Microsoft Encyclopedia of Networking - Softcover

Tulloch, Mitch

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0735605734 ISBN 13: 9780735605732

Publisher: Microsoft Press, 2000

Synopsis

Can you define remote access? Do you know what denial of service attack means? Are you up to speed on ADO, XML, and Group Policy? The MICROSOFT® ENCYCLOPEDIA OF NETWORKING includes thousands of terms like these to help IT professionals and corporate developers who use or manage computer networks familiarize themselves with current and legacy networking technologies. It fully explains more than 2000 terms, with "How It Works" sections that take you from academic definition to real-world application. Entries run the gamut from hardware to software, from theory to practice, and from legacy systems to current products. Packed with the latest information, this comprehensive reference resource: Includes thousands of the latest networking terms, such as wireless networking, Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) and Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP), encryption, Internet services, backup, fault tolerance, domain modes, and much more Features fully illustrated process diagrams and tips and notes to help you get grounded in basics such as routing and star topology or go in-depth with topics such as network security, Internet connectivity, and TCP/IP Provides fast facts that those new to networking need to know to develop real-world networking skills during Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) studies Delivers accurate technical information about Microsoft Windows® 2000, the Microsoft BackOffice® family, and third-party networking products Supplies technical details that are useful to every organization, from small businesses with just a few computers to large enterprises with thousands of computersAn electronic version of this book is available on the companion CD.

About this title

Review

The Microsoft Encyclopedia of Networking has a great deal to offer its readers--it's thoroughly researched, well written, and carefully laid out. A more apt title would have been The Encyclopedia of Microsoft Networking, however, since Windows NT, Windows 2000, and additional Microsoft networking solutions are emphasized at the expense of other popular and robust technologies. If you run a Windows shop or just want a reference on hand while you prepare for a Microsoft networking certification test, you'll be pleased by the contents of this book.

Author Mitch Tulloch has done a super job of defining (and, more importantly, explaining) hundreds of terms involving connecting computers to one another, sending signals across those connections, and performing useful work (such as database queries and electronic commerce transactions) with those signals. Entries tend to be long and thorough, often including examples or careful conceptual walk-throughs. The design team that organized this book deserves high praise too, because there are so many ways to find terms that are of interest to readers. (All the terms appear in a table of contents and an index, as well as in alphabetical order in the body of the encyclopedia.) There is also plenty of cross-referencing among terms.

The prime weakness in this book isn't necessarily that it favors Microsoft products, but that it's sometimes actively hostile to competing technologies. Linux is defined as suffering from corporate "reluctance to use free software ... because there is no single company responsible for its development and support," making it suitable only for students who want to learn the Unix operating system. The first statement is a standard Microsoft argument against the adoption of Linux, although it contains some truth. The second statement reflects an error of omission: Linux is suited to such students but also to many other kinds of users. The book, not surprisingly, also lacks an entry for the Apache Web server. So if you're interested mainly in Microsoft products and don't care about these matters, this is a great book. --David Wall

Topics covered: Computer networking, particularly as implemented under Microsoft operating systems, including Windows 9x, Windows NT 4, and Windows 2000. Physical media, protocols, applications, and whole business solutions that have to do with networking are explained in an alphabetically organized series of entries.

From the Author

Traditional networking encyclopedias tend to focus only on networking hardware, standards, and protocols and not much else. But shifting paradigms and innovative software have forced a reappraisal of what a networking encyclopedia should be about. My book tries to accomodate these changes by covering everything that the modern networking professional needs to know, including LAN/WAN devices and components, cabling, various network and data storage architectures, wireless and cellular communications standards and technologies, protocols, incipient and established standards, underlying engineering concepts, network operating systems, Internet services and technologies, programming languages and architectures for building distributed applications, certification programs for networking professionals, and of course Microsoft software, services, and innovations. A fair portion of my encyclopedia focuses on Microsoft technologies, and why not? You'll find Microsoft software on virtually every desktop of every company in the world, in back rooms running mission-critical line-of-business software, on handheld PDAs, in embedded industrial systems--in short, almost everywhere. Today's competent networking professional must be familiar with these technologies, and there has been a need for a general networking encyclopedia which acknowledges Microsoft's pivotal role in building the networks that support the modern enterprise. Other companies have made contributions to networking as significant as Microsoft, and coverage of their products and services have been included though to a more limited extent. If you work exclusively with Novell products, you should buy their Novell's Encyclopedia of Networking. But if you are a networking professional who has any contact at all with Microsoft software (and who doesn't these days?) then my book is for you. Mitch Tulloch (author)

Edition details

• Publisher: Microsoft Press
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0735605734
• ISBN 13: 9780735605732
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 1500