Linux TCP/IP Network Administration

Linux TCP/IP Network Administration is a very comprehensive book. It starts out easy talking about OSI layer models, defining crucial buzzwords, explaining various hardware options, and generally attempting to fill in possible gaps in your background. It's easy if you don't have any gaps, but by the time we get to dynamic routing protocols it gets thick and heavy for everyone. The book did have quite a few typos. Write to me if you want my incomplete list. The best chapter (if you're new to this stuff) is chapter six. It really nails how routing tables work. Chapter 10 (covers DHCP Samba and Sendmail) is too much for one chapter and he can't get into enough depth much more than to give out some buzzwords. The later chapters go into configuring routed and gated for the various distance-vector and link-state routing protocols, and finally he ends up discussing QoS and other software that I haven't had a chance to play with yet. Ditto for IPv6. No matter how much we say it's coming it's still gonna rock things when it finally sweeps over. This book is great if you want to hook up heterogeneous or homogeneous networks with linux servers, routers, and/or clients. As it goes along, it drops names of software you might need (both GUI and CLI based) and tells you where to get it. It tries not to focus TOO much on one Linux distro or another, though the author clearly has his favorites. The chapters on OSPF and BGP are a great introduction to the theory of these routing protocols. However this book will not tell you how cisco does even the simplest thing and therefore will not directly help you get even your CCNA. It is useful background when studying more advanced cisco certs because sometimes when you read a cisco press book you lose the forest for the trees, and going back and forth between how you configure gated for OSPF and how Cisco does it will give you a clearer idea of what OSPF is REALLY all about (for those who care.)

If you need to know about IP routing on UNIX system, this is the book. This book is appropriate for experienced system administrator and intriguing for the novice. The author started on glimpse of TCP/IP, then continuing to UNIX commands and detail explainations that appropriate for routing and the commands. Although the book title mentioned "LINUX", this book is also applicable to any UNIX system (including BSD, Solaris, HP-UX, AIX, Mac OS X). Any system administrator should not have trouble adjusting command to a more-specific UNIX system (if any). If previous reviewer commented that this book could be useful for preparing CCIE exam, I could agree with that. But I think this book is more appropriate for preparing CCNA exam since the book's content is not "too advanced" (not sophisticated enough). If you are not preparing for the exam, you still could learning a lot. From this book at least you could get ideas of how major protocols (like RIP, OSPF, and BGP) getting around on a network without having a vendor router (such as Cisco router) installed. You could also learn about NAT and firewalls. If you think this book is "too easy", you might try the followings. For the ARP packets, have W. Richard Steven's "TCP/IP Illustrated Vol. 1: The Protocols". Need more info on firewalls? Try "Building Internet Firewalls" by Elizabeth Zwicky, "Linux Firewalls" by Robert Ziegler, and "Intrusion Signatures and Analysis" by Mark Cooper. Feel not enough background? Get "Internetworking with TCP/IP Vol. 1: Principles, Protocols, and Architecture" by Douglas Comer for the TCP/IP part. For the system administration part, have "UNIX System Administration Handbook" by Evi Nemeth. In between? Try "TCP/IP Network Administration" by Craig Hunt.

If you want to learn lots of advanced protocol details, then this is a "must-have". I think the OSPF & BGP chapters alone are worth the price. [Let me (...) know if you know of any other books on gated; this might even be an idea for CCIE study!]