How Networks Work (7th Edition) (How It Works)

Completely updated with the latest coverage on Wireless LAN and Mobile wireless, Convergence, Network Storage, Category 5 cabling and Gigabit Ethernet and CRM.

Includes detailed explanations of how individual networking components work and fit together.

The most up-to-date and sophisticated four-color title on the market focusing on the intricacies of networks.

Amazon.com Review
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then Frank Derfler and Les Freed's fourth edition of How Networks Work is worth about a quarter of a million words. With lavish illustrations on almost every page, this book--like the entire How It Works series--teaches technology with detailed visuals on everything from the inner workings of a modem to the configuration of a Token Ring network. Departing somewhat from the usual form of the series, however, the authors take a historic approach. Part 1 briefly discusses the operation of the telegraph, telephone, and printing telegraph. This material is of interest, but is not presented with any detail (Edison's Carbon Transmitter, for example, is depicted as a museum piece with a bit of textual explication). Where the volume excels is in its diagramming and simplifying of complicated networked systems. The Network Interface Card is dissected, fiber optic and STP wires are cut open, and Server-Based LANs are mapped out. While Derfler and Freed don't address the nitty-gritty issues of picking specific machines and setting up specific networks, How Networks Work offers an essential first step toward understanding and implementing multiuser systems. --Patrick O'Kelley

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All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Looks good so far, 2008-05-04
Havent read the whole thing yet, but initially it looks good. If you want an idea of how networks work, give the book a try for yourself and then make a decision as to whether or not it was good for you. Opinions on here are driven by too many outside factors - draw your own conclusions from experience with the book, I say.



0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

This book is great for a beginner!, 2007-10-01
I was not able to put down this book!

Purchased it and read it from cover to cover. This was the kind of information I was looking for a long time and it was presented in the right way I needed. Text and lots of pictures/diagrams well balanced for a beginner.

Finally I am able to orient myself in the filed of computer networking and now I know what direction to go, if I want to obtain deeper knowledge in it.


1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Would Not Recommend, 2007-08-05
What I thought was Good about this book:

- Nothing was inaccurate.


What I thought was Bad about this book:

- I didn't learn anything. For the most part, this book just gave a bunch of vocabulary "buzz" words, and "hand waving" of how the pieces fit together to make a network.

I read this book because I wanted to get a better understanding of How Networks Work. After reading this book, I know the names of major components involved in various networks; however, I still don't know how these components actually process the information. The book shows a traffic cop controlling the flow of information. Fine, the book gave me the name of the traffic cop(s), but I was hoping for a more down to earth explanation. Might as well just say that it magically happens!


4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

Excellent Beginning Level Book , 2007-03-09
This is a beginning level book on networks. If you're a CCNA or something like that it will be trivial to you, and a waste of time. If, on the other hand, you have a local CCNA and he seems to spend a lot of time trying to snow you then this will give you the knowledge you need to know when he is full of it. Likewise it will be good for the beginner who is, perhaps setting up a home network to give multiple computers access to the Internet.

This book is not hardware specific, so you will still have to make decisions as to what brands of equipment to buy and things like that, but you will have an understanding of the concepts and the functions of the equipment you will be needing.

Intended for beginners, the book is printed in full color and is extensively illustrated with drawings that are clear and drawn specifically for this book.


1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Wonderful Classroom Tool, 2006-06-30
My students LOVE this book. They refer to it regularly. The flow charts and diagrams are invaluable. The systematic diagrams help students visualize how various networks components work individually and as a group. This is a great beginning network book as well as a reference tool. The chapters are short and to the point. Reproducing the diagrams without the text allows assessment of student understanding.

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