Customer Reviews

Network Administration with FreeBSD 7: Building, securing, and maintaining networks with the FreeBSD operating system

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I wrote most of this review before Richard posted his, and feel like he's really stolen my thunder. I'm basically in agreement with him on all points, and trimmed some of what he said that I duplicated.

Farrokhi clearly knows what he is talking about, there were a number of things I learned from the book. However his native language is not English, and I have to wonder if it was even reviewed by a native English speaking editor. I don't fault the author at all for this, I know how difficult writing a book is and couldn't imagine writing one in anything other than English. Packt dropped the ball here with a complete lack of editing. I started making notes on formatting and grammatical issues but gave up less than 50 pages in as the list grew so quickly it felt like work. Some just made the book harder to read, but several left me wondering what exactly he means.

I think there is a place for a good niche book on more advanced network and system administration topics, and many of the topics covered in this book are suitable. I feel like it doesn't go into enough depth in several areas - there were a number of parts where I felt you were left hanging without adequate explanation. For the second edition, I agree with Bejtlich, focus on those areas he listed and get a native English speaker to copyedit and this could be a five star addition to the lineup of FreeBSD books available.

As for this book, it's definitely not something I would recommend to anyone just getting started with FreeBSD - that isn't its intended audience. I feel more seasoned administrators who frequently work with FreeBSD will find enough value in the content to justify the purchase price. Just don't be prepared for a smooth, easy read.

I am always glad to see new books on FreeBSD. The best authors look at the current market, identify gaps, and fill or expand beyond them with good material. I believe Network Administration with FreeBSD 7 (NAWF7) could be that book if the author takes a look at the competition and decides where his book should fit. Right now it's a combination of standard FreeBSD system administration advice plus fairly interesting, higher-end guidance. I strongly suggest the author remove all of the standard material, tell the reader to look elsewhere for basics, and focus squarely on advanced FreeBSD system administration. Add a copyeditor who proofs for grammar (in addition to the technical editor who proofs for content) and you could see a five star second edition.

NAWF7 shines when it addresses items seldom seen elsewhere. For example, I liked reading about adding and encrypting swap space. The book also covered modern topics like Csup, Portsnap, FreeBSD Update, and other recent additions to the FreeBSD OS. I was disappointed to see only a small mention of Portmaster, however. I liked the tables on pp 102-4 explaining flags seen in ifconfig output, e.g., "SIMPLEX Indicates that the interface cannot hear its own transmissions".

I would like to see more or new coverage of the following in a second edition: 1) system performance monitoring and tuning; 2) advanced networking using Netgraph; 3) more IPv6; 4) creating, modifying, and maintaining FreeBSD ports; 5) large-scale system administration, particularly keeping multiple systems configured and updated appropriately; 6) advanced port and package management, especially maintaining a personal package repository; 7) debugging problems with CURRENT and other in-depth subjects. Topics like these would clearly differentiate NAWF7 from other FreeBSD books.

On a final note, I noticed that FreeBSD's current "Fast IPSEC" implementation doesn't use "options IPSEC-ESP" in 7.0. That is a pre-7.0 convention. I also found the author's language distracting. A real copyeditor should have proofed the book and worked out the English language issues.