CARVIEW |
By Gary A. Donahue
First Edition
June 2007
Pages: 598
ISBN 10: 0-596-10151-1 |
ISBN 13: 9780596101510
(Average of 2 Customer Reviews)
Network Warrior provides a thorough and practical introduction to the entire network infrastructure, from cabling to the routers. What you need to learn to pass a Cisco certification exam such as CCNA and what you need to know to survive in the real world are two very different things. The strategies that this book offers weren 't on the exam, but they 're exactly what you need to do your job well.
Full Description
Network Warrior takes you step by step through the world of hubs, switches, firewalls, and more, including ways to troubleshoot a congested network, and when to upgrade and why. Along the way, you 'll gain an historical perspective of various networking features, such as the way Ethernet evolved. Based on the author 's own experience as well as those he worked for and with, Network Warrior is a Cisco-centric book, focused primarily on the TCP/IP protocol and Ethernet networks -- the realm that Cisco Systems now dominates. The book covers:
The type of networks now in use, from LANs, WANs and MANs to CANs
- The OSI Model and the layers involved in sending data
- Hubs, repeaters, switches, and trunks in practice
- Auto negotiation and why it 's a common problem in network slowdowns
- Route maps, routing protocols, and switching algorithms in Cisco routers
- The resilient Ethernet -- how to make things truly redundant
- Cisco 6500 multi-layer switches and the Catalyst 3750 switch
- Telecom nomenclature -- why it 's different from the data world
- T1 and DS3
- Firewall theory, designing access lists, authentication in Cisco devices
- Server load balancing technology
- Content switch module in action
- Designing QOS and what QOS does not do
- IP design and subnetting made easy
The book also explains how to sell your ideas to management, how networks become a mess as a company grows, and why change control is your friend. Network Warrior will help network administrators and engineers win the complex battles they face every day.
Cover | Table of Contents | Colophon
Featured customer reviews
Wow. Not sure how that much information fits between the covers., August 09 2007





This book is definitive++ when it comes to network adminstration. Gary Donahue covers nearly all aspects of network administration focusing considerable time on the administration of the appliances themselves. Each topic covered starts with the theory behind the topic. This includes diagrams and picture representations that help clarify the topic. Then the chapter moves into more specific explanations concerning real world implementation. Finally actual adminstration is show by display the actual command typed into the routers themselves and the responses recieved from the command. The author also talks about various misconfiguration issues and the consequences that result. The organization is clear throughout as this theme of starting with the general and moving towards very detailed examples is kept for each topic in the book. Network admins will love the attention to detail and the careful coverage of each topic. One of the best chapters is actually an extra one at the end that talks about the behavior and personalities of computer admins in general. This was quite entertaining and in my opinion quite true. The most informative chapter would be difficult to call because so many issues are covered. Personally I was helped by the spanning tree chapter and the multiple chapters covering the VLANs. This book had the clearest explanations I have seen to date. Put this tool in the network toolbox.
A brain dump of real world information, July 06 2007





I'm a seasoned network and security architect, well versed in the land of Cisco. This is bar none one of the best books out there.
It has something for everyone; for the junior admins just starting out, to intermediate and advanced who can use a no no-nonsense reference. (as well as a reference point to defend your designs)
It's literally a brain dump of useful information that only real world experience can teach. For the more advanced folk out there, you will find plenty of information to sink your teeth into. There are tidbits of information that we all were not sure on or thought was true, but never found in writing in the official Cisco press books.
The best example I can think of in there, is a crucial difference of CSS and CSM. ... Now I have the official Cisco press book (designing content switching solutions); but no where did it tell me that a CSM uses the bus which in turn will cause my 6500's sup720-3b to drop down from using the cross-bar to using the bus, effectively negating the coveted 720gig forwarding rate. (the closest thing they have to referencing it is a picture on page 54 of the CSM, with a line pointing to the connector saying "shared bus connectivity". A far cry from saying this is what is going to happen to your 6500)
It's little things like that which makes this book just as invaluable as the IOS Cookbook and the hacking exposed series.
Junior level admins will find the first chapters enlightening (he explains spanning tree better then I ever could). The chapter on telco is great and goes into enough detail for everyone.
This book is a must have.
Highly Recommended...
"Network Warrior is the best network administration book I've ever read. I spend most of my reading time on security books, but because I lean towards network security I like reading complementary sources on protocols and infrastructure. Gary Donahue has written a wonderful book that I highly recommend for anyone who administers, supports, or interacts with networks. Network Warrior may be the best book I will read in 2007. "
-- Richard Bejtlich, Amazon.com
"I don't normally write reviews, so that in itself should mean something. This book is great for anyone who wants to get an overview of many aspects of networking, or for the current professional who wants an easy to understand refresher. The details given are just enough to keep you interested and learning, but not too much that it will leave you bored and confused. This book covers a lot more than a CCNA level person would know, so I consider it a great step if you're working on a CCNP, or just interested in deciding what topic you should master next. It also covers a lot of real-world material, which is usually not in most other Cisco books. This book is definitely worth the read!"
-- Andy Page, Amazon.com
"I particularly enjoyed that the author illustrates many concepts with mistakes and missteps he made himself. This isn't ivory tower networking, this is a guy who trips over cables and knocks out a whole company. Networking from A-Z. Switches, routers and hubs, oh my. Everything you need to know and then some. Worth the money, worth twice the money, maybe worth three times the money. Buy it."
-- A.P. Lawrence, Information and Resources for Unix and Linux Systems
"Network Warrior is the best network administration book I've ever read...Gary Donahue has written a wonderful book that I highly recommend for anyone who administers, supports, or interacts with networks. Network Warrior may be the best book I will read in 2007. "
--Richard Bejtlich, Amazon.com
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