Practical Microsoft Windows Peer Networking

Rating:
Summary: Needs more work and addtions for new networks.
Review: Microsoft has made a living out of inventing and re-inventing better and faster ways to network. Therefore computer book authors have to continually write and re-write books to keep up with the changes. Jerry Lee Ford has made a great attempt to give you peer networking simplified.

Ford takes this book and begins at the best place possible, what networks can do with hardware and software. His 580 plus page books breaks down the peer networking and simplifies some of the more complex issues associated with that type of environment.

Ford is good with his ability to show, in numerous pictures, what should happen when you make changes or configuration updates. Where he falls short is in the areas of review questions and an add-on cd with utilities.

Covering areas like printers, security, utilities, troubleshooting and others over peer networks like Windows for Workgroups, Windows 9X, Windows NT is a great start, but Ford needs to also include Windows 2000 in his next edition.

Rating:
Summary: Super coverage of a big topic
Review: Not surprisingly, the largest part of this book is devoted to Windows 2000. Ford's explicit coverage of it (unlike most everyone else he does NOT assume that you are already a whiz at NT just because you are investigating Windows 2000) has already given me the courage to tackle sticking a Win 2000 machine in a peer network consisting of Win 98 and Win 95 machines -- and successfully!

His coverage of Win 95 and Win 98 (and Win 98 SE) as a continuum is well justified, and nicely handled. He really highlights the small differences between the two where peer networking is concerned. It would have been easier to just treat them as separate OS, but he cut through the duplicate stuff and hit the differences. Good job!

The quibbles I had were tiny. For example, on page 43 a table is entitled "Coax Cable Types and Specifications" but Coax is not an accurate descriptor, since several of the cable types on the table are not coax at all but are twisted pair. On page 451, in the sidebar, he uses the word "hardware" where he means "hard disk" or "hard drive". I think it would be useful if he expanded on the 169.254.0.0 address range, telling us which addresses Win98SE assigns by default so that don't inadvertently hard-code the same addys on Win 95 machines on the same networks.

In other words, there just isn't very much wrong with this book!!

There is a lot of other good stuff: I particularly liked the way he summarized network troubleshooting. I can't imagine any way it could be more concise. I thought the appendices were excellent, every one of them, and potentially very useful. The final appendix, on HomePNA, will get outdated very quickly, but it is still a very substantial and helpful step off THAT particular cliff.

If you're involved in peer-to-peer networking in a Microsoft world, I can't think of a more useful book to have on your desk. Highly recommended!!

Rating:
Summary: Super coverage of a big topic
Review: Not surprisingly, the largest part of this book is devoted to Windows 2000. Ford's explicit coverage of it (unlike most everyone else he does NOT assume that you are already a whiz at NT just because you are investigating Windows 2000) has already given me the courage to tackle sticking a Win 2000 machine in a peer network consisting of Win 98 and Win 95 machines -- and successfully!

His coverage of Win 95 and Win 98 (and Win 98 SE) as a continuum is well justified, and nicely handled. He really highlights the small differences between the two where peer networking is concerned. It would have been easier to just treat them as separate OS, but he cut through the duplicate stuff and hit the differences. Good job!

The quibbles I had were tiny. For example, on page 43 a table is entitled "Coax Cable Types and Specifications" but Coax is not an accurate descriptor, since several of the cable types on the table are not coax at all but are twisted pair. On page 451, in the sidebar, he uses the word "hardware" where he means "hard disk" or "hard drive". I think it would be useful if he expanded on the 169.254.0.0 address range, telling us which addresses Win98SE assigns by default so that don't inadvertently hard-code the same addys on Win 95 machines on the same networks.

In other words, there just isn't very much wrong with this book!!

There is a lot of other good stuff: I particularly liked the way he summarized network troubleshooting. I can't imagine any way it could be more concise. I thought the appendices were excellent, every one of them, and potentially very useful. The final appendix, on HomePNA, will get outdated very quickly, but it is still a very substantial and helpful step off THAT particular cliff.

If you're involved in peer-to-peer networking in a Microsoft world, I can't think of a more useful book to have on your desk. Highly recommended!!

Rating:
Summary: Finally a networking book anyone can understand
Review: Practical Microsoft Windows Peer Networking is the best book on networking that I have read so far. Mr. Ford has a real gift for breaking complex tasks down into simle clear steps that anyone can follow. His coverage of Windows 2000 Professional and Windows 98 networking is very extensive and detailed. This is nicely complemented with coverage of every other major Microsoft operating system including Windows 95, Windows NT and Windows for Workgroups. I especially appreciate his coverage of TCP/IP and modem sharing.

I was struggeling with building my own home network before I began reading Mr. Ford's book. All I can say is that I wish I had read his book first because it would have saved me a lot of lost time and energy. I strongly recommend this book as required reading for anyone who plans to set up his or her own network.