Networking: A Beginner's Guide, Third Edition

This book derives a lot of its value from the fact that Hallberg isn't shy about sharing his opinions. For example, he comes out against managing your own modem farm (and in favor of access via the open Internet) in most situations, citing the considerable nuisance aspect of such work and the appeal of Internet Service Provider (ISPs) technical support resources. The procedural information in this book is strong as well, but most readers will especially like the general wisdom the author shares. His approach to administration decisions is to describe his thought process, in which he identifies the relevant issues, weighs the importance of each, and investigates the suitability of competing solutions to the problem. He also uses sidebars to great effect, answering small but important questions ("What's a thread?") concisely and accurately. --David Wall

Topics covered: Networking for newcomers to network administration, with emphasis on hardware, cabling, topologies, protocols, directory services, and remote access. Operations of clients and servers are detailed. Platform-specific information on Novell NetWare 5, Microsoft Windows 2000 Server, and Red Hat Linux 6.1 is also included.

Product Description
Get a solid introduction to core networking fundamentals using this practical resource. You'll learn to install, set up, and administer Windows .NET Server, Linux, Apache and work with key Internet protocols. Also find up-to-date coverage of wireless technologies and security methods--including firewalls, packet filtering, encryption, and more.

I believe this book is geared more for the person who wants to make networking a career. This book talks mostly about networking in a business environment and if that is your thing then this is the beginner's book for you.

I liked the beginning of the book about network layers, cable types and network topographies.

This is a good book, just a little overkill for me.


Good coverage but biased   February 25, 2002
 18 out of 20 found this review helpful

First off this is the best introduction to networking I've seen. The text is clear and straightforward. The balance of theory and details is excellent. I'm glad I have the book.

That said, I do have a couple of gripes. For a networking book to basically ignore Unix and Linux for the first 70% of the book is absurd. Halberg mentions Windows 7 times in the first chapter and does not mention Linux until chapter 6 and then only to state that Unix and Linux treat each computer as a host.

I understand that Windows dominates the corporate server market but to ignore the fact that 'nix dominates the web server market is silly. Does Redmond hold his first-born captive?

When Linux is mentioned it is suddenly with instructions on how to install Red Hat 6.1, an already dated release. And, the sudden introduction of Linux seems odd, since it was basically ignored through the rest of the book. The discontinuity is strange.

I didn't read the first edition of this book but wonder if the Linux information was updated. For a book written in 2001 the failure to include current information on Linux, Mac OS X and 802.11b networking, which Apple had fully introduced as a home/small office solution is almost criminal.

Conclusion: A good primer on general networking principles and practices especially in the Intel/Microsoft world. Somewhat lacking when it comes to the larger world of the net.


A life saver for a begginer   February 13, 2002
 11 out of 11 found this review helpful

If you are a freshman wanting to delve into networking and
perhaps spring a professional career out of it, this is where
you can have a good start. The author cleverly presents networking from a top view and progresses down to the hardware and software components of networking in easy to understand English. Each chapter flows to the next seamlessly to conclude, towards the end of the book, with a specific examples of setting up your own LAN with Windows 2000 Server and a workstation with Windows 9x connected to the Server followed by the administration of the server. And the author put in a good section on setting up a LAN with RedHat Linux in a similar approach to the Windows 2000 server section. However, there's a slight disappointment in the RedHat Linux set up section where the author said "This chapter discusses the intstallation process of RedHat Linux 7.0.." on page 326, which turns out to be "This section documents the steps necessary to install RedHat Linux 6.1..." on page 330. This could be a typo - I am not too sure. I've only read through the RedHat Linux set up section.

Some requests from the author, though: In the RedHat Linux set up section, could you illustrate the "Setting up Networking" section on page 342 with IP adress, Netmask... etc and explain a little more on the parameters on the screen shot on page 343. And also illustrate how to set up and connect a RedHat Linux workstation to the RedHat Linux server similar to that of the Windws 2000 Server section? Also how to connect a Windows 2000 Professional workstation to the Windows 2000 Server? And maybe post it on the net or somehow let us know. If you can do this, this is a six stars book.

Other than the above mentioned requests, this is a well
deserved 5 stars book. Well done Bruce.
Give us some more of your good stuffs. Perhaps volume II, Volume III of this book.

Be warned, this book is for the beginners only.