There's no shortage of books about the protocols that enable the Internet to work, and TCP/IP Primer Plus faces a tall order as it attempts to distinguish itself from its competitors. It succeeds in doing so thanks to the degree of detail with which it treats the TCP/IP standards. Every last bit--that's bit as in binary digit--in all the TCP/IP protocols is documented, always in tables and often in screen shots from the Sniffer network analysis program as well. Even complicated material, like the ins and outs of dynamic routing protocols, is explained thoroughly and documented well.

This is not a handholding book, but neither does it address remarkably advanced aspects of TCP/IP. It's a reference book, and a good one. Not only does Heather Osterloh explain how TCP/IP works in her own words, she backs everything up with references to the appropriate standards documents so readers know where to look for more detail and alternative explanations. This book is sufficiently thorough, and its examples are of such high quality--not to mention that the chapters conclude with review questions--that it's more than adequate as a study aid to be used in advance of any general TCP/IP examination. Consider this book if you're prepping for the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) exam (640-507) or the Microsoft TCP/IP exam (70-059). --David Wall

Topics covered: The complete suite of protocols--and there are a lot of them--covered under the designation "TCP/IP." In addition to the two eponymous protocols, this book covers routing protocols (RIP, OSPF, IGRP, EIGRP, and BGP), address discover protocols (ARP, RARP, and DHCP), and higher-level protocols (HTTP, SMTP, FTP, and others). Even name resolution is treated well.