A gentle, straightforward introduction to the fundamentals of setting up and maintaining a computer network.

• Teaches the strategies of networking, whether connecting two computers or two hundred.

• Demystifies the technology behind different types of networks, operating systems, hardware components, and protocols.

• Provides readers with important information about security, administration, and troubleshooting communication problems.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 14 Ratings

Good entry level material... - 2003-11-29
Reviewer Rating:
Review
I'm the type of developer who really doesn't know much about the networking side of things. I can follow instructions OK, but when you start talking about subnet masks and DHCP, you lose me quickly. While I don't want to become a networking engineer, I do want to understand a bit more about the technology. To that end, I read through this book. Good reading...

The book starts with the basics of networks and protocols. From there, you will learn about the different types of networks (peer-to-peer and network operating systems), and how you can set up networking with three major NOS packages. With that basic foundation in place, the author branches out into how networking works with the Internet. Finally, the topic of network security is covered in order to be able to keep yourself safe.

The material is a good mix of explanation and usable instructions. For example, if you are setting up Linux to work in a networked environment, you can use the information in this book to help you get it set up and running. There are a number of Tip and Note sidebars that add additional information (such as disk partitioning on Linux) that may not be exactly network related, but is important information to know within the context of networking. Each chapter ends with an "Absolute Minimum" section that recaps the chapter with a number of bullet points that were covered.

Some people might find the cutesy graphics a bit too much. But remember, this is a beginner's book, not a comprehensive "how to" for running your network.

Conclusion
If you are looking for an understandable introduction to networking that doesn't assume you want to become a certified networking engineer, this book will work well for you.

Clear and Concise, not sure why it has bad reviews - 2005-11-12
Reviewer Rating:
I bought this book about one year ago, and never got around to reading it. I ran into some Networking problems this evening and cracked open the book to find some answers. I started reading at page one and a few hours later Im nearly half way through the book.

I consider myself to be quite computer savvy but networking has never been my thing. This book assumes no prior knowledge to networking as the title would suggest. The concepts are clear and they are broken up into relatively small chunks which are easy to digest. There are very few long winded explanations and I have not been left wondering "huh?" at any point thus far. Its not extremely comprehensive but the again, its not supposed to be, its a beginners guide and I think it delivers on the goods. Im not sure why its gotten poor reviews from other readers... I read a lot of computer books and I have found this to be one of the easiest to digest that I have ever read.

Spend Your Money Elsewhere - 2004-02-27
Reviewer Rating:
Currently, I hold an MSCIS with emphasis in wide-area network (WAN) technology, and I was given the book as a gift nearly a year ago. About five days ago, I opened the book and began reading through the pages. I read the book from front to back, and I found many errors in the writing as well as difficult-to-grasp explanations that were not completely accurate. Additionally, Chapter 13 leaves the reader confused to say the least. Was the book intended to teach basic networking concepts or hypertext markup language (HTML) coding for beginners? In the same chapter, the reader is left wondering if he/she purchased a book on website design methods and techniques rather than networking. In my humble opinion, the book is not one that should be read by someone seriously interested in obtaining a higher degree in the field of networking as a subset of the information technology major of study. For one who knows nothing about information technology and recently purchased a computer, it might seem to be a wholesome read, but from my standpoint, I would preferred to have spent the time reading something a bit more substantial in both quality and content. Lastly, most end users rarely utilize the command shell, commonly referred to as the command prompt, to complete any task in the graphical user interface (GUI) environments of contemporary operating systems, so discussing ping and other such utilities does nothing to boost the learning curve of the beginner. If the book is given as a gift, then take my advice, donate it to the public library and ask for a tax deduction slip.

Very very poor checking - 2004-02-24
Reviewer Rating:
This book looked fine to me in the store but very shortly after I commenced to read it I discovered that it was obviously a rush job and very little care seems to have gone into checking it. Chapter two makes reference to material thats supposed to be in Chapter one but isnt while theres reference to stuff within Chapter two as being in chapter two (sorry it thats a bit complicated:) but it is obvious that this has just been cut and pasted in the revision from a later chapter. Given the poor quality of the checking it would make me lose confidence in the technical side of things. How can you trust a book where the poor quality of checking and proofreading is so obvious?

It contains more problems than are acceptable. - 2003-10-12
Reviewer Rating:
As computers increase in power and capability, they are becoming more and more like a household appliance. Like the television set, when they first appeared there was at most one to a house. That has now changed, as many families have several computers, sometimes one for each family member. At this time, there are fourteen computers in my house that service the five inhabitants.
The combination of this change, a drop in price of the connection hardware and easier to use networking software has led to many people networking their household computers together. In many cases, this is also economical , as it allows for resources such as printers to be shared. However, networking computers is quite different from using standard application software or programming, so anyone who wants to build a network will most likely need some assistance. That is the primary audience for this book, although anyone considering a career in computer networking will also find it a suitable primer.
All of the basics are covered and then some, as many of the protocols that drive networking are also briefly examined. Additional topics include hosting a web site, working with applications loaded on a network server, protecting your data and an initial foray into network security. True to the title, none is covered in any great depth, but there are many pointers to other Que books that contain additional material on the topic.
Unfortunately, a lot of the material is outdated. Networking is an area changing as fast as the mother of all networks, namely the Internet, and a book being somewhat behind the curve is inevitable. However, this one is more behind than it should be. There are errors, something that is also unavoidable, but the number in this book exceeds what is generally considered acceptable.
Networking computers is a skill that has filtered down to the home, after starting at a very high esoteric plane. These changes have led to a demand for basic books in networking, a condition that this book satisfies, but only to a point.

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