Customer Reviews

Troubleshooting Tcp/Ip (Network Troubleshooting Library)

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

 

 

The author may be an expert but he's not a good writer. There's too much talk and too many "facts" you have to memorize. When it finally comes to interpreting sample network analysis reports, it's not nearly detailed enough. I thought the opposite before I bought the book. Secondly, as common to all books published by a cheap publisher, there're too many errors. Third, the CD contains RFQs, which you can get from the Internet. No programs. I wish I could get the sniffer program he used in the book.

Everyone seems to have lots of great reference books on network design and protocol specifications.

If you actually have to fix a network problem (or even harder, explain to a vendor that they need to fix a problem), your best bet is to show them a packet trace and say "there is the problem, and it's your fault!"

The only way to do this is to learn to read packet traces. Theory is not always useful in practice.

This book complements all any network library, and is a easy read for reasonably experienced network professionals. The structure of the book is simple. Each chapter provides a brief review of a concept, then several examnple problems. Each problem comes with a problem description, a packet trace, and a solution.

The ability to define a problem in this way is both cool and great for the resume.

OK, it's not the only book, but this book comes close. It's not for the beginner. You must be VERY well versed in TCP/IP before attempting to read this book. While it's not rocket science, it's too much info to absorb if you don't understand TCP/IP. I rate this book on the same level as Radia Perlman's book, Rich Seifert's book, Jeff Doyle's book, and Clark&Hamilton books.

If you want to be able to trace files (especially NAI's Sniffer), then this book is for you.

I happened to have a copy of two editions (1992 & the 3rd : 1999) of this ... thing. Not only Mr. Miller is shallow, but confusing and his explanations are so limited that I can barelly imagine how can it be usefull. After 13+ years related with network analysis and TRUE troubleshooting, and having to help others to start in this area, there is one book I have seen of very little use : this one. The information in the book gets you nowhere.

If you want better sources of information, and you have the basics on Networking (at least layer 2) I would recommend either Comer excelent book on the TCP/IP area, or Stevens/Wright TCP Illustrated series, and as a complement (or if you need detailed info on Layer 2 and Networking in general) read the amusing and excelent "Interconnections" by Pearlman (this authors DO KNOW what they are taking about, and it shows !!!!)

I found this book to be ok, but not great. It was a bit too technical for the beginner but did a good job of describing problem, showing evidence of the problem in packet traces, and how to fix the problem.

The book goes over using TCP/IP and the internet protocols. I touches on supporting these protocols, and goes into supporting a network interface connection. From there it goes into troubleshooting internet connections from address translation to routing. It also has chapters on host to host communication and process/application communication.