Customer Reviews

The Simple Book: An Introduction to Networking Management (Prentice Hall Series in Innovative Technology)

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This was not a good first book to learn SNMP, the basic definitions are poor, leading to confusion. As an example, the definition of a subtype I found in another text (a subset of the value set for a type) was quite clear, then I checked the Simple definition of subtype and found its was useful to "refine the semantics" of a "data object" and that "it may be useful to create a new data type for strings using other repertoires, such as ASCII". The author also notes that the "ASN.1 rules for subtyping are long and complex". (p 34-35). Hello? This book may be useful as a reference after reading other, better written introductions, but avoid it if you are new to SNMP. Also, I recommend that the novice learn ASN.1 first, rather than alsong with SNMP in a combined text. Also, SNMPv2 has yet to catch on, the Simple book focuses primarily on this version, not of much interest if you are working with version 1.

I read first edition of this book when it came. There were hardly any books available on SNMP at that time . Rose being one of the creators of SNMP, I expected this book to be good. And I was totally wrong! The descriptions are all fuzzy. After reading it, I had some idea about SNMP but I was not sure of anything I learnt. I think the RFCs on SNMP are best reading. They are precise and they do not leave you feeling uncertain.

The editor and publisher of this book should be ashamed. It is an extended rant by the author that has no business being bound in hard cover. The Pine Mountain Group recommends excerps from this book to get up to speed with SNMP. I wonder who at PMG is friends with the author. This book will teach only members of the "network management community" anything. Anyone seeking entry into the network management community will need to find another door. By reading no more than 20 to 40 pages a day I managed to go through the entire book but I am afraid that I did not add anything to my understanding of SNMP that was not already there from studying for my MCSE. This book was a profound disappointment. It is at once dense, superficial, earnest, and sarcastic. The shame of it is that this author could educate profoundly if a good editor enforced some discipline or a co-author came in to help with communicating with those who are not the author's peers.

It's hard to believe that this book was released by a major publisher. It is rife with misspellings and grammatical errors. The thin index is almost useless, as a close examination reveals it to be mostly a list of the author's friends and their nicknames.

I am a developer with 8 years experience but novice to Network programming. A friend suggested this book as a first and default one to start with. I am completely disappointed. It's not a practical, jump-into it, internet-age book. Let me see if it serves any purpose as a reference. BTW, the CD is totally useless. It has only a few files which you can anyway download for free.

At first: I'm not a native english reader. I came accross this book in the middle of the 90ties. When I had to jump into the SNMP business from scratch. I looked for an "Introduction" in the real sense of this word. When you have no idea of an RFC, no idea of the hierachy of ITF's, ETF's, IANA, and what 1.3.6.1.1 etc. means, then this books helps you a lot. You need not understand every page of it, but you can catch the basic idea and what is behind SNMP. What can you ask more. And this is perfect for an "introduction". In light of the success of the SNMP-approach, this has to be considered. I have read all the reviews, which are addmittedly over 10 years old and must say: this is definitely not my view. The book helped me a lot and I am thankful for that. Some chapters can be more easily understood than others. But try to read "The Wealth of Nations" from Adam Smith; this is a really complex reading. Marshal T. Rose's text is easy to understand in comparison.

Dr. Friedrich Wörndle

Book has some interesting insight but does little to develop technical understanding. Is cheaper at B&N locally