Ask HN: What nonfiction books do you keep rereading?

Interconnections: Bridges, Routers, Switches, and Internetworking Protocols 2nd Edition - Radia Perlman

Every 2-3 years, particularly in the periods when I'm not actively in network engineering, I re-read this book from start-finish - and it just completely centers my mindset with regards to pretty much every fundamental topic in Network Engineering. There almost didn't need to be a 2nd Edition - most of the major topics were covered in 1st edition - the only major difference is the use of lots of protocol examples. The core material itself is timeless.

Here is just one gem from Chapter 5 - "Hubs, Switches, Virtual Lans and Fast Ethernet"

"I originally resisted adopting the term switch. Unlike thing, switch sounds like a word you'd apply to a well-defined concept, so it makes people assume that there is a crisp definition that everyone else knows. I thought the world was already confusing enough with the terms bridge and router. Unfortunately, people coined the word switch assuming they were inventing a new concept, somehow different from a bridge or a router. And there were various independent product concepts named switch. As "switch" vendors expanded the capabilities of their products, the products wound up being functionally the same as bridges and routers, usually a hybrid or superset. One cynical (and ungrammatical) definition I use for switch is "a marketing term that means fast." Almost all products these days are some hybrid or superset of bridges and routers. So maybe it's right for the industry to settle on a new word, switch, as a more generic term for a box that moves data."

dang · 2 years ago

My copy had a blurb from tptacek on the cover. I don't know which edition that was.

After reading your comment I'm sorry I didn't keep the book!

tptacek · 2 years ago

It's the 2nd edition. I can't tell you how weird it was to be asked for that blurb. I was 22!

It is a great book, though.

red-iron-pine · 2 years ago

i always thought switch came from the old telephone "switchboards", which were usually handled inside of large buildings.

you'd call the operator to route (e.g. a router) your call to the right location, and then the switchboard operator inside said location. routing itself came from postal routing, IIRC

codazoda · 2 years ago

I don’t know if my understanding is correct but I always thought of a switch in contrast to a network hub. A hub broadcasts incoming packets to all its ports while a switch keeps a table and broadcasts only to the port that MAC is plugged into. That table is likely called a “routing table”, which probably drives some confusion. I always thought of a router as an internet connected switch. In addition, I always thought of a modem as something that can speak the language of the line (phone lines originally) instead of just the network protocol.

I’m not a network pro and these concepts could be totally wrong in my mind. Not sure why I’m spewing them out, other than to give myself something to solidify in the future.

dfex · 2 years ago

You're mostly there - your hub definition is spot on - it's basically an electrical repeater and doesn't inspect the packet in any way* and operates at half-duplex.

Switches (specifically Layer 2 switches) will send broadcast frames to all ports*, but traffic that is unicast to a specific MAC address will only be sent to the port where that MAC address was learnt. To keep track of the MAC address to port mappings, a switch will have one or more "forwarding" or "MAC-address" tables.

Routers (and Layer 3 switches) are not necessarily Internet connected, but will mostly be seen in larger networks. Being mostly Ethernet-based these days, they maintain two tables - an ARP table (mapping IP Addresses to MAC Addresses) and a routing table (mapping IP prefixes/routes to destination IP addresses). When an IP packet comes into a port, the router will consult it's routing table and find the most specific route that matches the destination of the packet. From the destination IP of the route, it will then determine the egress interface that it should send the packet towards, then use the ARP table to work out the destination Ethernet MAC address for the Ethernet frame it will construct to transport the IP packet in on it's way to the next-hop router.

* During the early 00s there were "Dual-Speed Hubs", which were basically two hubs (one 10Mbps, one 100Mbps) joined together internally via a two-port Ethernet switch. Fortunately the price of 100Mbps Ethernet switches kept falling and they weren't around too long.

* Provided those ports are all members of the same broadcast domain/VLAN

Deleted Comment

The Bible. Even if you don't care for it's spiritual implications, there is a rich history that is used by archaeologists, and many face-value lessons of cause and effect, and even recommendations on how to manage a business and employees. The beautiful non-spiritual message is that humans don't change, but we can still learn from histories mistakes.

MrGinkgo · 2 years ago

I feel like I've got to read it eventually just so I can be up to speed on all the millions of references to it in other works of art. In a college class recently, we read beowulf, and I was confused what was meant when grendel was described as being from "cain's clan" - I was raised non-religiously by parents who had both been burned pretty bad by institutional religion, so it was pretty much only me and an asian immigrant in that class who needed the reference explained. (Granted, I was one of the few non english majors in that class, which also probably affected my lack of understanding.)

giraffe_lady · 2 years ago

The main cultural touchstones are disproportionately concentrated in a few books too, you can get a lot of them with just a dozen or two hours of reading.

Genesis specifically is packed with common references, can be read in a few hours, and is fairly engaging and accessible as a coherent piece of literature in its own right.

Ecclesiastes is like five pages and possibly the most quoted thing across european cultures. So many literary references and even common idioms come from there.

After that any one synoptic gospel + john + acts will set you up to catch a lot of christianity-specific cultural references. And then revelation imagery comes up a ton in pop culture, music, film & tv.

All of what I mentioned is about the length of a medium-short novel and would set you up to catch probably the majority of allusions to the bible. You'd be missing some major stuff like moses, david & solomon, plus a bunch of misc but influential stories like jonah & the whale, samson etc. But for bang for your buck it would get you pretty far.

Perceval · 2 years ago

Going through life without having read through at least some of the KJV Bible and Shakespeare would be like watching The Wizard of Oz in black and white – sure, you'd be able to follow the plot, but you'd be missing out on the color experience. Similarly, without having some foundation in those two foundational works of English language, you'd be missing idiom, metaphor, and allegory that you might not even realize is there. Imagine trying to read President Lincoln's speeches without getting his references to scripture. Imagine trying to read Faulkner's Sound and the Fury without getting the titular reference to Shakespeare and the structural reference to the Gospels (the same story told by four different authors).

rawgabbit · 2 years ago

https://bible.usccb.org/bible

strictnein · 2 years ago

If one is looking for a much more readable Bible, versus those low quality, thin paper, small typed copies, I'd recommend checking out Bibliotheca. Also has one of the best videos I've seen done for a Kickstarter campaign.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/adamlewisgreene/bibliot...

greenhearth · 2 years ago

It says "nonfiction"

mrozbarry · 2 years ago

You can tell that to all the ancient human history archaeologists that use the Bible to find ancient cities.

harryquach · 2 years ago

Haha, was going to post this exact comment

ghshephard · 2 years ago

magnio · 2 years ago

"Project Management for the Unofficial Project Manager". Many knowledge workers manage projects on a daily or weekly basis, yet most, including myself, don't have formal training in it and will profusely reject the title "Project Manager". The book gives a no-bullshit guide to manage things—deliverables, deadlines, schedules, and scope—and how to lead people—team members, customers, etc.

"The Emperor of All Maladies". A haunting, personal, and intimate biography of cancer. Having been on the peripherals of several cancer patients, I find the book an incredible overview of the disease, and how to deal with its physical, mental, and societal consequences.

Froedlich · 2 years ago

I'm re-reading Tracy Kidder's "The Soul of a New Machine" at the moment. It's about Data General and the development of a new minicomputer. I read it at the dawn of my IT career in the 1990s and found much of was still relevant then. (the book was written in 1981) Thirty years later, I'm mostly just nodding as I follow along; yep, yep, yep. "Engineering" is a distant second to corporate politics and office pecking order.

Reading Brian Shul's "Sled Driver" autobiography on the tablet. Shul was an SR-71 pilot, and the book is about 10% Shul and 90% SR-71. It reads fast and it's interesting, with unexpected bits of information.

Just finished David Goggins' "Can't Hurt Me." It's supposed to be a "motivational" autobiography. I can't say I felt motivated. Most of his problems were self-inflicted, and he treated his family and children like dirt.

UniverseHacker · 2 years ago

As for David Goggins, I mostly agree, his level of drive is impressive at some level, but also just insane- he pushes himself to do things likely to cause permanent lasting injuries just because he can. It seems like he couldn't even get along with other Navy Seals, because they weren't disciplined and motivated enough for him, and wouldn't accept ideas like training to the point of serious injury or disability. But it makes zero sense- how can you be ready for a mission when you're injured? Ultimately, it seems like he's addicted to self harming to escape emotional trauma/pain, not because he's disciplined.

Jocko Willink is a similar "Navy seal teaching you the secrets to becoming a badass" but his approach seems a lot more sane and useful, and has been more effective in his own life.

coffeemug · 2 years ago

I looked up Sled Driver and the cheapest I can find is $350 on eBay (with $475 being the next best price). Where did you find the book?

freefaler · 2 years ago

annas-archive org :)

davis · 2 years ago

Another vote for The Soul of a New Machine. It's one of my favorite books.

briHass · 2 years ago

If you haven't read it, I also enjoyed his book, 'House'. It has a similar theme to TSoaNM: multiple parties with the same ultimate goal, but conflicting approaches born out of self-interest.

I read it shortly after buying the house that would be (and is) our 'family home', of a very similar vintage (early 80s, East Coast.) Certainly not every home from the past was artfully constructed (or even well-built), but something just feels different with the modern, Fortune-500 homebuilders that rush an army of interchangeable subcontractors through cookie-cutter plans to maximize interior square-footage and stack as many units as possible on a tract of land.

hnthrowaway0328 · 2 years ago

I just hope there is something more serious but less than serious about building a computer such as the Nova. I went through Nand to Tetris and it was pretty fun.

numeromancer · 2 years ago

The Abolition of Man - C. S. Lewis

All Things Considered - G. K. Chesterton

Some others I daren't mention.

Category Theory for Programmers - Bartosz Milewski

The Design of Relational Databases - Heikki Mannila, Kari-Jouko Raiha

sotix · 2 years ago

C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton are great authors. I rather enjoy them along with Tolkien from that period and part of the world.

light_triad · 2 years ago

If you like history you should check out 19th Century Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt's collection of essays Force and Freedom - I read it every 2 years or so. It's great summary of the different sources of power in society and how they interact during different periods. Highly recommended.

"In Force and Freedom, Burckhardt reduced the main elements of history to the state, religion, and culture, discussing the hypothetical and actual supremacy of each over the other two. “Culture” comes out best, religion worst in his value system, but the state has its dangers too..."

https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/history/historians-europ...

kkylin · 2 years ago

Glenn Gould Reader, a collection of writings by Canadian pianist Glenn Gould

Eye, Brain, Vision by David Hubel, IMO an excellent introduction to visual neuroscience for the layperson and a really, really nice example of good scientific writing

Huygens and Barrow, Newton and Hooke by VI Arnold, for the density of ideas

Perceptrons by Minsky and Papert, mainly as an example of clear mathematical exposition

mrrobot900 · 2 years ago

Escape from Freedom[1]! the meat of Fromm's thesis is that modern societies have attained a lot of "negative freedom" (i.e. freedom from necessities and/or authorities), but the corresponding growth in "positive freedom" (freedom to express oneself authentically and genuinely) has been lackluster. the result is that we become "burdened" by the responsibilities of freedom, unable to handle it without feeling overwhelmed. instead, we resort to escape mechanisms: e.g. by seeking refuge in authoritarian leaders, or by conforming to societal standards and expectations. both are detrimental, Fromm says, as they undermine individual freedom. Fromm urges that we should pay more attention to our thoughts and actions, and to be more wary of them, as they may or may not be genuine expressions of our inner selves.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escape_from_Freedom

qwertygerty · 2 years ago

This seems quite apt for how I'm feeling the last few years. Thank you for this, I will look into it

timtas · 2 years ago

Positive rights don’t exist because they are simply claims on other people’s labor.