Computer Networking First-Step

Himanshu Rath writes "Computer Networking First-Step by Wendell Odom fills a long standing void for a truly introductory book which can be read and understood by anyone in less than a month. There are other excellent publications in Computer Networking (e.g. classics by Kurose and Ross, Stevens, Tannenbaum, Comer, and Cisco Press CCNA and CCNP companions, etc.) but they all embody different degrees of complexities and typically need at least one college semester to go over. What about those who do not have the time or inclination to spend a semester in a computer science class? Odom's book might be the answer." Read on for the rest of Rath's review.

Computer Networking First-Step
author	Wendell Odom
pages	515
publisher	Cisco Press
rating	8
reviewer	Himanshu Rath
ISBN	1587201011
summary	A beginner's - no experience needed- guide to computer networking

When I am sitting in front of a computer in San Francisco and exchanging email with a friend in New Delhi, or we are chatting using MSN or the Yahoo! Messenger program, there is a mind-boggling array of data transformation between the sender and the receiver. All our analog data (speech, type face, etc) is transformed to digital data (binary digits of 0 and 1.) We are analog creatures, but the infrastructure for computer communication on which we are so hopelessly dependent is strictly digital. This infrastructure is responsible for various layers of encapsulation/decapsulations, encoding/decoding, etc to move the data through a 'cloud' of intermediary hubs, switches, and routers (the 'cloud' is a black box to us) and establish communication between the end users. The rules (or protocols) at different layers are complex enough, and to make matters worse, the rules inside a Telco network through which our data travels can be very different from the rules in our LAN data network (the Telco network is usually a black box to the data communication folks). Breaking this highly complex phenomenon into smaller, simpler constituent parts is what this book is about.

This book is 515 pages long and is divided into 18 chapters. Odom starts by defining a network in terms of its constituent elements, and goes on to explain how three blind guys -- the Server Guy, the Cabling Guy, and the Network Guy -- perceive the Network 'Elephant.' The authors and the editors have tried hard to explain abstract concepts with real life examples; for example, they tell us how to how to eat a dinosaur (OSI 7-layer model) versus how to eat an elephant (TCP/IP 4 layer model). The whole narration takes place in terms of the human experience of fictitious characters named Fred, Wilma, Barney, Betty, Keith, Conner, Larry, Archie, Bob, Hannah (etc.), who internalize the electronic data communication protocols into their own behavioral model. This tactic makes for easy reading by helping us understand the unfamiliar in terms of the familiar. Many newcomers to networking get discouraged by the learning curves for OSI and TCP/IP, and quit before getting to LAN and WAN. The author addresses this concern by strictly focusing on the concepts and leaving the details out for another day.

Odom's description of LAN as roadway and sharing of the local roadway through hub to find destinations is easy to follow. The rules to follow on the roadway cover wrecks, and also how to recover from the wrecks. His description of WAN as leasing hundreds of miles of network cable drives home the basic concepts. The hosts file is explained as a phone book, and AAA as a means to allow the right people and keep out the wrong people. Under the veneer of lightheartedness Odom manages to sneak in the concepts ranging from 4-wire WAN circuit to 802.1Q trunking, VLAN to VPN.

This book introduces many contemporary networking concepts, and would have been more complete with a chapter on wireless networking and VOIP. The diagrams are uncluttered and easy to follow for reinforcing the concepts. The index is manageably short but to the point. The best thing going for the book is its relaxed, you-can-do-it tone. However, this is not for everyone, certainly not enough for anyone seeking IT certifications. If you are looking for a conceptual understanding of computer networking to untangle the underlying mystery, read this book. I think this is a great text for high school students, home computer users, and even computer professionals who do not deal with networking in their daily work. If you are looking for details about networking standards (necessary for any certification test), find a more advanced text.

---

You can purchase Computer Networking First-Step from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.

Computer science?

[uberjoe]

Speaking as someone who has taken four semesters of cisco classes, plugging in a router is a lot different than writting the firmware. CCNA is IT work not CS work.

Slashdot reviews

[stratjakt]

I can't remember the last time slashdot reviewed a tech book I could possibly be interested in. "Networking First-Steps" "Dummies Guide to Intarweb", "Learn PHP in 21 days", etc.

Has this site shifted to a newbie-oriented focus or something?

The reviews used to be of really in-depth books that might be interesting, or of hardcore SF. Now it's "Total Dummies Guide To Turning Your Computer On" and "Choose Your Own Adventure" titles.

Anything about wireless networks?

[TrollBridge]

As popular as home wireless networks are becoming these days, did this book have any mention of at least some of the basics like security?

For that matter, did the book cover security at all? Teaching people networking basics without some basic security techniques is like teaching them how to load and fire a gun without mentioning the safety.

The Net Effect....

[Anonymous Coward]

Your boss is now the local "expert" on all things networking, and will challenge your every decision with obtuse, poorly chosen, off-topic comments that are only obliquely related to the topic at hand.

Taking the time to learn is okay

[plcurechax]

It is okay to take your time to learn how to become an expert. If you want to be proficent, do not expect to become an instant expert. Read Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years [norvig.com] to understand why we (IT professionals and IT fans) should remember to take the time to become good at what we do, rather than fall into the false trap of "Internet Time" for everything we do, and produce quick, (cheap) crap.

If you just want to be a network user, or are starting your learning of networking, this might be a useful book. But if you are going to be a System Administrator or Network Administrator go further.

The problem with "Dummies" books

[Gothmolly]

Is that they devalue the experience and skills necessary to do the job. You end up with a horde of PHBs who think that being a DBA or Unix admin is easy, since after all, they read a book on an airplane how to do it. Another consequence is that Management types tend to place less value on the advice and recommendations of their technical people, since they assume all the technical people did was read the cheesy book. Why do you think technical decisions get overriden by PHBs and Marketroids all the time? Because there is no longer the view/perception that being technical is actually hard to do. Since anyone can be an MCSE, who's to say that an MCSE's advice is better than anyone else's?

Not even one semester?

[Anonymous Coward]

You can't even spend 4 months learning a skill, and you wonder why your job is being outsourced, eh?

Grow up.

*sigh*

[Anonymous Coward]

Great.. a whole bunch more people who think they are now "networking experts"

Until the first spanning tree problem arises..

or something simple like a duplex mismatch drags the server offline..

which will prompt the usual.. reboot.. or unplug and replug.. which probably wont solve the problem.

and a CCNA shouldn't take a semester.. if it does.. you don't have what it takes to learn it properly in the first place.. The CCNA covers "simple" networking concepts.. i can't imagine how long it would take to cover more complex stuff..

This is why they don't generally teach IT in CS courses..

Re:Computer science?

[uberjoe]

You are correct, however calling what I do "computer science" is an insult to coders everywhere. That doesn't make IT work easy, It's just not the same thing. It's similar calling a politician a "political scientist" which is not fair to real scientists like chemists and physicists.

Learn by Doing

[Greyfox]

I learned a lot more about networking by setting up a few myself and writing a few servers than I did in college CS classes. Maybe a better approach to teaching networking would include setting up some test networks and playing around with routing and writing some TCP/IP socket code before you start going on about the OSI reference model and the theoretical limit of bits per second that can be sent over any given pipe. The latter information might be absorbed later if the students have some hands-on context about what's going on. Just a thought...

Re:Slashdot reviews

[plcurechax]

Of course, there still are books that I dust off when I need them: Perl Cookbook, C++ ARM, Stephens' Network Programming. But it would seem a bit silly for slashdot to review these.

Raising aware of high quality and timeless technical books is a very worthy endeavor, IMHO. Many younger, less experienced geeks / technies / self professed network gods should be told about classics. Too many geeks in unnamed small town in Iowa need your help to know that The C Programming Language is a wise place to learn how to really program.

Re:Computer science?

[ClosedSource]

You're right on the money. IT work is critically important, but it's not CS.

In most of the companies I've worked in, several of my fellow software engineers believed most IT folks were incompetent. My assessment is that most hard-core software engineers wouldn't last a week in an IT job. They don't know as much about computer administration as they think they do and they have limited customer relation skills.

Of course, some IT folks think their job is to guard the treasure, but that's another discussion.

I am the target market for this book..

[DeepFried]

I am suprised to read the angry comments about how this book shouldn't be reviewed here or how your boss is going to read it and "no wonder why we're all getting outsourced"....the sky is falling and we are all going to hell.

I understand you guys are hard core. That's what is great about /. but ease up on the fundamentalism. Make room for those bringing up the rear or those trying to join in. You were all learning once too.

I am, by Slashdot standards, a newbie. I only understand 30-50% of the article topics discussed here. I lurk in the forums piecing together concepts with the help of the insightful and funny comments posted by all of you. This book sounds like a great tool for me to further develop an understanding about networking basics.

You champion open standards..how about being open people..

Thanks for posting this review. I will definitely order the book.

Deep

Re:Somehow I don't think that

[Taladar]

You must really get desperate to put every beginner-level book you ever read on your resumee.