BKNTWRKS.RVW  20010519

"Networks", Timothy S. Ramteke, 2001, 0-13-901265-6, U$105.00
%A   Timothy S. Ramteke ramteke@pilot.njin.net slickk@bellatlantic.net
%C   Upper Saddle River, NJ
%D   2001
%G   0-13-901265-6
%I   Prentice Hall
%O   U$105.00 corinne_mitchell@prenhall.com 
%P   705 p,
%T   "Networks", second edition

When I saw the first edition of Ramteke's book, with its singular
title of "Networks," it was bemusing.  Did it cover more on TCP/IP? 
LANs?  WANs?  Public switched telephone networks?

Yes.

And very well, too.  Using three major examples of networks, with a
few additional digressions, it covered the concepts of networking.

So I expected the second edition to be more of the same.  Ramteke
obviously thought so, too, since his introduction states that he has
followed the same format.  However, I found the books to be quite
different.  This new edition is more than 200 pages longer, and the
additional material appears to concentrate on many more specific
network systems.  Therefore, while the title originally seemed to
imply a discussion of networking as an abstraction, the appellation
now appears to refer more to a catalogue of networks.

This is not necessarily a bad thing.  Hidebound old teachers, like
myself, who need a rigorous structure to a course will find it
difficult to find chapters to assign for different topics.  (It would
probably be easier simply to assign sections and pages: there is lots
of material to choose from.)  Readers, however, will find a great deal
of interest in the diverse topics, and telecommunications
professionals will find it handy to have a quick guide to different
types of networks as they move into diverse fields.

Most of the material is familiar to old hands: analog and digital
signals, transmission systems, basic LAN concepts, basic Internet
concepts, SNA (Systems Network Architecture), X.25 (still doesn't
mention Datapac), signalling system 7, ISDN (Integrated Services
Digital Network), SONET (Synchronous Optical NETwork), frame relay,
ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode), advanced LAN concepts, bridging and
routing, and additional TCP/IP concepts.  There is a section on voice
networks, covering signalling, switching, PSTN (Public Switched
Telephone Network), wireless communication and CDMA (Code Division
Multiple Access), private networks, voice processing, and T1 networks. 
Other chapters also seem to show a predilection for telephony.

Some of the chapters seem slightly out of place, such as business and
residential network services, and Linux adminstration.  The topic of
VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) would seem to belong, were it not for
the fact that most of the text in this piece deals with basic
cryptography rather than its application.

In my original review I stated that this book has the potential to
become a technical classic.  I am not certain that this new
development takes the work further in that direction.  Although
Ramteke has thoroughly reworked and updated the content, the increased
emphasis on details of specific networks may date the volume quickly.

The book is, though, as readable as ever, and is still a good resource
for anyone wanting to understand this important aspect of
communications.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994, 2001   BKNTWRKS.RVW  20010519