understanding tcpip
Understanding TCP/IP (or The Book with the Frog Touching Himself) is a great, new book from Packt. As the title suggests, it covers the TCP/IP protocol suite -- similar to one of my all-time favorite technical books, TCP/IP Illustrated. However, the similarities between the two books stop there. Understanding TCP/IP also contains discussion on IPV6, application protocols, and even a primer in Cisco routers.
Perfect for beginners, Understanding TCP/IP explains the TCP/IP protocol suite in a very understandable text. Even more, the book is wonderfully illustrated with diagrams and flowcharts detailing everything discussed. The discussion on the application protocols (which include HTTP, FTP, DNS, Email and more) is also top-notch. It's like having a non-sleep-inducing RFC available to learn how each of these protocols work.
While I'll always swear to TCP/IP Illustrated, I suppose that book becomes more dated as time goes on. If you're a novice System Administrator who's looking for a great primer to TCP/IP and networking, I think you should give this book a chance. It covers everything about the suite -- including application protocols -- in a single, well illustrated book. I'll give it a 9/10.
