Customer Reviews

Microsoft® Encyclopedia of Networking, Second Edition

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What is an Active Directory structure? What does a cookie do? What is DMS? How does an Ethernet Switch work? Why is FAT 16 different from FAT32? What RFC covers ICMP? How does the NetBIOS name work? These are but a small portion of what you'll find in the best networking encyclopedia on the market today.

From A to Z and everything in between this mountain of networking information is just what every network technician, help desk technician, LAN administrator and network engineer need at their side. Over 1400 pages give you the most complete listing of terms, definitions and explanations on the market today.

Microsoft Press has gone to great lengths to make sure you have the information right at your fingertips. Covering topics like NT Workstation, NT Server, protocols, DNS, WINS, gateway operations, configurations and installations. Everything and I mean everything has been included.

Microsoft Press left nothing out as they included an electronic version of the book on cd...For those serious about networking, from the beginner to the expert, you now have the definitive Microsoft Networking Reference manual - excellent job!

This book is purely a reference, but gives clear concise defintions of every term and a "how it works" practical application of the term discussed. I am using it to prepare for an interview and it is doing a grand job so far.

Peace.

Not only are networking terms covered in this book, but hardware, platforms, standards, disaster recovery components and essentially every reference you will ever need for the industry has been documented and alphabetically sorted in this book. One of the things that impressed me the most about this book is that the descriptions are not Webster-like. In fact if you look up "shared folder permissions" you will find 3 pages and six diagrams that provide not only a definition, but a practical guide for application as well. For example; what permissions are more restrictive, how the permission changes are applied for several different operating systems ranging from Windows 98 and ME to Windows XP and .NET Server, default permissions, application of permissions to groups and even the implications of an NTFS partition.

The part that earned my respect as a seasoned consultant was the inclusion of wireless networking terms and standards. Recently, I have been involved in several writing projects and need to know a little about everything in order to provide my readers with peripheral information about a particular subject. Not only was I able to find information on the 802.11 standard, but the Tullocks' also included information on the variants including the 802.11b, 802.11a and 802.15 standards. In fact, there are nearly twenty pages of wireless protocol and support information. In addition, subjects such as Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) is covered and explained as is frequency hopping and spread spectrum. I certainly did not plan on finding those examples, diagrams and explanations. I found the same level of detail when I needed to search for information on public key cryptography. A detailed description of the different types of keys is provided as is the components that make up the environment and cross-references to certificate authorities, encryption, SSL and digital certificates including X.509 information. There is enough information on PKI that any reader could not only understand but know enough to be able to identify components and talk intelligently on the subject.

Another important aspect of networking that I did not expect to see is the networking commands and tools. For example, all the TCP/IP commands such as tracert, ping, route, rcp, rexec and tftp are defined and explained. UNIX commands are also defined and explained as are Windows 2000, XP and .NET Server commands. Detailed NET commands for Windows networking are also described and explained from NET ACCOUNTS to NET VIEW. For the most part, the commands that received the most attention in this book are Microsoft networking related, but considerable energy was spent in defining and explaining commands from other networking operating systems including UNIX. In addition, information about Apache and Linux is included as are many pages on NetWare and NDS subjects.

Aside from the many topics that I did not expect to see in the book, the topics that should be included in a networking encyclopedia are all there and in great detail. Just about every hardware element from cables and how to build a cross-over cable to fiber-optic, fibre channel, hubs switches and even routing protocols are covered and explained so that the reader can quickly see the benefits and drawbacks of each technology. It would almost seem that an entire section was dedicated to subnetting as page after page is used to explain and detail how and why subnetting is used and implemented. Many tables are provided to explain the relation between the mask and the number of subnets and hosts. The novice should immediately understand the implications of subnetting while the die-hards will refer to the section as a reference.

I love books like this! This guide has every network reference you can think of. If you are any kind of network administrator, you'll want a complete reference on your desk. When you were in school, you'd have to grab Webster's daily to complete projects or double-check your own work. Well...now that you've graduated into the Geek world, you need your own Geekified Webster's. I use this reference daily to look up terms I've always talked about, but not quite understood completely. And, believe it or not (OK, I'm a Geek, too), I'll sit in bed and just browse the text from time-to-time, picking up something new every time I crack the book.

Sometime in my reviews I come across a book that is not written to a certification exam objective, it is not written to cover any one topic, instead is meant to be used a reference guide and this is such a book.

There are over 1300 pages covering A to Z or the networking arena including those items that begin with numbers. Things like A+ certification to DMZ to IEEE to MDAC to RPC and ZAK.

The book has an abundance of pictures, diagrams, tables, figures, screen shots and code included with overviews of each word and cross referenced was well. This makes it one of the most complete manuals I have ever seen.

Included in the book is a cd-rom with and e-book version complete with hyperlinks in the cross references. Overall this is a very in-depth overview as well as an excellent reference manual and a nice addition to my growing technical library.

I suppose it is to be expected that anything MS Press puts out would be heavily slanted towards a Windows environment, but I found the book a tad too vendor-specific for my tastes. The coverage of Linux was lacking (though essentially favorable) considering its impact on modern networking, but the NetWare material seemed designed to subliminally influence the reader to sign up for a Novell to Windows 2000 Migration course.

Also, I do not think the book was cross-referenced enough... there was a "see also" here and there, but I feel that books of this kind should contain far more, leading the reader down a winding road of understanding that ultimately returns to its point of origin.

If you're an aspiring MCSE or you work in an all-Microsoft shop, then bump up my rating by one star and get a copy immediately. If you're looking for comprehensive coverage of ALL networking concepts, consider looking elsewhere.

This book is a must for any IT Professional in the field today. It offers not only definations to terms you may be looking for, but describes how it works in an easy to understand, yet in depth, format. Anything in the network world that you may want to know about is here. Helped to me understand a lot of things that I did not quite get while I was pursuing MCSE status. I have not had a book that I have purchased and used so much ever before. This is one book I have already recommended to all my friends because I really believe it is worth spending the money for!

I'm studying for my MCSE and I learned a great deal about networking concepts and computer buzz words from this book. My dad who is an IT manager saw I'm reading this book and fell in love with it. He told me the book has helped him so much in learning about IT products and concepts that he gave a laptop as a gift! Thanks Mitch!

If you're looking for information on network types, architectures, hardware, technologies, protocols, concepts, tools, services and/or software, you have to run right out and purchase this book.

This is probably the most comprehensive book on the market today that covers the A-Z of Microsoft networking. This book is a great addition to any technical school library or any administrator's bookshelf. Would-be MCSE's will greatly benefit from this book.

Not only is it easy to navigate, filled with diagrams, tables and great screenshots, each entry in the encyclopedia has an abundance of easy to read in-depth technical information as well as references to other relevant entries.

I particularly appreciate the CD-ROM that I can take with me when I travel and search when I'm in a hurry.

I must admit some degree of skepticism when I heard about this book. There are already so many good network reference books on the market why would I be interested in one from Microsoft? It's surely going to be biased right?

However, Mitch Tulloch is a respected contributor to the myITforum.com web-site, so, casting caution to the wind, I dove in.

What I discovered is a reference book that is very different than the others gathering dust on my shelf. The language is clear and concise. The graphs are superb. It is well organized. Moreover it it's actually a delight - no, FUN - to read!

While there is a slight Microsoft "bent" to the content it is only to answer the reader's question in a practical way if they are engaged in Microsoft Networking. For example it will define "grep", give you a UNIX example and then explain how to layer in and use grep in a Windows NT/2000/.NET setting.

I have shown this book to my colleagues at work and they are equally impressed with it. It's a "keeper"!

You may have other computer reference books but I would rate this book as one of the few "gotta haves".