Subject: wrt: Web Protocols and Practice: HTTP/1.1, Networking Protocols, Caching, and Traffic Measurement

From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 18 May 2001 09:02:03 -0700

So, have folks on this list reviewed or otherwise seen this book?..

Web Protocols and Practice: HTTP/1.1, Networking Protocols, Caching,
and Traffic Measurement 
 Balachander Krishnamurthy 
 Jennifer Rexford 
 Copyright 2001, 672 pp. 
 ISBN 0-201-71088-9

 http://www.awlonline.com/product/0,2627,0201710889,00.html

[i note Balachander posted to this list back in Oct-2000]

Anyway, it sounds like it is likely a "good book" and worth having, but I'd 
prefer to get some independent confirmation before parting with the $.

To anticipate the question -- yes, given the reprint of the "flap blurbs" on 
the amazon page..

  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0201710889/

..it sounds like it nominally covers the ground I'm interested in knowing more 
about (e.g. Web caching and multimedia streaming, the Apache Web server, Squid 
proxy, and traffic measurement techniques).

thanks,

JeffH

---

From: "Roy T. Fielding" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 23 May 2001 14:10:32 -0700

>prefer to get some independent confirmation before parting with the $.

I think my review is on the back cover, but not online.  This is what
I wrote:

Web Protocols and Practice, authored by Balachander Krishnamurthy and
Jennifer Rexford, provides a comprehensive examination of the network
protocols and software implementations that have made the World Wide Web
what it is today: the most wide-spread and pervasive application of
computers ever invented.  This is the first book to delve beyond the
typical user experience of the Web and analyze the operation and behavior
of Web browsers, intermediaries, and servers in the same way that a
mechanic's manual would describe the intended operation of an automobile.
You need this book if you want to do more than than just poke around
under the hood.

Sufficient background material is provided for readers wishing to
understand the basics of the Web infrastructure, but the book will
primarily benefit those who need to know more than what is defined
in the standard Internet protocol specifications.  The chapters on
Measuring and Characterizing Web Traffic should be required reading
for anyone managing a website or developing Web software.  Likewise,
network planners and administrators will find the discussion on the
interaction between HTTP and other Internet protocols (IP, TCP, and DNS)
to be invaluable for anticipating and preventing the types of network
failure that can cause a company to fall off the Internet.

Cheers,

Roy T. Fielding, Chief Scientist, eBuilt, Inc.
                 2652 McGaw Avenue
                 Irvine, CA 92614-5840  fax:+1.949.609.0001
                 ([email-masked])  <http://www.eBuilt.com>