Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Very Readable, Outstanding Book
This book was a very pleasant surprise, it is both easy to understand and contains a lot of in depth information on topics that interested me. Contained in this book are the introductory topics such as architecture and topologies that you need to understand modern networking, presented along with examples that extend the concepts to current networking designs.
Among the chapters I liked the most were the ones on network discovery and mapping, bandwidth and throughput, and particularly the one on modern routing. Each of these chapters not only explains the underlying theory involved, but shows how the industry applies the different technologies to make modern networking possible. Signaling theory, sampling, multiplexing, traffic engineering, and other complex topics were introduced in a way that made me feel that I finally understood them for the first time. The discussion wasn't dumbed down, but started at an introductory level and proceeded to very advanced treatments. I think it is a testament to the quality of the writing that the author's approach worked so well.
The first part of the book is on theory, the second on hardware, and the third part is on system types. Hardware is presented on a practical level with enough theory to be able to understand how the hardware is deployed. I like the discussion of what a network interface is quite a lot. It's nice to find topics such as home networking, peer-to-peer networks, personal LANs, LANs, WANs, WiFi, SANs, and high performance networking discussed and containing up-to-date information. There are presentations on topics such as The Onion Router (TOR) network, torrents, and many other topics that I haven't seen in any other networking book.
I wasn't as impressed with the TCP/IP protocol treatment, it was more general than I would have liked and not as detailed. However, all of the requisite topics are there and if you are new to the subject the information will get you up to speed. I've never really understood how storage networks relate to regular networks, this book clarified the relation between the two completely. I loved the chapters on streaming media, telephony and VoIP as they contained many examples of real world systems that I've worked with on my own networks. The network security chapters are also good, particularly the firewall chapter.
I would have preferred to have a larger section on network diagnostics and on network management. These are complex issues that are invaluable. Perhaps in upcoming editions the author will consider expanding these topics. As it stands this is a pretty long book, nearly 900 pages in length. I think that this is the best general networking book available, and that if you are going to buy one networking book and keep it on your shelf that this is the one to have. It is probably the best networking book of the current crop, and I'm glad I found it.
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Everything you need to set up and maintain large or small networks
Barrie Sosinsky
Networking Bible
Create a secure network for home or enterprise
Learn basic building blocks and standards
Set up for broadcasting, streaming, and more
The book you need to succeed!
Your A-Z guide to networking essentials
Whether you're setting up a global infrastructure or just networking two computers at home, understanding of every part of the process is crucial to the ultimate success of your system.This comprehensive book is your complete, step-by-step guide to networking-from different architectures and hardware to security, diagnostics, Web services, and much more. Packed with practical, professional techniques and the very latest information, this is the go-to resource you need to succeed.
Demystify the basics: network stacks, bus architectures, mapping, and bandwidth
Get up to speed on servers, interfaces, routers, and other necessary hardware
Explore LANs, WANs, Wi-Fi, TCP/IP, and other types of networks
Set up domains, directory services, file services, caching, and mail protocols
Enable broadcasting, multicasting, and streaming media
Deploy VPNs, firewalls, encryption, and other security methods
Perform diagnostics and troubleshoot your systems
