<pre>
Author/s : Charles M. Kozierok
Publisher : No Starch Press
Category : Other
Review by : Michael Ernest
Rating : 9 horseshoes</pre>
This guide is a mind-boggling contribution to understanding and applying TCP/IP protocols to network administration. I can only imagine an author going on writing binges for weeks at a time, writing down key points and insights.
This is truly impressive work. It is comprehensive and readable. I taught a network administration course two weeks ago for the first time in a while, and found this book and excellent review for topics I don't routinely cover. Several of the explanations were so useful I simply incorporated them into my teaching plan.
There's enough tabling and reference diagrams to keep the text from getting gray and dull, but still a seemingly tireless amount of factual, well-annotated information.
It's also a massive book, so no, I did not read it front to back. I did however pick on spot topics where many guides are often weak. In this case, I looked very closely at the sections on the Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP), Troubleshooting (the key tool on both Windows and Unix is addressed!), and Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). In all three cases I found my time well-spent.
It's also a mother of a doorstop, at 1500+ pages. You won't be moving it around much. But you might find yourself happy to go to wherever you keep this book.
More info at Amazon.com More info at Amazon.co.uk [ January 29, 2006: Message edited by: Book Review Team ]