Rex Baldazo
LOCAL AREA NETWORKS: NEW TECHNOLOGIES, EMERGING STANDARDS, 3d ed., by Thomas W. Madron John Wiley & Sons, ISBN 0-471-00959-8, $29.95
If you are looking for a ground-floor introduction to LANs, this book is a good place for you to start. Obviously, no single book can cover every technical issue in networking, and this one thankfully avoids trying to do so. Instead, Thomas W. Madron focuses on the basic technologies that are needed to implement the first three layers of the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) stack, with occasional forays higher up the stack.
After a brief overview of why you would want a network (e.g., E-mail and print servers), the book dives right into the maze of standards that glues the open-networking world together. The discussion depicts
the seven-layer OSI stack and lists the relevant standards at each layer. Madron also discusses how support for different physical media (i.e., twisted-pair and fiber-optic cable) is included in the standards. The chapter on NOSes (network operating systems) skillfully navigates you through an ocean of network acronyms, such as NetBEUI (NetBIOS Extended User Interface), SNA (Systems Network Architecture), and X.400. Coverage includes MAP (Manufacturing Automation Protocol) and NetWare, as well as a brief mention of additional NOS products, such as Banyan Vines and IBM LAN Server.
The following chapter is actually a continuation of the NOS chapter, but it's aimed at peer-to-peer networks. The author provides detailed discussions of the installation process for three of the biggest players in peer-to-peer networks: LANtastic, Personal NetWare, and Windows for Workgroups. He makes no attempt to provide an answer for which is best. Instead, he tries to leave you with the right questions to ask to find the
solution for your particular needs.
The book also includes chapters on peer-to-peer versus client/server networks, bridging and using gateways to other networks, and security and implementation issues. Separate chapters are devoted to each of the main IEEE signaling schemes, for example, 802.3 (Ethernet), 802.4 (Token Bus), and 802.5 (Token Ring). For the network neophyte, this book covers a lot of ground in an easy-to-understand, readable way.
Rex Baldazo is a BYTE technical editor. You can reach him on the Internet or BIX at
rbaldazo@bix.com
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An Excellent Guide To LANS
