This reference has now been divided into two volumes to reflect the most recent changes in the field. Volume 1 provides a broad, conceptual introduction to the TCP/IP internetworking protocols and the connected TCP/IP Internet. It reviews network hardware, including wide area national backbones ARPANET and NSFNET, and local area technologies Ethernet and token rings. Addresses binding (ARP) and the IP concepts of connectionless datagram delivery, error detection and control, multicasting, and routing are covered. In addition, Comer compares the ISO 7-layer reference model to the TCP/IP 5-layer model in his discussion of protocol layering.
"Internetworking with TCP/IP" by Douglas E. Comer, is a must have for any Internet professional. I've always wanted to have this book, and now I finally bought it (using my training budget). :)
A detailed look at the transport of the Internet. As one who spent days configuring an NT server into a multihomed host using subnetting, a lot of the information is already known, but would be a good introduction for a technical minded person who can resist the urge to sleep. Starts out with obligatory origins of the net, thru dotted decimal notation, etc. Lots of good info on IP, routing, accessories like FTP and Telnet, and the section on IPng was very interesting. Would be a good textbook for a course.