Basic to Intermediate Networking Book

[ExplodingTaco]

I am looking for a good networking book that covers the basics of networking in depth, intermediate at an intermediate level, and advanced as an overview. Not so much the how but the what and why.

The audience will be very bright and technical people but not people who have much experience beyond home networking.

Thanks for any guidence

 

[Raekwon]

You could try Network Warrior. Might be too complicated though. I would suggest Todd Lammle's book for the CCNA exam. Cisco specific but a lot of good info otherwise.

 

[Mackintire]

Depending on what you are looking for, might I suggest some alternatives:

CBT nuggets are good option for video training and understanding concepts. You can sign up the entire team and let them watch specific videos free for the first week. Just cancel before the week is up during the trial. Network+ training is what you should be looking at...just certain video modules.

Books are fantastic for study and reference material.

The Todd Lammie network books they are quite good and I won't disagree on that.



What I think you REALLY may want to look into is:

CompTIA Network+ All-in-One Exam Guide, Fourth Edition by, Michael Meyers


Its a very easy read. Don't count on passing the exam using this book alone because it doesn't cover everything.

But what it does cover it presents in a very easy to digest format with analogies and examples that anyone could understand.

 

[piscian18]

Depending on what you are looking for, might I suggest some alternatives:

CBT nuggets are good option for video training and understanding concepts. You can sign up the entire team and let them watch specific videos free for the first week. Just cancel before the week is up during the trial. Network+ training is what you should be looking at...just certain video modules.

Books are fantastic for study and reference material.

The Todd Lammie network books they are quite good and I won't disagree on that.



What I think you REALLY may want to look into is:

CompTIA Network+ All-in-One Exam Guide, Fourth Edition by, Michael Meyers


Its a very easy read. Don't count on passing the exam using this book alone because it doesn't cover everything.

But what it does cover it presents in a very easy to digest format with analogies and examples that anyone could understand.

I agree he needs Network+, its a better book for understanding the basics and what the common adapters and media types there are.

 

[NoOther]

I agree he needs Network+, its a better book for understanding the basics and what the common adapters and media types there are.

I guess it depends on what one considers to be "beginner" and what one considers to be "intermediate". By no means would I consider Network+ to cover intermediate networking, it is beginner only really.

OP, first I would suggest explaining what you mean by beginner and intermediate.

 

[ExplodingTaco]

I guess it depends on what one considers to be "beginner" and what one considers to be "intermediate". By no means would I consider Network+ to cover intermediate networking, it is beginner only really.

OP, first I would suggest explaining what you mean by beginner and intermediate.

Beginner would be addressing like private vs public IP's. OSI model. Basic NATing, Basic routing and switching. What are the basics of the Internet protocol suite.

Intermediate would be level 2 vs level 3 switching, vLANs, VPNs. IPSec, GRE, BGP.

advanced??? Maybe next gen firewalls, stuff I don't know about.

 

[Mackintire]

With that added info, I'll stand by my recommendations:

• CompTIA Network+ All-in-One Exam Guide, Fourth Edition by, Michael Meyers
  
• Team trial for CBT nuggets...and choosing a few specific videos from the Network + class.

 

[ExplodingTaco]

Maybe this will help and why I would like to avoid an exam or cert specific book:

This is for me and my peers and we are all engineers but not network engineers. But anymore everything is networked at some level or another and we all just need better knowledge. I probably have the best knowledge and I find myself lacking regularly. Because of my "expertise" I have been talked with finding a good reading source that will become mandatory reading for my role.

 

[djflow195]

I would say the free Stanford University Intro to Computer Networking class is.what you want.

Or you can do Professor Messer Net+ videos.

Cisco ICND1 (CCENT) is pretty in depth, but with a Cisco slant.

 

[NoOther]

Beginner would be addressing like private vs public IP's. OSI model. Basic NATing, Basic routing and switching. What are the basics of the Internet protocol suite.

Intermediate would be level 2 vs level 3 switching, vLANs, VPNs. IPSec, GRE, BGP.

advanced??? Maybe next gen firewalls, stuff I don't know about.

Given that information, what I suggest is the following:

Good all around:
Network Warrior

Fairly technical (good for engineers):
Data Communications and Networking
Computer Networks: A Systems Approach
Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach

More technical:
Networking Bible

Note, these are just my thoughts coming from someone who started out as a tech, sysadmin, systems engineer, systems security engineer, etc.

EDIT: Note that many of these books contain the introductory level information and then get far more technical, but I believe they hold the highest value by explaining networking from a systematic point of view and not simply a certification or vendor specific.