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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Computer Networking first-step (ISBN 1-58720-101-1), September 18, 2004
Computer Networking first-step (ISBN 1-58720-101-1)
by: Wendall Odom
This book is very deceiving by the title. Computer Networking first-steps. At first glance you think this book is for people that have never been involved with this topic. However reading this book quickly dissolves your negative thoughts. I was really quite surprised at the detail presented in this book at a very easy to understand level. It can be used as a new learner book or an expert review book on the topic. The books author Wendell Odom is a very knowledgeable person with a gift of being able to present complicated material in layman terms and the author of a few other great titles. I'm impressed with his writing style and methods, I used his CCNA book a few years ago for my CCNA test, I recently read his DQOS book for another test I took, which is one of the reasons I chose this book to use as a review guide
Why should you read this book? I have a few reasons. First I let my computer illiterate Sr. VP of Operations read this book. His response was "thank you, now I finally understand some of what my engineers are talking about, and I can hold conversations and speak reasonably intelligently on the subject. The next reason is the book uses dinosaurs, cartoon characters and everyday examples that allow the reader to rapidly, learn easily and retain the material presented. This saves time in having to re-read the material multiple times to truly understand what the author is trying to say. I personally think this first-step series is a very smart idea to allow people new to any subject area to learn quickly in an entertaining environment.
My favorite things about this book are it is a medium sized book. The author presents things in order that builds on the previous chapter in order to help the reader follow along easier. The material is presented with enough material to help the reader gain knowledge and feel confident on what they just read. The last reason I like it is that it has everything form basic network concepts to more advanced topics, giving the reader a step up on a wide range of topics.
I plan on buying all the first-step series books to either quickly learn a new subject or to review long forgotten or seldom used information If only they had the CCIE first-step series, I would have passed my lab the first time.
If you need a fun, and proven way of learning anything in the IT field, I would highly recommend looking for it in the first-step series. The first-step series continues the awesome Cisco Press tradition of providing of getting knowledgeable authors to write outstanding books, which help people learn.
BW
Senior Network Engineer
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Network Introduction for the Whole Family, January 25, 2005
In addition to my regular network engineering job, I am also a networking instructor at a local university branch campus. As such, I am always on the lookout for good analogies I can use in the networking courses I teach. When you explain networking to beginners, you really have to step back to the first principles ever so often, in order to make sure you have the basic in your head, as well as the complex. For this reason, I decided to check out Computer Networking First-Step (ISBN 1-58720-101-1) from Cisco Press. The first thing I noticed when I picked up the book was the author. I first discovered Wendell Odom a few years ago when I was recertifying my CCNA certification. I like how he uses examples and humor to explain concepts and has an easy, conversational style to his writing which makes it easy to read. With a lot of technical authors, reading their books can seem like a job, but not with Odom. I recommend everything he's written.
The book itself is substantial, at over 400 pages, and is priced quite reasonably, at just $24.95. It's broken down into 18 chapters which can each be read in a short sitting. Since each chapter encapsulates a single topic, you reach a feeling of accomplishment and completion at the end of each one. This is good for people new to computer networking. If you make the chapters too long, they can easily feel overwhelmed. These chapters are just right. In the intro, the book says that it is divided up into bite sized pieces for easy digestion. I thoroughly agree with that assessment.
The chapters are grouped together into sections covering networking basics, LANs, protocols, routing, WANs, and security. As you can see, the book covers a lot of ground. The thing that impressed me most was that at no point does it get overly technical. Odom picks an analogy (networks = roads) and sticks with it throughout the entire book. In the early chapters, it works perfectly. In some of the later chapters, it's a stretch, but he makes it work. I will be using the analogies from this book in teaching my beginning networking courses and would recommend it as a textbook, or at least as suggested reading for a freshman level networking course. I am also recommending this book to spouses of computer geeks (my wife, in particular). She's never really tried to understand what I do, saying that it's far too technical. I think the easy-to-read style and the bite-sized information may make this the book that gets my wife into networking. My son, who's an exceptional 2nd grader, has begun picking up this book during his reading time at night (the scary part is that he understands the material). While I don't recommend this book to the average 2nd grader, I do think that it could be used to help teach networking to middle and high school students. The review questions at the end of each chapter provide a good way for students to check their learning and the answers at the back of the book provide good explanations.
On my 5 ping rating scale, I give this book a rating of 5 pings.
!!!!!
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book, August 3, 2004
You are ready for this book. If you are just beginning your career in the networking arena or are just thinking about networking this is the book to start off with. This is a very good first read book for an introduction to these networking topics. Wendell Odom gives you the basics. Wendell Odom takes the mystery out many things like terminology and gives you an easy to understand analogy to go along with the meaning. How many times have you wondered what one of those acronyms mean? Read this book and find out what some of those terms that you hear people throwing around mean. Reading through this book was fun and easy. Getting the knowledge that came with it is incredible. Have you ever asked yourself what is all of this networking stuff all about? Wendell Odom goes through the step by step process and shows you the start to the finish line. Connectivity and security are the end results that you want to have. This is a good introduction to those topics. You will want to learn more once you are finished with this book. Many of the industry concepts are in this book. He takes you from the point that you can connect to the network through the things that help keep your network safe and running. How things move through the and get from place to place. If you are looking for an easy to read book that gives you the information that you want. Here it is. Let this be the beginning of your advancement to greater heights. This is a good foundation to get you going and keeps your focus throughout the book. The novice will enjoy this book and the simple to understand terms and pictures. The review questions help solidify the topics that you just finished reading about. Everyone can use the knowledge in this book, even if you are not in the industry. It is a good collection of topics for the power user or someone who wants to know more about networking. Do yourself a favor and get this book and read it.
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