J. Bender said
I expected a book on setting up and administration of networks in a Linux environment. This book does provide it BUT it explains each aspect in the context of using a specific piece of software. This is ONLY a setup/administration guide for those who need a what to install nice tools to administer their systems.
Not a manual instruction book.
John S. Fry said
This is a practical guide for Linux system administrators who need to get networks of machines to talk to each other securely and reliably. There is an introductory, lay-of-the-land chapter on Linux networking, followed by chapters on topics you'd expect like gateways, routers, firewalls, wireless, SSH, and Samba. There are also chapters on old-school topics like dial-up networking (remember Kermit?) and controlling your servers through a serial console, and some bleeding-edge stuff like IPv6 and building a VoIP server with Asterisk.
This is not a book about networking theory (for that, see Andrew S. Tanenbaum's Computer Networks (4th Edition)). Rather, as the word "Cookbook" suggests, this book offers step-by-step instructions ("recipes") for installing, configuring, and starting up the relevant software packages, and then testing and debugging to make sure everything is running correctly. Where appropriate, Schroder offers separate recipes for deb- and rpm-based Linux distributions.
To me, the most valuable aspect of this book is not the solutions (recipes) themselves, but the context around each recipe; that is, Schroder's diagnosis and description of the problem to be solved. Reading this book is spending a day with an experienced (and good-humored) sysadmin and having her walk you through all the networking stuff she does, clearly explaining her reasoning behind every little decision, like which headset mic to buy for VoIP and why she always tests basic connectivity with ping before firing up the packet sniffer.
D. J. Knowles said
The Linux networking cookbook is very specifically orientated to Linux networking tasks. While this book would give useful ideas for other *NIX operating systems the real value is for Linux users.
The book is orientated for Fedora and Debian (Ubuntu) users as these are the basis of a number of the Linux distributions available. The book also shows how to compile required software from source.
The book is task orientated and each chapter relates to a specific task such as setting up a VPN. The range of tasks is very extensive and include Firewalling, wireless networking, VPN, VoIP servers, routing, SSH etc.
The required software is defined along with how to install it. The chapter then goes on to describe configuration and set up for the required purpose. The book is straightforward and describes the process in a simple way without requiring vast amounts of Linux interior expertise. This is not a novice book and it does require some knowledge of Linux however it is very good at describing how to perform most networking tasks for people who are not expert in networking.
I have been using Linux as my desktop for around 2-3 years and I found this book very useful. I recommend it for people who want to do something with networking in Linux and don't want to spend forever looking up howto's on the Internet.
Daniel McKinnon said
The 'Linux Networking Cookbook' is a wonderful addition for any admin or developer that is using exactly what the title of this book states: Linux Networking. With over 600 pages of content spread over 250-300 pages of helpful recipes, this is a welcome addition to a Linux admin's bookshelf.
Easy to recommend, hard to live without for this niche audience.
***** RECOMMENDED
Charles Profitt said
I have gone through the entire book and I feel ready to transition from the familiar MS world of Server 2003/8 to Linux. The tips and tricks contained in the book will enable me to do all the things I want to do with my servers and desktops.
Fantastic book.
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