I need a networking textbook

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The book can be print or online (I prefer online), but I need something that describes computer networking without relying on the OSI model. Discussion of the OSI model can be included, but the book cannot be totally based on it.

Unfortunately the OSI model is the very basis of how computer networking actually works. It's certainly not as simple as plug and play!

For a free online book that goes well into depth on computer networking check out:

http://intronetworks.cs.luc.edu/current ... tworks.pdf

It may be too in depth for what you're looking for but read through it at your own pace and get what you need to know from it.

No, it isn't. The OSI model is merely an abstraction; the "very basis of how computer networking works" is the physical operation of the equipment that makes up networks. I want that explained in real physical terms, not metaphorically (which is basically what models are about). For example, networks aren't divided into "layers" in real life.

I'm not asking for a non-OSI explanation because I think OSI is complicated; I'm asking because I find OSI useless (for my purposes). I don't want a model for how networking works; I want to know how networking actually works.

I'll check it out.

Maybe it's clearer if I say that I'm trying to avoid the layer model of networking. And this PDF textbook uses it.

This excerpt from the beginning of the book is the kind of gibberish I'm talking about:

LANs are made up physical equipment and electromagnetic signals. I have no idea what an "abstraction" for connecting physical equipment and signals means.

That they are. Networks are made up of multiple pieces of connected equipment that send signals to each other in different "languages" or "protocols".

Modern ethernet connected hardware and software is mostly plug and play.
An everyday computer user in the 21st century doesn't need to know about OSI stuff, just plug the cables in and the hardware and software can usually figure out how to talk to each other without you having to know or do anything. In 2020 a regular user doesn't need to know how to configure network cards, figure out if crossover cables are needed or configure the network stack like we used to in the Win 95/98 days.

I guess take what you need to know from texts, but just like driving a car on turning on a TV set you don't need to know much about how it all works. I wouldn't have a clue what the compression ratio of my car is or the resolution of the TV in my lounge - I just like to use them.

If you have any problems or particular questions about networking you can pick the brains of older sods like myself. We learned hands on in the days of dial-up modems, ATM, frame relay and token ring and how to configure each connection manually. In my case we were also finishing high school and doing degrees in non IT stuff at uni. 21st century consumer level networking equipment makes all of our knowledge essentially obsolete, you just plug the RJ45 connector into the socket and the computer works the rest out for you.

You do not determine what I do or do not need to know, and what I "need" to know is not necessarily even relevant. There is such a thing as wanting to know.

The fact that I'm asking for a textbook and that I even know what OSI is should make it clear that I'm not a typical network user, so you needn't talk to me like I'm some clueless n00b.

Ouch.

Okay, I'll leave you to it.

/Eurythmic out.