Intoduction to Minicomputer Networks 1974

This document, titled "Introduction to Minicomputer Networks," published by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in 1974, serves as a technical handbook on the design, implementation, and application of computer networks, with a particular focus on minicomputers, especially DEC's PDP-11 family.

The book's purpose is to explain how minicomputers can provide flexible and economical solutions for data communication applications in distributed computer systems, moving beyond traditional centralized timesharing.

Key areas covered include:

• Introduction to Computer Networking: A brief history, the emergence of timesharing, and the advantages of minicomputer networks, such as distributed processing, scalability, fault tolerance, and resource sharing (device, file, program, and program data sharing).
• Network Topology and Switching Techniques: Descriptions of various network structures (point-to-point, multipoint, centralized/star, hierarchical/tree, loop/ring, and distributed/multistar) and methods for routing communications traffic, including circuit switching, message switching, and packet switching.
• Network Functions: Explanations of the roles of different computing elements within a network, such as host processors, front-end communications processors, remote concentrators, remote computing systems (including Remote Job Entry), and message switchers.
• Network Building Blocks: Detailed overviews of both hardware components (communication channels, modems, acoustic couplers, line interfaces, network computers, communication terminals like typewriters and CRT displays) and software components (software structure, operating systems, and key terminology like real-time, multiprogramming, multitasking, multiprocessing, response time, and throughput).
• Line Control Procedures: An in-depth discussion of protocols that ensure correct data sequencing and integrity, covering functions like controlling data transfers, error checking and recovery (VRC, LRC, CRC), information coding, transparency, line utilization, synchronization, and bootstrapping. Specific protocols examined include IBM's Binary Synchronous Communications (BSC), Digital's Data Communications Message Protocol (DDCMP), and IBM's Synchronous Data Link Control (SDLC).
• Practical Applications: Case studies demonstrating the use of PDP-11 minicomputer networks in diverse environments, such as industrial control, university laboratories, passenger reservation systems, and credit card verification systems.

The document also features appendices detailing specific DEC PDP-11 data communication options and software offerings, as well as an overview of common carrier telecommunication services and a comprehensive glossary of terms.