BKTCPNTI.RVW   980222

"TCP/IP with Windows NT Illustrated", Teresa Bisaillon/Brad Werner,
1998, 0-07-913648-6, U$44.95
%A   Teresa Bisaillon book@wernerconsulting.com
%A   Brad Werner book@wernerconsulting.com
%C   300 Water Street, Whitby, Ontario   L1N 9B6
%D   1998
%G   0-07-913648-6
%I   McGraw-Hill Ryerson/Osborne
%O   U$44.95 905-430-5000 905-430-5134 fax: 905-430-5020
%P   711 p. + CD-ROM
%T   "TCP/IP with Windows NT Illustrated"

The myth states that Windows NT has made IP networking easy to use.  A
number of authors have bought into this idea, and fail to provide
enough background and help for the sysadmin who may be experienced in
other aspects of networking but has not yet worked with connecting to
the Internet.  Bisaillon and Werner have produced a work that
thoroughly explains the background concepts of IP networking, and
details the tools used with it under Windows NT.

Part one is a general background and foundation review for TCP/IP
(Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) and Windows NT
networking.  The TCP/IP architecture information presented in chapter
one is a clear, readable, and excellent overview.  Some might think
that the level of detail included is excessive for an introduction,
but the presentation is so lucid that the added information only
serves to aid understanding of the concepts involved.  Chapter two
does the same for IP addressing and datagram transmission.  All NT
networking, and internetworking management books mention IP
subnetting, but chapter three shows you how, and why, to make it work
for you.  The discussion of Windows NT networking in chapter four is
so deep under the hood that it is fairly generic.  The explanation of
the action of the Windows Sockets Library, however, will be achingly
familiar to those who have tried to explore the setup of NT's
networking on their own.  Chapter five provides full and detailed
instructions on the setup and configuration of TCP/IP on WinNT.

Part two, then, looks at even more details.  Chapter six introduces
the ultimate level of detail: packet level traffic analysis using the
Network Monitor program.  Chapter seven begins to explore how NT
Server can function as a low end IP router, including the use of some
basic troubleshooting utilities not commonly advertised.  Routing and
Remote Access Service (RRAS) can extend the Routing Information
Protocol (RIP) to version two, and its installation and configuration
is covered in chapter eight.  Chapter nine then deals with remote
access to the corporate network through dialin lines.  Secure access
to a secure network over unsecured channels can be achieved through
the Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP), as is explained in
chapter ten.  Chapter eleven provides specifics on the function and
operation of domain name resolution under NT.  Win NT can also
function, as chapter twelve points out, as a proxy server, and even a
limited firewall.  The Domain Name System (DNS) is revisited in
chapter thirteen to look at more advanced functions and features. 
Chapter fourteen extends security with a quick (but quite serviceable)
backgrounder in cryptography, and then an overview of Secure Sockets
Layer (SSL) and Microsoft's Internet Information Server (IIS) for use
with the Web.  Allocation of IP addresses via the Dynamic Host
Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is covered in chapter fifteen.  This,
and the following chapter sixteen on NetBIOS name resolution and the
Windows Internet Name Server (WINS) are exemplars of how far removed
this book is from the run of the mill repetitions of the "use this
dialogue box" style of NT networking documentation, providing thorough
and useful explanations of what is going on and why.  Finally, chapter
seventeen looks at a topic which few authors dare to mention, the
rather ironically named Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), and
does a pretty good job of keeping the explanation simple.

The book may not always provide everything necessary for working with
a given topic, but it comes close.  And, in case the reader does need
more information, each chapter ends with a brief list of solid
references.  I have no problem recommending this work to anyone
interested in IP networking with NT.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1998   BKTCPNTI.RVW   980222