Networking by Example

I read this book many many years ago, early on in my I.T. career. It's a good book, and one I would highly recommend for anyone who is new to setting up a network at home (or in a small office). Parts I found especially useful were Chapter 12 "Sharing an Internet Connection". The book has a good description of routers. It also does a good job of describing how your ISP provides you with an IP address for your main machine, and then how you can give your other machines private IP addresses (Ch. 7) and then use NAT which will change all the private IP addy's to the single address your ISP gave you, so those machines can go out on the net. I also like the fact that there is some discussion of including Linux machines on your network. This book will get you started on SAMBA so you can share stuff between MicroSoft and Linux (Ch. 9).

Recently I posted a review of this very excellent book. I wanted to point out one bad thing about the book, which I guess had to do with timing. Red Hat 7.1 no longer includes linuxconf to do most of the linux configuration, so a lot of the examples do little good for those using Red Hat. (The authors used linux-mandrake, which I guess still uses linuxconf). One frustration I have experienced with using this book is that it overlooks a description of the files accessible through the command line. Instead the book relies on linuxconf to illustrate. Of course, it's not the authors' fault that red hat no longer uses linuxconf, but that's the problem with explaining things in terms of a gui interface. It would have been nice to include more samples of config files (and commands to run) and less screenshots. I reluctantly conclude that this book wouldn't give enough information to do linux network configuration, although it gives an excellent overview.

A few months ago I compared networking books at a bookstore with a generous collection of computer books. I have a background in PC hardware, introductory networking and an intermediate understanding of Linux, and I needed a book that was not specific to one operating system. Important components of my home network would be linux-based, but I also needed to include some windows 98, ME and 2000 services too. The problem with many of the networking books out there is that they are geared to the networking specialist with an advanced knowledge of networking already, or they are dumb-ified for the home-user who would be connecting things with Windows 98. So you are faced with a choice between 1000 page tomes which go into more detail about netware, netbui or wiring than anyone would be interested in. Or you can choice a friendly book full of colorful Windows 98 screenshots (a perfect and actually informative example of that would be "Complete Idiot's Guide to Networking Your Home" by by Mark D. Thompson.).It is surprising to see how few of the home networking books out there seemed to talk about Linux, although perhaps by the summer of 2001 that will have changed. "Networking by Example" is a remarkable book because it gives equivalent functions by operating system, 98, NT, 2000 and Linux. It does not go into great depth into configuring services for Linux and Windows (like web servers, samba, etc), but it provides just enough detail for the reader to make sense of chapters from another linux book on apache or samba. This book is one of the rare books that covers both OS's and how to integrate them (the only other book being Unix and Windows 2000 Handbook: Planning, Integration, and Administration by Lonnie Harvel)One of the most valuable things about the book is the space it devotes to choosing the right hardware and how choice of an operating system might affect your choices. Unfortunately, the book gave a shallow treatment of wireless technologies and somebody looking for wireless information might find better information elsewhere. Sometimes it recommends specific products (which is probably not a good idea, given how quickly models change), but the book gives very practical questions about things to look for when buying a router or cable equipment. The book provides a good number of black and white photographs and illustrations for installing things, and the book contained several chapters near the start that discussed PC-hardware. I skipped through these chapters, but others might find them helpful. The book does a great job of discussing print sharing and file sharing in both Windows and Linux. It also spends a good bit of time talking about setting up DSL and cable modems, as well as advanced firewall and security topics. In short: this book is an excellent introduction for the person setting up home networking. Because it is so clear and describes everything so well, it might even be helpful for the would-be networking administrator bef

I picked up "Networking by Example" because of its simplicity. I was very surprised by the depth and detail the writers took in both explaining and situating Networking. Barry and Marcia Press are very good at explaning Networking. Their writing style is unincumberd by repeteive techno-babble. Instead, they reserve technical terms only when needed. Their pictorials are easily understood and specific examples are given to answer any existing questions.Very good book for anyone interested in Network basics. Very recommended to those interested in the IT field.

Networking By Example is a beginning level guide to teaching the latest technologies and putting this knowledge to use. Using high-quality, detailed photographs and diagrams, author and computer expert Barry Press makes learning simple and straightforward. Barry Press explains various techniques and a broad number of subjects on setting up networks for the small business or home. Beginner, 448 pages