Encyclopedia of Networking Book

The Microsoft Encyclopedia of Networking has a great deal to offer its readers, as it's thoroughly researched, well written, and carefully laid out. Bear in mind, though, that a more apt title would be The Encyclopedia of Microsoft Networking, as the author emphasises Windows NT, Windows 2000, and other Microsoft networking solutions at the expense of other popular and robust technologies. If you run a Windows shop, or just want a reference to keep on hand as you prepare for a Microsoft networking certification test, you'll be pleased by the contents of this book.Mitch Tulloch has done a super job of defining (and, more importantly, explaining) hundreds of terms that have to do with connecting computers to one another, sending signals across those connections, and performing useful work (such as database queries and electronic commerce transactions) with those signals. His entries tend to be long and thorough, and often include examples or careful conceptual walk-throughs. The design team that organised this book deserves high praise too, because there are so many ways to find the terms that interest you (all the terms appear in a table of contents and an index, as well as in alphabetical order in the encyclopedia's body). Cross-referencing among terms is quite liberal, too The prime fault in this book isn't that it favours Microsoft products, but that it's sometimes actively hostile to competing technologies. Linux is defined as suitable for "students interested in learning the UNIX operating system" and suffering from corporate "reluctance to use free software...because there is no single company responsible for its development and support." The first statement reflects an error of omission (Linux is suited to such students, but also many other kinds of users). The latter statement has some truth to it but is part of the standard Microsoft argument against the adoption of Linux. There ought to be an entry for the Apache Web server. Again, you may be interested mainly in Microsoft products and may not care about these matters. In that case, this is a great book for you. --David Wall, Amazon.comTopics covered: Computer networking, particularly as implemented under Microsoft operating systems including Windows 9x, Windows NT 4.0, and Windows 2000. In an alphabetically organised series of entries, the author explains physical media, protocols, applications, and whole business solutions that have to do with networking.Read More