TCP/IP Bible

The TCP/IP Bible sounds like it's purely an in-depth look at Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP)--usually referred to collectively as TCP/IP--as well as the other protocols that traditionally make up a TCP/IP "stack." That's not really what it is. Though the authors cover the TCP/IP protocols (bit by bit in many cases), it is instead more of a general networking book, with coverage of everything from how to wire up a switch on a local area network (LAN) to where to place your servers relative to your routers. TCP/IP Bible is a good general networking book, worth its cover price for someone who's getting into the field for the first time or an experienced technician wanting to understand the protocols and their capabilities more fully.

Written by a large team of authors, this book combines explanatory text with diagrams and screen shots. The authors are most effective when they refer frequently to illustrations as they explain what's talking to what. They sort of drop the ball in their documentation of field values and other discrete, enumerable facts--they tend to list values without explaining what they mean. The lesson: Stay clear of this book if you aim to write support for TCP/IP into software, and turn to it instead if your job is to design, administer, or troubleshoot a network running TCP/IP. --David Wall

Topics covered: The protocols in the TCP/IP suite (including FTP, SMTP, Telnet, and others) and how they're implemented in popular operating systems (notably Microsoft Windows NT, Mac OS, and Linux). Further coverage addresses questions of network design, troubleshooting, and efficiency.