Customer Reviews

Networking All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

When I volunteered to join the technology comittee at my kids' school, I found out that I needed to get up to speed on computer Networking. It's a small school with an entirely volunteer tech support staff and the previous network administrator wanted to leave the committee.
I consider myself to be a power user when it comes to computers, but I did not have a real good grasp of how networks operated. This book bills itself as "a handy all-in-one guide which provides a bird's-eye view of all the important (network) stuff". I found that it did cover all the aspects of setting up and running networks: large, small, and even wireless. The book starts by covering information that is universal to all networks (terminology, network planning, etc.). It progresses through various aspects of network installation and configuration, security issues, specific network functions, and finally, information specific to several different server operating systems. Operating systems covered include Windows 2000 and 2003 server, Novell Netware 6 and 6.5, Linux, and Mac OS/X Server.
While this book probably won't provide enough information for you to become a certified network administrator, I feel it does a great job of explaining what you need to know to get up and running.

I've often thought that computer books tend to leave out the first forty pages or so that tell you the broad picture of just what it is that you are trying to do. This book can almost be viewed as the front end of any number of dedicated networking books that start off just about where this one ends. Those books then go off in great detail about the arcane details that as the author of this book says 'apply mostly to networks at places like NASA and the CIA.'

This book starts off with the most basic descriptions: "A network is nothing more than two or more computers connected by a cable (or wireless adapter) so that they can share information. From there it goes on to talk about how to set a network up. It's intended for the complete beginner and talks about things like cables, routers, hubs and so on in a simple and clear language interspersed with enough humor to keep you from going to sleep immediately.

This book is in reference format, it's not intended to be read from start to finish. Each chapter is self standing so you can go read about your problem of the moment. This book is specifically aimed at the beginner. If you're looking for something on trouble shooting or some of the esoteric aspects of networking you need something higher up. But if you're just intending to set up and keep up a small network at home, school or work, this is the best overview I've seen.

This book can be used as a guide (read it cover to cover) or a reference (just jump in and read specific parts).

The author lives up to his promise in that he distills information from nine seperate books down to just one. He does this by providing just the main information you need to get your network up and running. It is very practical information. While he doesn't dwell on theory, he does cover concepts so you don't just try to memorize steps but rather you understand the why with the how.

Overall, it is an excellent source for beginners and intermediate network administrators.

It was so well written even the humor was tolerable.

This helped me learn a lot and have a grip on things in the avast world of networking, This is the perfect book for beginners and it will help anyone get started. This book touches on all the subjects and gives you a basic view of how everything works from internet protocol,wireless networking, to Linux to server 03, and so on so that you can determine what path you want to specialize in but it also gives you enough info to "get you by" on any hands on project or job that requires it. Those who complain about this not having enough info are not seeing the clearer picture because if this truly contained all in one material it would have to be between 3000 to 5000 pages long and this book is already a heavy weight at 800. This book really helped me put my foot on the door with a job at a data storage company, I was able to "get by" thanks to this book and I am on the road to learn more "ccna by todd lammle" So far that book is great too, had I not read this book first, the ccna 1000 page book would be impossible to understand.

If you run Windows this is a good beginners book on Networking. If you run OSX, Linux or Unix forget about it. There is one short and dated chapter on networking with OSX. It looks like it hasn't been updated since Panther or Jaguar. There is a little more information on networking with Linux but really this book if for users of Windows.

Which doesn't mean that there isn't good information here. Even if you're not using Windows you can still learn a lot here but most of the information networking tools and setup is so windows-centric that it lessens the usefulness of this book for those who choose to avoid or are not using the OS from Redmond.

I wish that this review could be more positive as Mr. Lowe has a lot of information but it's usefulness is severely hampered by its failures to realize that not everyone is using windows, especially in a networking situation. A proper title would be useful to avoid the purchase of a book that is so limited in scope. If you're not running Windows and even if you are you'd do better to look at the O'Reilly series of books

This is really a cool book. I am not currently in the feild, and its not too in depth to the point where you get bored, but it gives you just enough information to get by, and also how and where to look if you want more info. Great Book, easy read.

With this purchase, I'm giving up on the "Dummies" series. They just don't answer enough "what if" and "why" questions. It's more like reading a simplified owner's manual.

I bought this book because of home networking problems. It doesn't tell me how or why networks function, worse (because it is mainly a step-by-step rehash of how to set up the network) it doesn't give me enough information to figure out why my network has become so unreliable.

good book, much like all the others, this one is actually 10 books in one (its pretty thick), I purchased for a quick review of networking. this book met that need, and went into more detail than i needed, such as specific instructions for configuring servers, etc. the last couple of chapters/books weren't applicable to me, so I didn't read them. Otherwise, this is a great book for getting up to speed on the terms and processes around networking, unless you are already a techie in which case it will probably be too basic. If you like the other dummies books, you'll like this one too.

I love Dummies books for the simple fact that they are structured to inform the uniformed. They speak a common language without getting to heavy. After reading a dummies book on any subject I feel that I am ready to move on to more language heavy books of the same subject. This book is no different. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a desk reference, a refresher, or someone who is just getting started.

As with all the Dummies books this is a good basic kit to have around the office. Very practical.