What We Talk About When We Talk About Systems
a day ago
- #Book
- #Networking
- #Systems Approach
- The Systems Approach author team has been working together since the early 1990s, publishing their first textbook in 1996.
- In 2020, they founded 'Systems Approach, LLC' and published their first independent book, 'Software-Defined Networks: A Systems Approach'.
- Their work chronicles the maturation of the Internet from a research experiment to a global infrastructure.
- The team has been involved in various sectors, including established vendors, disruptive startups, and open-source initiatives.
- Their newsletter and book aim to distill essential lessons from their experiences, focusing on timeless principles rather than fleeting technologies.
- The book organizes essays around recurring themes in system design, such as the tension between centralization and decentralization.
- The authors emphasize the importance of a systems approach, which involves understanding technology within a broader context.
- They pay homage to Fred Brooks' 'The Mythical Man-Month', drawing parallels between their experiences with the Internet and Brooks' work on large systems.
- Each chapter concludes with key messages to help readers apply the systems approach in their own work.
- The book includes further reading suggestions, highlighting influential works in computer system design.