Linux: Networking for Your Office
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Spotlight Customer Reviews
Average Customer Rating: 4.8Customer Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent book--clear and concise
Comment: Roderick Smith has put together a heuristic tome that tells you all you need to know to put Linux to work in your office by using its strength as a network OS.
Beginning at the beginning, he starts off with the basics and goes into enough detail to give the reader a good context for his instruction and, at the same time, gives the reader good, useful information about networking in general.
After the basics, its onto the "meat" of networking: IP addresses and their classes, subnetting and other network-related tasks--too many to mention here.
If you are seriously thinking about using Linux in a networked environment at the office or even at home, then buy this book. It's all you'll need to get started and up and running in no time!
Customer Rating: 4
Summary: A well structured and comprehensive starting place
Comment: This book is targeted at the person who wants to build an intranet for a small to medium sized business using Linux servers.
A well written and well structured book it starts with the basics of configuring Linux (using Red Hat), building a kernel suited for networking, configuring Ethernet and dialling using PPP. After this thorough grounding it goes on to file sharing using NFS, Samba and netatalk and printer sharing. Once you've covered these sections you can connect to your Linux server from other Unix boxes, Windows or a Macintosh, indeed using this book I set up a Linux server to act as a bridge between Macs, Windows 95 and NT servers and two Sun workstations.
It then covers remote login, either using shell protocols telnet or ssh, or X logins using VNC or X Server. Finally it has two chapters on IP masquerading and firewalls.
OK, go over that list again - every aspect of building an intranet is covered.
Having used this book extensively I've found its flaw. When everything works this book is great. Once you run into problems it is less useful. The large amount of ground covered means that Smith has glossed over likely problems and solutions. Troubleshooting is ignored almost entirely.
I would recommend this book as a good beginners guide to building an intranet around Linux to almost everyone with the caveat that you may need more specific information in some areas when you run into serious trouble. If nothing else it is marvellous inspiration.
Customer Rating: 5
Summary: Methodical; Complete; Excellent!
Comment: This book has been nothing but a pleasure to read -- and not because the subject is pleasant, either. The author knows the subject so well, he is able to walk the fine line between too much information and not enough, at just the right time.
Also, the book is very well organized. The author knows which subjects need to be covered before others. You may be urgent to get to a specific subject, but if you patiently read "prerequisite" chapters (i.e. in the order presented), you won't be disappointed with the wait.
He does cover command line options, usually first, but also includes equivalent GUI tutorials (e.g. linuxconf). He also uses RedHat 6.0 throughout as the preferred example distro. However, he doesn't leave the non-RH user out in the cold by any means.
I bought "Linux Network Servers 24 Seven" beforehand and was lost within the first three chapters. Bought this book to help get a lighter start at leaning Linux networking and it's had all the right information at the right time. (Now I can get my money's worth out of that 24 Seven book).
One special word of advice: No "be all" book seems to cover Samba to a sufficient extent (at least to my satisfaction). In other words, be prepared to also buy a book dedicated to the subject of Samba configuration.