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TrueStories
Posted October 13, 2009
Straight Talk About Networking
This is the straight talk about networking that I was searching for when I entered my MCSE training in 2003. Not only does it cover the subject fully but also covers the background questions that every network engineer needs to know to resolve the myrad of possibilities that occur in medium size commercial installations and in home networks. This book resolved most of my remaining questions and it made the complex world of networking more elegant and clear than any book available before 2008. If you haven't spent time using WireShark or other network sniffers or if you haven't spent months pinging the remote nodes of a complex network this book will finally make network operations and design very clear to you.
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This book uses the time honored method of introducing elements of networking by telling stories and by working out typical problems in networking. Each aspect of networking is introduced in the order needed to build on previously introduced aspects. This locks each element securely in place and builds a clear and complete whole as the story unfolds. It introduces the issues in a simple way and proceeds to explain the overall progress toward the networking solution.
Equipment is introduced chronologically as in the history of networking development. Competing hardware and protocols are detailed and suggestions are made to help the novice network engineer make good selections toward the goal of finding the network solution. In this process a number of network tools and processes are discussed to give the reader the best understanding of how everything works together.
Several people I know, who didn't have any previous network training, dismissed this book out of hand until I described the concerted planning and comprehensive coverage of protocols and data packet management that the book covered. This bridged their reluctance to look into the book and after reading sections of this book they pronounced it to be quite suitable to their needs.
I found the book to be just the right mixture of technology and training for somone like me who deals in custom small networks and builds network software programs to do active directory and Linux cluster like applications for equipment testing. I hope you will give a closer look to this book and see if it meets your needs or the needs of your company network library. -
Lacking
I first bought the Head First HTML book and found it very instructional and easy to read, so when I was looking for a networking book to help dip my feet I was excited to see Head First published a book.
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This is an okay book if you're looking for the rudiments of networking, but don't expect to read it and be able to set up a network (maybe a home network). I found several errors in both grammar and, more tragically, the exercises/solutions provided. The information touched lightly on the various networking topics with no real explanations how things are done. I understand that this is a book on basics, but they could have delved a little deeper into topics. This book could have benefited from a bit more time on the editors' desk and if it was handed to a networking professional for testing.
I gave two stars because it's not completely without value, but this seems more like a rough draft than a finished manuscript ready for bookshelves.