2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best book on switching I have read, 25 Jun 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: The Switch Book: A Complete Guide to LAN Switching Technology (Hardcover)
It is extremely refreshing to read a book written by an author who truly understands his subject. So, so many IT books are useless re-arrangements of existing standards or reference manuals which shed no additional insight on the topic. This books breaks those bounds. By nature, I guess, not everyone can write stuff like this, otherwise excellence would be normal and taken for granted. Have absolutely no doubt that if you rate authors such as Comer, Tanenbaum and Perlman, then you will also rate this. My first reaction to this book was to find out about the other stuff this guy has written about.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic Technical Book, 4 July 2008
This review is from: The Switch Book: A Complete Guide to LAN Switching Technology (Hardcover)
This subject hardly qualifies as mainstream reading, but I've rarely enjoyed reading atechnical book as much as this one. I have years of experience in IT - software and hardware related - but I needed to get a bit more understanding of some raw networking for a particular project. I'm so grateful to the two previous reviewers who persauded me to buy this book - it tought me so much that I either didn't know, or worse, thought I knew. The author's style is extremely refreshing, mixing clear explanations with a number of witty comments. Some of his sarcastic footnotes even had me laughing out loud. In summary, this is a really comprehensive book that any IT professional who wants to know more about how networks really work should read!
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5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent all round book, 10 April 2005
This review is from: The Switch Book: A Complete Guide to LAN Switching Technology (Hardcover)
This book is excellent for beginners and experts alike.
The first 3 chapters introduce in great detail the concepts behind LANs and bridging but don't go overly into detail about the IEEE standards, but there are many references mentioned (Listed in the bibliography at the back of the book) if you do wish to research something in more detail.
He explains what's relevant, and why, and without just copying and pasting great chunks of the IEEE standards and RFCs.
Tells you the essence and the important bits of each IEEE standard without having to actually read them all.
Not biased towards any particular vendor/manufacturer's kit. Just explains how the technology works - or is supposed to work - and why things might deviate from the actual standards.
Explains also why various standards were never introduced or have since fizzled out, or why some standards have become the de facto, even when seemingly better protocols or standards may have existed at the time. (The answer is usually one of cost or painful migration!)
Carefully clarifies the terminology, and separates the marketing terms from the technical reality.
Written in an easy to read style with occasional humour, and many footnotes, cross-references, "gotchas" noted, and clear diagrams.
Whatever your experience with LAN switches, I guarantee that you will gain a great insight simply by reading this book from cover to cover. Try to resist the temptation to just skip through chapters if you already know bits. It dispels many myths and common misunderstandings along the way, and is a great refresher even for experts. -- One of the few books of this kind that is a pleasure to read from cover to cover without just skipping big sections or losing the will to live halfway through. (He even mentions in places that "you may want to skip this section if you already know this, but don't say I didn't warn you...")
Contains a great insight on network designs, when to use - and when not to use - certain types of kit, the benefits and disadvantages of each, in all different sizes of network/budget.
And after you've read it, it makes an excellent reference, and a great weighty bookend to keep all your other books propped up.
The author certainly knows his stuff, has been actively involved in the development of the standards from the early days, and presents this potentially very dull and unwieldy topic in an accessible, informative and interesting way.
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