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 1. Introduction
The first version of this book was written over a period of five years in my spare time while consulting at the
Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) for various academic departments.
When I started consulting in 1994, there were very few books that explored data communications for network
computing. The books that I read on data communications only gave a partial view of the "big picture" and tended to assume
that the reader had previous knowledge of networking and data communications.
I've tried to sort out the confusing issues in this book and to focus on only the topics of the "moment". I've been successful in the
classroom with this approach and hope that you find it meaningful too. The purpose of this book is to fill this void and introduce the concepts of data communication.
In Jan 2005, I finally decided that it was time to update the book. It's been basically 5 years since I last touched it and there are lots of additions
and corrections to do to improve it. In reviewing the book, it became quite apparent that there are many excellent
detailed references already available on the Internet for most of the topics discussed within the book.
I see this as a great opportunity as Introduction to Data Communications can still
remain at an introductory level and but can now provide links to resources that provide indepth explanations as
if the reader so desired.
One of the issues that you may have noticed is that Rev 2.0 is now copyrighted. After having the book online for over
7 years and not receiving one penny in compensation for the work involved, I figure that its time that I took control over
my efforts. The book will still be online and free to its readers, but there will advertisements on the pages that hopefully
will return some financial compensation.
I would like to thank my wife, Susan, for putting up with my obsessive behaviour while I was writing the original course material. Without her in my life, this book would never had been started. I would especially like to thank Harold Sylven for the support and faith that he has had in me.
I would also like to thank Michael Wilson for his hard work and dedication to the first Area Network Technical Analyst program and who never received the credit that he deserved. I would like to thank Doug Spurgeon who has been my "partner in crime" at SAIT and who I have relied on extensively for his support in Windows NT and Novell Netware.
Lastly but not least, I would like to thank my parents for supporting and guiding me throughout my life.
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