I recently read the excellent Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet. Beyond the great history lesson, I especially enjoyed the parts about how the core Internet protocols were created. Although cool then, the fundamental building blocks of the Internet are so much more impressive with today’s hindsight. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I’m re-reading Internet Core Protocols: The Definitive Guide: Help for Network Administrators with renewed appreciation and awe.

The better part of my career at Cisco was focused on mobility specifically, Wi-Fi. Thus, happy to be reading Beyond Everywhere: How Wi-Fi Became the World’s Most Beloved Technology. Here again, I’m drawn to how the protocols we use today were created and debated. The author: Greg Innis grants us an excellent insider’s view.

I can’t recommend these books enough to all budding or professional networking engineers. Man would I have loved to read these first as a rookie.

Study, understand, and appreciate the beauty and craft that makeup the Protocols most take for granted.