This book and its subject help to build foundational knowledge for other areas of internet and computing courses particularly in regard to internet security, whose subject matter depend upon information derived from this source. Students studying courses that look at web applications or P2P file-sharing applications will find this book provides crucial information for their subject areas.

The experience of the authors, who are at the heart of the Internet Measurement community, and the emerging importance of the discipline make this the authoratitive and defining book of the field.