Rating: 
Summary: Virtual Private Networks, 2nd Edition (O'Reilly Nutshell)
Review: I'm new to the world of VPN. This book laid some ground work for me to start with. The other reviews consider this book as usless, but now after having read this book, I now have a basis to gauge other work by. After all, as another review stated, there is not much new material out there.
Rating: 
Summary: A very poorly written book.
Review: It is a waste of money and time to buy and to read this book. I mean the second edition. There is neither clear architecture concept nor technical detail. Many concept can be illustrated in a very simple drawings and the author will not do it. After I read other books I feel that the authors don't know what they are talking about.
Rating:
Summary: Could have been a lot better - 2nd Edition soon?
Review: Rather lightweight and banal. This book could have been a lot better; had the impression that it was rather rushed, perhaps in an attempt to catch the VPN/ NT wave. There are some technical inaccuracies which is just not on in an introductory book. The book just about saves itself with its "manual type" content.
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Summary: Worst technical book I've read in years
Review: This book is a blot on O'Reilly's reputation. The editor(s) must have been asleep. It is disorganized and riddled with errors of grammar, fact and logic. The authors seem to be unclear on their audience as well as their facts. The book is insulting and derogatory of end users (without whom there would be no need for the technology discussed), implying among other things, that most technical problems with VPNs are the fault of dumb end users, and then going on to describe problems that are almost all a result of installation and setup errors by the "pros" in configuring routers, NT Server and/or the VPN server software or equipment. The discussion of the CISCO equipment contains 13 pages about firewalls and a sparce 3 about VPNs, which turn out to require additional equipment not mentioned earlier or in the cost estimates. After pages of "war stories" about security breaches and cracker dangers, the authors state at one point that the logs produced by the VPN software are mainly good to enliven boring network administrator's meetings. It is often unclear which of two alternatives is being discussed. Further examples could be quoted from almost any page of this mess. Save your money. O'Reilly should post the full text of this fiasco on their web site for free as an example of the kind of "technical" material they are NOT interested in publishing.
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Summary: Complete waste!
Review: This book is not worth the paper it is written on. I expected more from an O'Reilly book. If you want to learn about VPN, go for a better selection!
Rating: 
Summary: Perfect
Review: This book solved a lot of problems for me. While much of the product coverage no longer applies, the theory and practice of the VPN, as well as the basic need for such a technology gave me the information I needed to convince my upper management to use VPN's better.
Rating:
Summary: Well.. Almost Useless
Review: This book was a big disappointment. It does gloss over alot of the key VPN ideas, but there is not much substance. I've learned more from reading various tidbits off the internet. Also, before you even consider using PPTP you should read the CounterPane cryptanalysis paper on PPTP. http://www.counterpane.com/pptpv2-paper.html PPTP on windows NT is just not secure! For a total newbie, this book might give them an idea of what to look for on the internet, but besides that I don't see too much value in this book. I wouldn't buy it again, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone that I liked.
Rating:
Summary: Well.. Almost Useless
Review: This book was a big disappointment. It does gloss over alot of the key VPN ideas, but there is not much substance. I've learned more from reading various tidbits off the internet. Also, before you even consider using PPTP you should read the CounterPane cryptanalysis paper on PPTP. http://www.counterpane.com/pptpv2-paper.html PPTP on windows NT is just not secure! For a total newbie, this book might give them an idea of what to look for on the internet, but besides that I don't see too much value in this book. I wouldn't buy it again, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone that I liked.
Rating:
Summary: Not worth the price.
Review: Until now, all O'Reilly books I've encountered have been worth their weight in gold. Not this one! The very slim book focuses on simple tunneling systems (mostly from host to host) and cannot give sound advice or knowledge to any serious attempts at VPNs. Perhaps individual users with NTs might find some interest in the book, but for a network administrator its a total waste of money. Spend a few minutes browsing it and you've seen the best of it.
Rating:
Summary: Not worth the price.
Review: What was O'Reilly thinking!! This is the first time I wasted money on an O'Reilly book (and I have plenty). This book was a rush job. There are many inaccuracies, a lot seem to be the editors mistakes. The authors seem to have the practical experience, but it is not communicated in a clear manner. The chapters on PPTP, AltaVista and Cisco PIX were organized in a good way and were helpful. Overall, the diagrams are poor. Better graphics could have salvaged this book. I give it two stars because there are not that many books on the market.
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