Part I: Networking Fundamentals

Chapter 1: Introduction to TCP/IP Networking

Chapter 2: Fundamentals of Ethernet LANs

Chapter 3: Fundamentals of WANs

Chapter 4: Fundamentals of IPv4 Addressing and Routing

Chapter 5: Fundamentals of TCP/IP Transport and Applications

Part I Review

This first part of the book introduces the most important topics in TCP/IP networking. Chapter 1 provides a broad look at TCP/IP, introducing the common terms, big concepts, and major protocols for TCP/IP. Chapters 2 through 5 each look more deeply at a single portion of TCP/IP, as follows:

Chapter 2 focuses on links between nearby devices (local-area networks, or LANs).

Chapter 3 focuses on links between far-away devices (wide-area networks, or WANs).

Chapter 4 focuses on the rules of IP routing, which pulls the LAN and WAN links of Chapters 2 and 3 together by forwarding data all the way from one user device to another.

Chapter 5 focuses on what happens on the endpoint devices in the network, with how they transmit data and how the applications interface to the network.

Of these chapters, note that this book explores the topics from Chapter 2 (LANs) and Chapter 4 (IP routing) in much more detail.