Rating: 
Summary: Best book about TCP/IP ever
Review: Stevens has achieved something that I was searching for; An intense, simple and essential Illustration of TCP/IP. I am currently writing a FireWall and this book was the first step I had to take into this networking world. I still use it as my primary reference book.
Rating:
Summary: A classic hands-on approach to TCP/IP...
Review: TCP/IP Illustrated Vol 1 is an indispensible tool to any network administrator. Rich Stevens was an excellent communicator and it clearly showed in this book. I don't know if he realized how much of an impact he has made in the networking community. I learned the basics of TCP/IP by reading this book and working out the example problems with tcpdump. This book has played an important role in my development as a computing professional. I can't recommend this book enough if you are interested in learning about how the protocols that the Internet operates over actually works. This book is worth every penny. I also recommend Advanced Programming in the Unix Environment by the same author.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent source of TCP/IP information
Review: TCP/IP Illustrated: Volume 1 is an excellent resource that is nothing short of amazing. It provides an outstanding amount of accurate and concise technical information that can lead to a well educated understanding of IP.
Rating:
Summary: Illustrated it is
Review: TCP/IP is the most fundamental protocol that drives the whole of the internet. A deep understanding of them is necessary for any wannabe network administrator/programmer/analyst etc. Richard Stevens TCP/IP illustrated is one of the best books you can ever buy to understand not only TCP/IP but also other fundamental protocols like ARP, DHCP, SMTP etc. The word 'Illustrated' is significant, you actually see the protocols in action throughout this book. There are more pages devoted to examples rather than concepts, which is actually an excellent way to relate to the concepts. Richard Stevens doesnt just write something, and assume you understood him and believed him in blind faith. He actually shows you what you write and helps you become more analytical in the workings of the internet. This book is a bit old though, and with Richard Stevens dead, we might not see a revival of this book. It only covers TCP modification till Tahoe and Reno but chapter 24 gives you a more or less good idea about what the future will be like (in which we actually are, by the timeline of this book.) Overall, if you want to not only learn networks, but feel them, then buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: Must-have for network programmers
Review: The best work I've seen detailing the innards of TCP/IP. If you have to or want to know what's going on inside the protocol stack, read this book.
Rating:
Summary: The bible for Internetworking.
Review: The book covers all aspects of Networking with TCP/IP in a very simple and thorough manner. Most of the TCP/IP protocols are covered and I have come to rely more & more on the book for all my networking needs
Rating:
Summary: The best TCP/IP illustration I have ever read
Review: The book does a great job in illustrating how different layers of TCP/IP protocol work together. Great read and I will also buy his other books (Advanced UNIX Programing, Advanced UNIX network programming tec.) to gain deeper understanding at the code level.
Rating: 
Summary: Comprehensive but dated, plus code wouldn't compile
Review: The covereage is comprehensive and in great detail, the organization of the material flows in a logical manner. Stevens needs to put out a new edition soon to reflect recent enhancements to the protocols (notably IPv6 and upgrades to TCP like larger window sizes (RFC 1323) which are quickly glossed over in this edtion). Also, it's kind of aggravating that none of the code would compile on my system even though Stevens supposedly tested it in my environment. And even if I could have compiled the code, I would still need superuser priveleges to run traceroute and the other programs - it would be nice to provide utilities that an average user could run. If you can get past these nits, this book really is an excellent reference on TCP/IP and applications. Another excellent book which I recommend highly is "Networking UNIX" by Douba for a more top level approach to this material.
Rating:
Summary: Great Technically! - not for Newbies!
Review: The more I read about TCP/IP (or any technical subject) the more it becomes clear that what may be good for one student may not be good for another. Some will really like this book. Others will really hate it. If you have already had the 10,000 ft. view of the TCP/IP protocol suite, and hunger for the nut-and-bolts, then this book is for you. It goes into excrutiating detail about what is happening during communication exchanges, maps out all the fields in various headers, and shows you just what happens - even the extraneous stuff - when some common commands are executed. I gave it four stars because I have not seen any other text go into this kind of detail. For a companion text, I would recommend "Internetworking with TCP/IP Vol. I" (Comer), or "Internet Core Protocols: the Definitive Guide" (Hall).
Rating:
Summary: incredible
Review: The only bad thing I can say about this book is it is a bit outdated. I however would not recommend ANY book over this one. It's THE book for learning the tcp/ip protocol suite. I think I've read this book at least 3 times and I'm probably due in for a 4th time. I rank this as my favorite computer book. So really I give it 10 stars out of 5 ;)
| 
