Switched, Fast, and Gigabit Ethernet, Third Edition is the one and only solution needed to understand and fully implement this entire range of Ethernet innovations. Acting both as an overview of current technologies and hardware requirements as well as a hands-on, comprehensive tutorial for deploying and managing Switched, Fast, and Gigabit Ethernets, this guide covers the most prominent present and future challenges network administrators face.
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
LANs no longer serve only to help office workers share printers and exchange files. The future of the LAN runs heavily to bandwidth-intensive applications. The authors of Switched, Fast, and Gigabit Ethernet know this, and they do excellent work in bringing their readers up to speed on the newest high-capacity Ethernet technologies.
Using conceptual illustrations and circuit diagrams liberally, Switched, Fast, and Gigabit Ethernet defines the three LAN standards in its title and details how they compare to each other and to competing technologies such as Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM). You'll find coverage of repeaters, bridges, routers, and full-duplex Ethernet, along with information on Virtual LANs (VLANs) and Layer 3 switching.
The authors don't get swept up in the hype associated with these new technologies, even when offering practical advice on building, expanding, and managing LANs. They acknowledge that, in many cases, 10BaseT networks will be fine for some time, but they go to much trouble to spotlight the implementation issues of particular concern to managers of high-capacity LANs.
In addition to coverage of emergent Ethernet technologies, Switched, Fast, and Gigabit Ethernet provides context by presenting a history of the networking industry and the technologies and companies that have defined it. This book is a complete picture of the LAN industry. --David Wall
From the Back Cover
Switched, Fast, and Gigabit Ethernet, Third Edition is the one and only solution needed to understand and fully implement this entire range of Ethernet innovations. Acting both as an overview of current technologies and hardware requirements as well as a hands-on, comprehensive tutorial for deploying and managing Switched, Fast, and Gigabit Ethernets, this guide covers the most prominent present and future challenges network administrators face.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A valuable reference but seriously flawed,
By John J. Gurney (jjgurney@rmi.net) (Conifer, Colorado) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Switched, Fast, and Gigabit Ethernet (3rd Edition) (Textbook Binding)
Switched, Fast, and Gigabit Ethernet has the potential to be an invaluable resource for anyone involved in networking who either currently uses or is contemplating changing to an Ethernet network. This book provides an enormous amount of information on existing and emerging Ethernet standards. Unfortunately, it is seriously flawed by too many incorrect and contradictory statements. If you already know enough about Ethernet to adjust for these errors, the book may be of only marginal value to you. For those trying to learn and understand all the variations of Ethernet, the errors can be very confusing and may lead to problems in networks they may be installing.As an example, in the second paragraph on page 344, the authors discuss the characteristics of repeaters, noting that they "...regenerate weak incoming signals, thus extending the diameter of the network." They go on to state "In this way, repeaters are invisible to network events such as collisions, merely propagating them. Hence, a repeater cannot extend the collision domain of a network." Then in the second paragraph on page 346 they make the contradictory statement that "Because a repeater is a shared-media device and propagates all traffic, including collisions, however, it merely extends the collision domain of a network...". Then they go on to state that "A more powerful device, such as a bridge, router, or switch, is needed to extend the actual network diameter." in direct contradiction to the statement made on page 344. One other example really stood out. In the first paragraph on page 440 they state "Because 1000BASE-LX Gigabit Ethernet over multiple-mode fiber is limited to 500M, you may need 100BASE-SX single-mode Gigabit Ethernet for especially long links. A 100BASE-LX Gigabit Ethernet switch with the capability to add a few 1000BASE-SX connections is the proper solution for this example." Referring to Table 6.11 on page 248-249, 1000BASE-LX has a maximum distance of 550M over either type of multi-mode fiber and up to 5,000M over single-mode fiber. Obvious contradictions are the references to 100BASE-SX ... Gigabit Ethernet and 100BASE-LX Gigabit Ethernet in this example. 100BASE Gigabit? Also, if 1000 is substituted for 100 in those two instances, no specification for short wavelength (SX), 850nm laser over single-mode fiber exists. Although the examples cited above are two of the worst, they are by no means the only ones, the shear number of errors becomes very irritating. I would like to give this book a better rating, it probably does belong on the shelf of every network administrator or manager, but I am tired of giving a pass to flawed products because they do provide some significant benefit. For example: operating systems that are seriously flawed but we accept because they offer capabilities we want. One of the main problems I see in our current economy and society is the willingness of management to turn out products of mediocre quality, considering them good enough as long as they don't have a flaw that makes them completely unusable. Macmillan Technical Publishing states that their "goal is to create in-depth technical books of the highest quality and value." Is this really what they consider "highest quality"? If they clean up the errors and add more of the value that does exist in this book when they produce the Fourth Edition, I will give it SIX stars.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The definitive Ethernet handbook,
By A Customer
This review is from: Switched, Fast, and Gigabit Ethernet (3rd Edition) (Textbook Binding)
[note: this review appears in the June 1999 edition of SA Computer Magazine and is (c) 1999 DSBMedia (Pty) Ltd. Used with permission]Ethernet - it's a breeze, right? Buy a couple of NE2000 clones and some cable, slot the RJ-45 plugs into a hub, configure the basic client software and you've got a network. Well, a small 10Base-T network may be this simple to set up and a real no-brainer to manage, but today's bandwidth-intensive applications often require something somewhat more sophisticated. When you have a few hundred users shoving large files all over the place (and, let's not forget, being connected to that network resource-hog the Internet), you need to get into hardcore, high-speed networking. In the old days, networking was considered a Black Art, even by highly experienced IT people. There was a reason for this - networking really was a Black Art, practiced by a small clan of social misfits who probably drank squirrel blood in their spare time (actually, they probably read networking manuals, which was an activity roughly equivalent social unacceptability). Then networks became a tad more mainstream. Networking products appeared with documentation that was in an almost recognisable dialect of English, and "intelligent" hardware meant that - as often as not - you really could plug and play. Indeed, you could implement a reasonably effective 50-user network without really understanding what the hell you were doing, and kid yourself you were a networking expert. But now you need to move to the next level. And suddenly networking looks once again as if it's a Black Art. You start feeling as if it might be easier to decipher Minoan Linear A script than to grasp why your Ethernet performance is unnecessarily degraded. You need this book. Its subtitle tells us it's about "understanding, building, and managing high-performance Ethernet networks". And that's a pretty good description of what you'll be able to do if you read it from cover to cover and inwardly digest its contents (a remarkably straightforward process thanks to a clear and coherent writing style). Opening with a history of Ethernet that does an invaluable job of placing the current technologies in a meaningful context, the book goes on to cover every imaginable aspect of something which can involve far more complexity than you might possibly imagine. For example: I, for one, might have scoffed at the idea of reading 60-odd pages just on cabling. Until I read them, that is. Simple, hub-based 10Base-T Ethernet really is a no-brainer these days, and the authors waste no time on it. However, once you start adding bridges or switches into the equation it takes a quantum leap in complexity. And that's where this book really gets going. Then you start analysing bandwidth requirements and the need (or otherwise) for high-speed technologies ranging from the now-standard 100Base-T to Level 3 switching and 1000Base-T gigabit Ethernet, and you begin to realise that all 618 pages of this book are used to the full. Although the authors are obviously experts in high-speed networking, they are not seduced by the argument that faster is necessarily better. They recognise that slower (and therefore cheaper) technologies make sense if that's all you need. And for the budget-constrained South African market that is an essential approach. They also have no compunction about weighing up the pros and cons of high-speed Ethernet versus competing technologies (such as ATM). This clear-headedness is what gives the book much of its merit. Add the comprehensive nature of the data it contains, and this book becomes an essential purchase for anyone who needs to know about networking in the modern world. Whether you're a network manager with performance issues to deal with, or a wannabe MCSE aiming to go out into the big wide world of consulting, you'll find something in here for you.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding organization,
By Jeff Roback (Los Angeles, California) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Switched, Fast, and Gigabit Ethernet (3rd Edition) (Textbook Binding)
I was really pleased with both the information containted in this book as well as the manner in which it was presented. This book's organization makes it great for a "cover-to-cover" read (on a VERY long weekend!) or for a quick reference check.If I could only have one Ethernet book on my shelf, this would be it.
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