: Word for Windows 6.0; Microsoft

Graphics Software: PowerPoint 4.0; Microsoft

Clipart: NetDraw 3.0; Network World

Foreword by the Consulting Editor

Most of the time, being first has a certain thrill–whether that is winning a softball tournament, being first in line for movie tickets, or getting to sit up front in an airplane. But when you get to be first at two times simultaneously, that’s even better. And for me, that’s the fortunate position that I have–getting to have the first word in a new book, with the new book being the first of a new series, the Networking Technologies Library from M&T Books.

The landscape of telecommunications technologies is changing at an ever-increasing pace. Computing power is increasing so rapidly that the obsolescence of some platforms is now measured in months, not years. On the communications front, new technologies, such as frame relay and ATM, have replaced leased circuits, such as T1 lines, that were projected to last many years.

These changes fall into the “good news–bad news” category of stories. The good news is that the price performance of both computing and communications has dramatically improved in the last few years. The bad news is the with these technology advances, the challenges given to network managers have increased in direct proportion. As a result, most of us have to run pretty hard just to keep up.

To address this dilemma, we at M&T Books are launching a new series, called the Networking Technologies Library, which is designed to present solutions to these challenges that network administrators, designers and managers face. We are excited about the new series, and trust that you, our readers, will share our enthusiasm.

To launch the new series, we asked Ray Horak to develop Communication Systems and Networks, which is a concise, yet complete discussion of the technologies that will shape our business communication strategies into the 21st century. I have known Ray for many years. He is a respected veteran and consultant in the industry. Undoubtedly many of you have read his journal articles or research reports, or attended his excellent seminars. This book attempts to capture his vast experience in printed form–the only thing missing is his deep Texas accent!

Our hope is that through this book, and others in the series which are planned, that your journey into this exciting industry will have fewer memory shortages and no packet retransmissions. Hang on–your first ride into the 21st century of data networking will be a thriller!

Mark A. Miller

mark@diginet.com

September 1996


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