Rating: 
Summary: Excellent
Review: A good books for beginners. Topics on theory is good, simple but important, good coverage on networking theory.Plain text make easy understanding. Practical parts of different platforms are good approach than others' books. If you are new to networking, this is a must reading.
Rating:
Summary: Networking: A Beginner's Guide
Review: excellent for you and who ever may b
Rating: 
Summary: Good coverage but biased
Review: First off this is the best introduction to networking I've seen. The text is clear and straightforward. The balance of theory and details is excellent. I'm glad I have the book. That said, I do have a couple of gripes. For a networking book to basically ignore Unix and Linux for the first 70% of the book is absurd. Halberg mentions Windows 7 times in the first chapter and does not mention Linux until chapter 6 and then only to state that Unix and Linux treat each computer as a host. I understand that Windows dominates the corporate server market but to ignore the fact that 'nix dominates the web server market is silly. Does Redmond hold his first-born captive? When Linux is mentioned it is suddenly with instructions on how to install Red Hat 6.1, an already dated release. And, the sudden introduction of Linux seems odd, since it was basically ignored through the rest of the book. The discontinuity is strange. I didn't read the first edition of this book but wonder if the Linux information was updated. For a book written in 2001 the failure to include current information on Linux, Mac OS X and 802.11b networking, which Apple had fully introduced as a home/small office solution is almost criminal. Conclusion: A good primer on general networking principles and practices especially in the Intel/Microsoft world. Somewhat lacking when it comes to the larger world of the net.
Rating:
Summary: Great book for business use.
Review: I am glad I bought this book. There is good information in it. But all I was interested in was learning about networking concepts and getting my two home computers to network since the windows XP wizard didn't work. I believe this book is geared more for the person who wants to make networking a career. This book talks mostly about networking in a business environment and if that is your thing then this is the beginner's book for you. I liked the beginning of the book about network layers, cable types and network topographies. This is a good book, just a little overkill for me.
Rating: 
Summary: A good book for Windows Server
Review: I found the book to be lacking key specifics, where a smattering of some topics that the author is interested in are explained, but related topics are ignored. You'll find a good basic introduction to the generic equipment used in networking. You'll find an explanation on what items like repeaters, routers, and switches do. A schematic of a cross-over cable is the only specific technical piece of information given; don't expect to be shown the schematic of a terminator, for example. You'll also find very specific information, right down to screen captures, on the set-up of a Windows 2000 server, but not a lot of information at all on the various menus needed to be filled out on a client to connect to that server. If you are interested primarily in Windows Networking, you may find this book interesting, but I found it hard to stay with. It doesn't offer a cohesive, comprehensive understanding of the various disciplines needed to administer to a network. Although it does define a lot of the terms that you'll hear if you're dealing with a sophisticated network, like SMTP, TCP/IP, and FTP. While this book might be interesting to the beginning novice, I found it disappointing. It doesn't offer any learning drills to challenge a beginner, such as those offered in some of Osbornes' other books, where you find not only drilling, but tests at the end of each chapter. This book looked at the subject of networking from a distance of about 10,000 feet. Expect just an overview for the price of a learning manual.
Rating:
Summary: Not even worth it for beginners
Review: I stopped reading after 250 pages. It's a lot of blablabla, and it doesn't even gives all the basics. It gives *some* basics, but then you expect more, and what it does is explaining how to install Windows servers. If you work on other system than Windows, you might also get quite frustrated. One of (if not) the best network operation system, FreeBSD, is not even mentioned. Who takes security and performance seriously doesn't install a Windows network. I skipped the second part of the book. It's not even technical regarding Red Hat configuration. For Linux, you need to know command lines rather that knowing how to use a GUI. Click "Next", every one knows. How about real thourough basics of networking? It would have been a lot more useful that giving tips on whether to buy your hardware at Radioshack or BestBuy. Anyway, I'm going to look for something more serious. Too sad.
Rating:
Summary: A life saver for a begginer
Review: If you are a freshman wanting to delve into networking and
perhaps spring a professional career out of it, this is where
you can have a good start. The author cleverly presents networking from a top view and progresses down to the hardware and software components of networking in easy to understand English. Each chapter flows to the next seamlessly to conclude, towards the end of the book, with a specific examples of setting up your own LAN with Windows 2000 Server and a workstation with Windows 9x connected to the Server followed by the administration of the server. And the author put in a good section on setting up a LAN with RedHat Linux in a similar approach to the Windows 2000 server section. However, there's a slight disappointment in the RedHat Linux set up section where the author said "This chapter discusses the intstallation process of RedHat Linux 7.0.." on page 326, which turns out to be "This section documents the steps necessary to install RedHat Linux 6.1..." on page 330. This could be a typo - I am not too sure. I've only read through the RedHat Linux set up section. Some requests from the author, though: In the RedHat Linux set up section, could you illustrate the "Setting up Networking" section on page 342 with IP adress, Netmask... etc and explain a little more on the parameters on the screen shot on page 343. And also illustrate how to set up and connect a RedHat Linux workstation to the RedHat Linux server similar to that of the Windws 2000 Server section? Also how to connect a Windows 2000 Professional workstation to the Windows 2000 Server? And maybe post it on the net or somehow let us know. If you can do this, this is a six stars book. Other than the above mentioned requests, this is a well
deserved 5 stars book. Well done Bruce.
Give us some more of your good stuffs. Perhaps volume II, Volume III of this book. Be warned, this book is for the beginners only.
Rating:
Summary: Beginners, get this book
Review: If you are new to networking and just can't figure out where to begin, this is the book for you. It goes into almost everything that you might want to know. To what depth it goes into them, I don't know, I'm not a networking expert. But I can tell you that I've wasted a lot of time reading other books without getting a grasp of networking as a whole. This book will do it for you if you are new to the field. One other feature that some might like, I know I liked it, is that almost a third of the book, deals with setting up and administering, win2k, novell netware and linux. This is the last part of the book after hallberg finishes with explaining networking. It is one of the easiest reads in my experience, and I bet most of you will finish the first half on a saturday morning and use the second half of the book on sunday as you setup the NOS of your choice. Get the book, if you are a newbie like me. I hope BH will start working on "Networking: A Professional's Guide"
Rating:
Summary: A superb "how to" introduction for the complete novice.
Review: Networking: A Beginner's Guide provides a core of networking fundamentals, including design and configuration, hardware, networking protocols, network clients, and security issues. Offered are hands-on instructions for Windows 2000 Servers, NetWare 5, and Red Hat Linux installation, configuration, and administration. Networking: A Beginner's Guide is enhanced with blueprints mapping out basic network design topologies. There is a bonus companion Web site which includes additional coverage of network troubleshooting, protocols, network security and updated information on networking with Windows 2000. Networking: A Beginner's Guide is an ideal introduction for the novice and holds much of value for even experienced users needing an information refresher on Windows upgrades and networking.
Rating:
Summary: For anyone wanting to master computer networking basics
Review: Now in an updated and expanded second edition, Bruce Hallberg's Networking: A Beginner's Guide continues to be an ideal "hands-on" introduction to learning the basics of computer networking for the novice. Readers will gain a useful understanding of networking from a corporate perspective; learn the differences between peer-to-peer and client-server networking; obtain details on networking hardware components and the OSI model; understand LAN and WAN connections; be able to work with network protocols; select backup strategies and employ disaster recovery methods; install, set up, and administer NetWare 5.1, Windows 2000 Server, and Linux; and be able to both maintain and troubleshoot workstations. Networking is essential for anyone wanting to master the basics of computer networking and would well serve even experienced networkers as a continuing reference manual.
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