Product Description

Written by networking veteran with 20 years of experience, "Network Warrior" provides a thorough and practical introduction to the entire network infrastructure, from cabling to the routers. What you need to learn to pass a Cisco certification exam such as CCNA and what you need to know to survive in the real world are two very different things. The strategies that this book offers weren't on the exam, but they're exactly what you need to do your job well. "Network Warrior" takes you step by step through the world of hubs, switches, firewalls, and more, including ways to troubleshoot a congested network, and when to upgrade and why. Along the way, you'll gain an historical perspective of various networking features, such as the way Ethernet evolved. Based on the author's own experience as well as those he worked for and with, "Network Warrior" is a Cisco-centric book, focused primarily on the TCP/IP protocol and Ethernet networks - the realm that Cisco Systems now dominates. The book covers: the type of networks now in use, from LANs, WANs and MANs to CANs; the OSI Model and the layers involved in sending data; hubs, repeaters, switches, and trunks in practice; auto negotiation and why it 's a common problem in network slowdowns; route maps, routing protocols, and switching algorithms in Cisco routers; the resilient Ethernet - how to make things truly redundant; Cisco 6500 multi-layer switches and the Catalyst 3750 switch; Telecom nomenclature - why it 's different from the data world; T1 and DS3; firewall theory, designing access lists, authentication in Cisco devices; server load balancing technology; content switch module in action; designing QOS and what QOS does not do; and, IP design and subnetting made easy. The book also explains how to sell your ideas to management, how networks become a mess as a company grows, and why change control is your friend. "Network Warrior will help network administrators and engineers win the complex battles they face every day.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #26053 in Books
• Published on: 2009-12-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 576 pages

Sean Walberg, Slashdot, August 2007
This is a great book for people just getting into the industry, with their CCNA or without. 9/10

About the Author
Gary A. Donahue is a working consultant who has been in the computer industry for 25 years. Gary has worked as a programmer, mainframe administrator, Technical Assistance Center engineer, network administrator, network designer, and consultant. Gary has worked as the Director of Network Infrastructure for a national consulting company and has been the president of his own New Jersey consulting company; GAD Technologies. Having designed and built networks ranging from simple LANs to world-wide converged VoIP networks, Gary has worked with people from all levels of IT and management. From small local businesses to Fortune 500 clients Gary observed many misunderstandings regarding routing and switching technologies, even among people with high-level certifications. Gary's goal as a consultant has always been to help his clients understand the technology at hand. Over the years he has written many documents outlining complex technologies in order that others might better understand. Much of this knowledge has been transformed into this book. Being a teacher by nature, Gary enjoys the process of imparting newfound understanding to others. Gary has taught Tae Kwon Do, Photography and Astronomy both informally and through professional schools. Being someone who disdains boredom, Gary has many hobbies including amateur radio, astronomy, bicycling, computers of all kinds, gadgets, guitar, hiking, home theater, martial arts, photography, SCUBA diving, and competitive shooting. Gary is the owner of the Newf-Net Newfoundland Dog forum and is the author of the Newf-L F.A.Q.

Customer Reviews

The best network book I ever read!
A very useful guide to anyone who have to deal with computer networks or manage network devices. It isn't for inexperieced users, but I recommend it to everyone who would like to know more details about networks to become more familiar with it.
The book is aimed from the same idea suggested by Gary Donahue in managing networks: a network might be very hard to manage and understand as it size increase. So, the best thing you can do is trying to keep everything as simplest as possible.
The result is a good reference book, well written and easy to read and understand. Figures too are very clear and well explained. It contains a lot of useful suggestion on how to administrate a network and about all the activities related to it (e.g. PART VIII, "Designing Networks": Chapter 34 about "IP Design" it's AMAZING!).
Also, the book is well organized, because each one of eight parts that compose the book is splitted in few chapters well focussed on a single topic. This made the book easy to use if you are looking for a specific subject.
I'm studying about Network Security, so I appreciated very much Section V - "Security and Firewalls". Above all, Chapter 25 contains a very clear explanation about DeMilitarized Zone supplied with a lot of figures (the book contains too some suggestions to draw network schemes).
I never found a network book good like this so I wish you have to put it in your library!

A handy all-round coverage
This book is a very useful thing to have to hand for when your mind goes blank on the basics of something you don't use every day, but also for an overview of something usually neglected in such works: the business liason side of being an IT professional.

It's very Cisco orientated, but that's no surprise, given Cisco's market penetration, nor is it a terribly bad thing...I suppose it just reflects the way the world is. The only time it really grated on me was regards firewalls and server load balancers, since Cisco's offerings in these spaces suck like a Dyson on steroids (Mr. Donohue's praise for the late, unlamented Local Director series, for example, is very puzzling to me - but each to their own, I guess). However, it would have been nice for it to be a bit more platform-agnostic, I think. Also, BGP gets no more than a passing nod, really, and for that critically important protocol to be dismissed with what boils down to "Well, you probably won't need to config BGP unless you work for an ISP" is a bit weak.

Apart from that, pretty good.

excellent book
The book is waht it says "network warrior". It is easy to read and understand. Certain network knowledge it advisable. But with the examples of what different commands do when aspecs are turned on and off is brilliant. I actually found it very hard to put down, but you have to sleep sometime.