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.

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wait a second...

[lukewarmfusion]

" fills a long standing void for a truly introductory book which can be read and understood by anyone in less than a month."

The book is 515 pages?!

I'm certain that this review was read by someone who wasn't seeking a truly introductory book. If the reviewer knows anything about networking before he starts reading, I doubt that he's able to objectively make this claim.

Re:wait a second...

[savagedome]

Its like one of those hour long instructional videos about "How to effectively say things in 2 minutes"

Re:wait a second...

[pilgrim23]

Now I am no expert, merely a hobbiest, but, for years I have tinkered with networking and written on the subject in various venues from ezines to newsgroups. And since I am NOT a networking expert/ professional, I think a lot of the concepts are better spelled out when expressed by someone who doesn't speak fluent "Geek". See the Feb 2002 issue of Digital Civilization Magazine (archive here: http://www.digitalcivilization.ca/ for one of my scribbles on this (also check the current issue) or Google for "Network from Heck". The problem with most writers (myself included) is their inability to speak ENGLISH when discussing this subject.

Re:The Net Effect....

[Knightfall]

Though modded funny, want to make a serious comment to this. The fact that reading these books will ead your boss to saying insane things like, "Why can't I packet shape the traffic going through my 5-port, $15 netgear switch?" is exactly why we of the "more enlightened" group SHOULD read these books. We need to know exactly what klind of information they are receiving and be able to converse with them on the level of the information they have been given. Picking up these lower level books and giving them a quick read will help you to understand better when a suer comes to you and makes what appear to be off the wall comments. I keep a small library of these book handy and visable for that reason and it gives the technophobes a little something to talk to me about without feeling overwhelmed. Also, just for the super smug, nobody knows everthing and you never know when one of these little books will hold a gem of knowledge.

Just a thought.

Re:Slashdot reviews

[mo]

I can't remember the last time I found a book that was more helpful than a handful of RFCs, man pages, mailing lists, and the source code to whatever I was trying to learn.

When I was first learning, I used to devour O'Reilly books like nobody's business. Lately it's just easier to use the resources at hand instead of struggling through a book that's too introductory.

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.