---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 06 Jul 1994 12:52:14 MDT From: Rob Slade Subject: Book Review: "TCP/IP Network Administration" by Hunt BKTCPADM.RVW 940328 O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. 103 Morris Street, Suite A Sebastopol, CA 95472 800-998-9938 707-829-0515 fax: 707-829-0104 info@ora.com or nuts@ora.com "TCP/IP Network Administration", Hunt, 1992, 0-937175-82-X The growth of the Internet, in terms of the number of computers connected, has been doubling each year for at least the last ten. This means that in this coming year about three million computers will get connected, and in the year following, approximately six million. This growth cannot continue indefinitely. One constraint is the number of computers in the world, and another is the limit on the number of numeric Internet IP addresses available. One of the most important limiting factors, however, is the availability of knowledge about the connection and configuration of computers to the Internet. This book addresses this latter problem. If you are a UNIX system manager, this book is a thorough guide to configuring an Internet connection. (Even if you are not on the Internet, it is an excellent overview of the requirements for using TCP/IP to network your own machines.) For some, the guide may be on the technical side -- but then, network administration is a formidably technical task. The first three chapters discuss the concepts behind TCP/IP, routing, and the domain name and name service. The next four cover the basics of connections and configuration. Chapters eight to ten give details on the primary network services. There are also chapters on troubleshooting, security and appendices, including Internet service contacts, and the various application forms for registration. If you are not working in UNIX, many of the low level specifics will not be of much use. Many of the items, however, can either be used as rough outlines, or adapted to non-UNIX systems. Many programs may be different, but a lot of the structure, data and concepts will be the same. For those charged with the practical details of bringing a system into the Internet, this book is uniquely helpful.