BKINTCHB.RVW   990220

"Internetworking Technologies Handbook", Kevin Downes et al, 1998,
1-57870-102-3, U$50.00/C$71.95
%A   Kevin Downes
%A   Merilee Ford
%A   H. Kim Lew
%A   Steve Spanier
%A   Time Stevenson
%C   201 W. 103rd Street, Indianapolis, IN   46290
%D   1998
%G   1-57870-102-3
%I   Macmillan Computer Publishing (MCP)
%O   U$50.00/C$71.95 800-858-7674 317-581-3743 info@mcp.com
%P   856 p.
%T   "Internetworking Technologies Handbook, Second Edition"

The preface says that the book supports administrators installing
Cisco networking products.  But it also says that the content is for
anyone seeking to understand internetworking.  This somewhat
schizophrenic direction is readily apparent in part one, whose six
chapters purport to be an introduction to internetworking.  On the one
hand, the text seems to take the most simplistic possible route
linking what appear to be already prepared sets of figures.  On
occasion, however, we are presented with a flurry or poorly explained
thickets of standards numbers and TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms). 
Ultimately, very little is properly illuminated for the reader.  Part
two looks at some LAN standards, presenting quick outtakes from
partial Ethernet, FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface), and token
ring specs.  Frame relay, High-Speed Serial Interface, ISDN
(Integrated Services Digital Network), PPP (Point to Point Protocol),
SMDS (Switched Multimegabit Data Service), xDSL (various forms of
Digital Subscriber Line), SDLC (Synchronous Data Link Control), X.25,
multiservice technologies, and Virtual Private Networks (VPN) are
summed up in almost less space than it takes to list them in part
three.  Switching, in part four, is quite variable: ATM (Asynchronous
Transfer Mode) and data-link switching get a level of detail
completely unsupported by the previous material while LAN switching is
dismissed in five pages.  Part five looks at various, mostly vendor
supplied, networking protocols, including Appletalk, DECnet, SNA
(Systems Network Architecture), TCP/IP, NetWare, OSI (Open System
Interconnection), Vines, and XNS (Xerox Network Systems).  (The review
of TPC/IP actually isn't half bad.)  Border Gateway Protocol (BGP),
Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (IGRP), SNA routing, IP multicast,
NetWare Link Services Protocol (NLSP), OSI routing, Open Shortest Path
First (OSPF), Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP), Routing
Information Protocol (RIP), and a discussion of quality of service
make up the look at routing in part six.  Part seven, on the other
hand, is a very good introduction to Internet access issues for the
non-professional, with reasonable reviews of security, directory
services, and, to a lesser extent, caching.  Network management
returns to the earlier inconsistent approach in its treatment of IBM
network management, RMON (Remote Monitoring), and SNMP (Simple Network
Management Protocol) in part eight.

Some vendor sponsored books manage to rise above their origins.  This
is not one that does.  While the text is mercifully free of marketing
and promotion, the material is suitable for neither the newcomer
looking for concepts and insight or the professional looking for hard
data.  The title really cannot be said to be justified on any level. 
I can't recommend it for those not installing Cisco products, and I
really doubt that it could be honestly recommended to Cisco customers,
either.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKINTCHB.RVW   990220