Understanding Linux Network Internals: Guided Tour to Networking on Linux

Understanding Linux Network Internals: Guided Tour to Networking on Linux

by Christian Benvenuti
Understanding Linux Network Internals: Guided Tour to Networking on Linux

Understanding Linux Network Internals: Guided Tour to Networking on Linux

by Christian Benvenuti

eBook

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Overview

If you've ever wondered how Linux carries out the complicated tasks assigned to it by the IP protocols -- or if you just want to learn about modern networking through real-life examples -- Understanding Linux Network Internals is for you.

Like the popular O'Reilly book, Understanding the Linux Kernel, this book clearly explains the underlying concepts and teaches you how to follow the actual C code that implements it. Although some background in the TCP/IP protocols is helpful, you can learn a great deal from this text about the protocols themselves and their uses. And if you already have a base knowledge of C, you can use the book's code walkthroughs to figure out exactly what this sophisticated part of the Linux kernel is doing.

Part of the difficulty in understanding networks -- and implementing them -- is that the tasks are broken up and performed at many different times by different pieces of code. One of the strengths of this book is to integrate the pieces and reveal the relationships between far-flung functions and data structures. Understanding Linux Network Internals is both a big-picture discussion and a no-nonsense guide to the details of Linux networking. Topics include:

  • Key problems with networking
  • Network interface card (NIC) device drivers
  • System initialization
  • Layer 2 (link-layer) tasks and implementation
  • Layer 3 (IPv4) tasks and implementation
  • Neighbor infrastructure and protocols (ARP)
  • Bridging
  • Routing
  • ICMP

Author Christian Benvenuti, an operating system designer specializing in networking, explains much more than how Linux code works. He shows the purposes of major networking features and the trade-offs involved in choosing one solution over another. A large number of flowcharts and other diagrams enhance the book's understandability.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780596552060
Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Incorporated
Publication date: 12/29/2005
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 1066
Sales rank: 776,554
File size: 19 MB
Note: This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Christian Benvenuti received his masters degree in Computer Science at the Universityof Bologna in Italy. He collaborated for a few years with the International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, where he developed ad-hoc software based on the Linux kernel, was a scientific consultant for a project on remote collaboration, and served as an instructor for several training sessions on networking. The trainings, held mainly in Europe, Africa, and South America were all based on Linux systems and addressed to scientists from developing countries, where the ICTP has been promoting Linux for many years. He occasionally collaborates with a non-profit organization founded by ICTP members, Collaborium.org, to continue promoting Linux on developing countries.

In the past few years he worked as a software engineer for Cisco Systems in the Silicon Valley, where he focused on Layer two switching, high availability, and network security.

Table of Contents

Preface


Part I: General Background


Chapter 1: Introduction


Chapter 2: Critical Data Structures


Chapter 3: User-Space-to-Kernel Interface




Part II: System Initialization


Chapter 4: Notification Chains


Chapter 5: Network Device Initialization


Chapter 6: The PCI Layer and Network Interface Cards


Chapter 7: Kernel Infrastructure for Component Initialization


Chapter 8: Device Registration and Initialization




Part III: Transmission and Reception


Chapter 9: Interrupts and Network Drivers


Chapter 10: Frame Reception


Chapter 11: Frame Transmission


Chapter 12: General and Reference Material About Interrupts


Chapter 13: Protocol Handlers




Part IV: Bridging


Chapter 14: Bridging: Concepts


Chapter 15: Bridging: The Spanning Tree Protocol


Chapter 16: Bridging: Linux Implementation


Chapter 17: Bridging: Miscellaneous Topics




Part V: Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4)


Chapter 18: Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4): Concepts


Chapter 19: Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4): Linux Foundations and Features


Chapter 20: Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4): Forwarding and Local Delivery


Chapter 21: Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4): Transmission


Chapter 22: Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4): Handling Fragmentation


Chapter 23: Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4): Miscellaneous Topics


Chapter 24: Layer Four Protocol and Raw IP Handling


Chapter 25: Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMPv4)




Part VI: Neighboring Subsystem


Chapter 26: Neighboring Subsystem: Concepts


Chapter 27: Neighboring Subsystem: Infrastructure


Chapter 28: Neighboring Subsystem: Address Resolution Protocol (ARP)


Chapter 29: Neighboring Subsystem: Miscellaneous Topics




Part VII: Routing


Chapter 30: Routing: Concepts


Chapter 31: Routing: Advanced


Chapter 32: Routing: Li nux Implementation


Chapter 33: Routing: The Routing Cache


Chapter 34: Routing: Routing Tables


Chapter 35: Routing: Lookups


Chapter 36: Routing: Miscellaneous Topics




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