 Books:
A User's Report
Elizabeth Zinkann
This month's column highlights an outstanding networking
book, a classic fourth edition, a premier book about an editor,
a survey of a dictionary, and some notes of interest. Specifically,
I reviewed: Networking: A Beginner's Guide by Bruce
Hallberg (Osborne/McGraw-Hill Network Professional's Library);
DNS and BIND, Fourth Edition by Paul Albitz and Cricket Liu
(O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.); Vi IMproved-Vim by
Steve Oualline, Foreword by Bram Moolenaar, Creator of Vim (New
Riders, Open Publication License); and the Dictionary of Internetworking
Terms and Acronyms by Cisco Systems Inc. (Cisco Press). I also
have included Notes on Secrets & Lies: Digital Security In
A Networked World by Bruce Schneier (John Wiley & Sons,
Inc.) and the Linux Journal 2001 Buyer's Guide (Linux
Journal, Specialized Systems Consultants, Inc.)
Notes: Secrets & Lies: Digital Security In A Networked
World by Bruce Schneier (ISBN 0-471-25311-1, $29.99), which
was reviewed in the November, 2000 issue of Sys Admin, recently
received the 11th Annual Jolt Productivity Award by CMP's Software
Development magazine. Schneier's book highlights the new
risks that accompany Internet business developments and how to securely
manage them.
I seldom review magazines, but the Linux Journal 2001 Buyer's
Guide (Linux Journal, SSC, Inc., $5.00, http://store.linuxjournal.com)
is well worth reading. It presents five features about current Linux
trends, including a comparison chart of the Linux distributions
and how to select your distribution. Most of the guide surveys the
products available for the Linux platform, including software, hardware,
publications, and services. It also lists a complete vendor directory.
Although it is virtually impossible to publish a magazine that is
completely current, the Linux Journal 2001 Buyer's Guide
provides a good reference with product descriptions, reviews, and
vendor information.
Networking: A Beginner's Guide
Bruce Hallberg
Osborne/McGraw-Hill
Network Professional's Library
ISBN 0-07-212226-9
365 Pages
$29.99
http://www.osborne.com/
One of the most popular attractions at the spring Comdex was SOHO
networking. Many homes now have two or more computers and want to
network them to share phone lines or printers. Small businesses
are also utilizing networks to share peripherals and file access.
In Networking: A Beginner's Guide, Hallberg demonstrates
why networking knowledge is important, recognizes the middle-ground
reader who is neither a computer novice nor a networking guru, and
addresses professional computer users throughout the book. He divides
the topics into two major sections: Networking Ins and Outs and
Hands-On Knowledge.
The first part features networking concepts, hardware implementations,
protocols, and design issues. The first chapter, Understanding Networking,
presents an overview of Peer-to-Peer and Client-Server network philosophies
plus their accompanying benefits and disadvantages. Hallberg also
describes basic networking capabilities and details the OSI reference
model. The following chapters examine the physical setups, installations,
and primary considerations (i.e., security) through: Understanding
Network Cabling; Understanding Network Hardware; Making WAN Connections;
Understanding Network Protocols; Learning About Directory Services;
Connections from Afar: Remote Network Access; Securing Your Network;
Network Servers: Everything You Wanted to Know, But Were Afraid
to Ask; and All About Client Computers.
In the second part of the book, Hands On Knowledge, Hallberg illustrates
the practical considerations and necessary configuration and administration
tasks for NetWare 5, Windows 2000, and Linux. The individual chapters
include: Designing a Network; Installing and Setting Up NetWare
5; Administering NetWare: The Basics; Understanding Other NetWare
Services; Installing and Setting Up Windows 2000 Server; Administering
Windows 2000 Server: The Basics; Understanding Other Windows 2000
Server Services; Installing Linux in a Server Configuration; and
Introduction to Linux Systems Administration. The author also provides
a Glossary. A special illustration of bus, ring, and star topologies
plus the OSI networking model are visually represented in the center
of the book in an insert called Blueprints.
In Networking: A Beginner's Guide, author Bruce Hallberg
presents an exceptional analysis of network designs, concepts, and
techniques. His clear explanations are interspersed with extensive
notes and personal administration experiences appropriately named
"author's notes". Hallberg carefully differentiates
among similarly named terms with very different definitions. This
combination of descriptions, explanations, definitions, and processes
make this book an effective and valuable reference. It is a useful
resource for anyone who is an experienced computer user and wants
to learn more about designing and implementing a network.
DNS and BIND
Fourth Edition
Paul Albitz and Cricket Liu
O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.
ISBN 0-596-00158-4
601 Pages
$44.95
http://www.oreilly.com
The implementations of DNS (Domain Name System) and BIND (Berkeley
Internet Name Domain) have become indispensable for administrators
and users alike. Administrators install and configure the utilities
so that users can type bestsitefirst.com or sysadminmag.com
instead of 205.214.165.141 or 66.35.216.85 to access the respective
Web sites. Administrators can use DNS and BIND in several
ways, including subdividing domains, load sharing among servers,
forward and reverse mapping, and securing the server. Albitz and
Liu illustrate how to utilize DNS and BIND to accomplish
these tasks and more.
With the fourth edition, the authors have updated and expanded
the text to include BIND 9.10 and BIND 8.2.3 in addition to the
4.9 version. Some of the new capabilities are transaction signatures
(TSIG), DNSSEC (DNS Security Extensions), IPv6 forward and reverse
mapping utilizing A6 and DNAME records, and the update policy of
BIND 9.1.0. The Security topic now appears in a separate chapter,
and the Appendices have also been reorganized and modified. The
authors address the individual topics in the following order: Background;
How Does DNS Work?; Where Do I Start?; Setting Up BIND, DNS and
Electronic Mail; Configuring Hosts; Maintaining BIND; Growing Your
Domain; Parenting; Advanced Features; Security; nslookup and dig;
Reading BIND Debugging Output; Troubleshooting DNS and BIND;
Programming with the Resolver and Name Server Library Routines;
and Miscellaneous. The Appendices contain A) DNS Message Format
and Resource Records, B) BIND Compatibility Matrix, C) Compiling
and Installing BIND on Linux, D) Top-Level Domains, and E) BIND
Name Server and Resolver Configuration.
DNS and BIND, Fourth Edition remains an essential reference
for systems and network administrators. Albitz and Liu describe
the facets and procedures connected with DNS and BIND through a
well-written and precise style. Every administrator will appreciate
their thorough coverage of the new attributes and features within
the newer versions plus the inclusion of the previous versions.
Vi IMproved-Vim
Steve Oualline
Foreword by Bram Moolenaar, Creator of Vim
New Riders Open Publication License
ISBN 0-7357-1001-5
572 Pages
$49.99
http://www.newriders.com/
When it comes to editing, most of us have a preferred text editor
that (of course) is much better for inputting everything from the
most graceful haiku or the silliest riddles to the most eloquent
essays, than any other program in existence. For many of us, that
program is vi, or vi improved in its latest form.
Up until now, however, the way to learn how to use all of its capabilities
was through online documentation. Author Steve Oualline researched,
organized, and assembled the information and instructions for using
the Vim editor. The result is a superb reference and guide to Vim,
presented in three major sections.
The first part, encompassing chapters 1 through 17, comprises
The Tutorial. The other two parts are The Details and The Appendices.
The Tutorial presents the extended basic set of commands; The Details
describes the advanced topics; and The Appendices contains miscellaneous
information utilizing a slightly different style of organization.
In The Tutorial, Oualline addresses the following topics: Basic
Editing; Editing a Little Faster; Searching; Text Blocks and Multiple
Files; Windows; Basic Visual Mode; Commands for Programmers; Basic
Abbreviations; Keyboard Mapping, and Initialization Files; Basic
Command Command-Mode Commands (yes, I typed it correctly); Basic
GUI Usage; Dealing with Text Files; Automatic Completion; Autocommands;
File Recovery and Command-Line Arguments; Miscellaneous Commands;
Cookbook; and Topics Not Covered.
The second part illustrates the advanced commands and demonstrates
regular expressions, multiple files, and windowing capabilities
through: Complete Basic Editing; Advanced Searching Using Regular
Expressions; Advanced Text Blocks and Multiple Files; All About
Windows and Sessions; Advanced Visual Mode; Advanced Commands for
Programmers; All About Abbreviations and Keyboard Mapping; Complete
Command-Mode (:) Commands; Advanced GUI Commands; Expressions and
Functions; Customizing the Editor; Language-Dependent Syntax Options;
and How to Write a Syntax File. The Appendices contain A) Installing
Vim, B) The <> Key Names, C) Normal-Mode Commands, D) Command-Mode
Commands, E) Visual-Mode Commands, F) Insert-Mode Commands, G) Option
List, H) Vim License Agreement, and I) Quick Reference.
The Vi IMproved-Vim book is virtually an encyclopedia for
text editing, formatting, and synchronizing files. Vim can autoformat
and interface with Perl, Python, Sniff+, and Tcl. The good news
is that it can perform many advanced tasks; the better news is that
it can also just insert, delete, change, and save your work. The
Quick Reference Guide at the back of the book categorizes the commands
and their functions quite neatly. Oualline first explains how to
use the basic commands and then describes all of the bells and whistles
that you can use. This is a superb book that demonstrates how to
access all of the features of Vim, details its improvements over
the vanilla vi editor, and also shows how to use the basic
commands. This is an outstanding book on Vim for every level of
computer user.
Dictionary of Internetworking Terms and Acronyms
Cisco Systems Inc.
Cisco Press
ISBN 1-58720-045-7
412 Pages
$12.95
http://www.ciscopress.com/
Researching a new topic or aspect can suddenly become confusing
if it leads to an article with unfamiliar terms and acronyms. Terms
that look familiar often mean something else, which leads to even
more confusion. I found Cisco's Dictionary of Internetworking
Terms and Acronyms by accident. The book was luckily on the
wrong shelf, and I decided to look through it although I needed
something more general than a Cisco-specific dictionary. This is
actually a general reference with an added section on Cisco terms
following the rest of the entries. The definitions are precise without
being either terse or verbose, are completely current (at the moment),
and easily referenced. The definitions are clearly written and the
acronyms are sensibly crossed referenced. I recommend this as a
complement to any networking or internetworking book.
Elizabeth Zinkann has been involved in the UNIX and C environment
for the past 15 years. She is currently a UNIX and C consultant,
and one of her specialties is UNIX education. In addition to her
computer science background, she also has a degree in English. Her
writing has also appeared in Linux Magazine, Performance
Computing, and Network Administrator. Elizabeth can be
reached at: elizabeth@equillink.com.
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