Head First Networking (Paperback)

~ Al Anderson (Author), Ryan Benedetti (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Frustrated with networking books so chock-full of acronyms that your brain goes into sleep mode? Head First Networking's unique, visually rich format provides a task-based approach to computer networking that makes it easy to get your brain engaged. You'll learn the concepts by tying them to on-the-job tasks, blending practice and theory in a way that only Head First can.

With this book, you'll learn skills through a variety of genuine scenarios, from fixing a malfunctioning office network to planning a network for a high-technology haunted house. You'll learn exactly what you need to know, rather than a laundry list of acronyms and diagrams. This book will help you:

• Master the functionality, protocols, and packets that make up real-world networking
• Learn networking concepts through examples in the field
• Tackle tasks such as planning and diagramming networks, running cables, and configuring network devices such as routers and switches
• Monitor networks for performance and problems, and learn troubleshooting techniques
• Practice what you've learned with nearly one hundred exercises, questions, sample problems, and projects

Head First's popular format is proven to stimulate learning and retention by engaging you with images, puzzles, stories, and more. Whether you're a network professional with a CCNA/CCNP or a student taking your first college networking course, Head First Networking will help you become a network guru.

About the Author

Al Anderson is the Director of IT Support Services at Salish Kootenai College. He holds an Associates of Science in Computer Science and is near completing of Bachelors of Science in Computer Engineering. He has 10+ years of college teaching experience in Programming, Networking, and Desktop Publishing, and 15+ years experience in creating, editing, and formatting various documents including pamphlets, catalogs, and manuals. Al has produced a 3-8 hour video series for the Virtual Training Company including Ruby on Rails, REALbasic, and Programming Ruby. In addition, he has built many production applications including a Learning ManagementSystem in use by Salish Kootenai College, a Ruby-on-Rails issue-tracking help desk application, and a Mac OS X Cocoa Airport Wireless Utility.

Ryan Benedetti holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from the University of Montana and teaches in the Liberal Arts Department at Salish Kootenai College (SKC) on the Flathead Indian Reservation.

For seven years, Ryan served as Department Head for Information Technology and Computer Engineering at SKC. Prior to that, he worked as editor and information systems specialist for a river, stream, and wetland research program in the School of Forestry at the University of Montana.

Ryan's poems have been published in Cut Bank and Andrei Codrescu's Exquisite Corpse. He loves cartooning, playing blues harmonica, making Flash learning toys, and practicing zazen. He spends his best moments with his wife, daughter, and son in the Mission Mountain Valley of Montana.

Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 1 edition (May 27, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596521553
• ISBN-13: 978-0596521554
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #84,247 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #35 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Networking > Intranets & Extranets
  #90 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Networking > Networks, Protocols & APIs > Networks

• This item is part of The O'Reilly Head First Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't really explain much networking!, July 18, 2009

By	Thomas Tamayo "Malweth" (Rhode Island) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I hold a CCNP and work in Network Engineering. Recently I managed to take a look at a copy of this book. It's a good introduction to physical connections, though perhaps too much of the book is spent on this topic. It falls flat on anything you might want to do with your network connected up, though.

This book discusses the CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) a few times. While it might be a good introduction if you're thinking of going into the CCNA having never worked on a network before, it is not a CCNA, or even pre-CCNA book. It is a good overview of the physical layer.

My major issues with this book are: the old technologies and glossing over of upper layer network functions. In terms of technology, there's a fairly long section on coaxial network connections (10Base2). While you might come across it in "the field," it's a fairly esoteric technology now. Furthermore, the router shown in the book is so old that CCNA-goers don't even buy them for practice anymore! I have a feeling the IT prof that wrote this book has never actually configured a router (at least not in the last 20 years).

The router image is actually confusing because of its age (and the error in the diagram doesn't help). It shows a Cisco 2500 series router (OLD) with two "fast ethernet (feth)" ports. Unfortunately the arrows to the ethernet ports are actually going to "Serial" ports (as you can just barely make out on the router). This is confusing because the Console port actually does look like what most know as an ethernet port. The actual ethernet connections on this router are an old style AUI port (not described in this diagram). The take-away of this is that it's entirely confusing to the beginner.

The book barely discusses switching and routing. The descriptions are good, and some of the lower-level switching layer is described well. There is no discussion about how switches communicate to each other - I don't think switching loops (an important CCNA-level concept) are even mentioned. TCP/IP (how packets are used to talk from computer to computer) is described, but also oversimplified.

The routing protocol described (RIP) is old technology, though still useful, but it's over simplified. The difference between "Distance Vector" and "link-state" protocols is not described (nor do those terms show up in this book). Worst of all, they point you in the direction of the RFCs if you want to learn more about common protocols like OSPF and BGP! These highly technical references might be useful if you're already an engineer, but are probably the worst possible reference for a beginner.

Summing up, buy this book if you've never seen or used a network before. If you're starting your first job as a tech or interning for a network engineer, this might be a good intro. If you're looking for CCNA resources, you're probably already well past this book. I would not have been pleased had I purchased this book even before I started working toward my CCNA.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars disappointing and frustrating, August 24, 2009

By	apophenier "Ken" (Fair Oaks, CA United States) - See all my reviews

I wanted to like this, but I think that it fails to cover its subject, fails to be useful for most people, and needs more careful editing. Overall, the book presents the networking material very slowly, but confusingly. The cute examples are distracting and often fail to illustrate the topics.
It spends many pages on basic undergrad comp sci mechanics that are neither necessary nor useful in building and maintaining a network, and rarely in troubleshooting network problems.
The text and exercises refer to material that has not been presented yet. I often had to look ahead a few pages to find a definition. A couple of the solutions appear to be wrong, or are not explained enough to understand.
Several times, the book suggests that something is possible, but does not tell how to do it. Often the discussion is limited to Cisco specifics and fails to address other equipment that a new networker might encounter.
Suggestions for improvement:
- thorough editing
- a straightforward summary at the end of each chapter
- an appendix of the common maintenance and diagnostic tools
I look forward to a second edition.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not of much value, August 21, 2009

By	BillyJoeBob (Palo Alto) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

I really cannot imagine who would benefit from reading this book. Hardly a worthy addition to O'Reilly's Head First lineup, it offers only the simplest introduction to the world of networking. I doubt that the authors, who are apparently instructors at a college on a reservation in Montana, were a wise choice to author this volume - 20 years to complete a degree? and a liberal arts instructor?

There are a few errors and apparent misunderstandings in the text. More seriously, much of the material is simplified to the point where the information content is at danger of disappearing altogether. The chapters on physical cable layout are particularly pointless, containing such insights as (and I paraphrase here): "if the AC ducts are in the way, reroute your cables". OK... thanks - I was going to cut right through them!

Little effort is made to provide useful references for further reading; only the networking RFCs are suggested. This is completely unhelpful, and suggests that the authors themselves are unfamiliar with the (abundant) literature on TCP/IP, routing, switching and network security.

With this volume, and some of the more recent Head First titles, O'Reilly risks returning to its previous bad practice of publishing ANYTHING which they think will make money. I very much hope they rethink their approach to what has, until recently, been a remarkably useful series.