Reviews (21)

Awesome!
The Practice of System and Network Administration shows you how to become a great SA.
Awesome!
I agree with some of the worse reviews: This book addresses all the touchy-feely stuff not found in other manuals.
A Mentor in a Book
The book market is flooded with books that will tell you all about the technical details of administering various software products and operating systems.Their scope is usually limited to whatever technical product is being written about and they become outdated as quickly as the technology becomes outdated.This book is very different. It gives guidelines in a very readable, coaching style, that can be applied to many different aspects of the System Administration trade.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Bks - General Information    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computer Network Management    4. Computer networks    5. Computer systems    6. Computers    7. Computers - General Information    8. Management    9. Management Information Systems    10. Networking - General    11. Computer Communications & Networking    12. Computers / Networking / General    13. General Theory of Computing    14. Unix, Unix Linux & Unix TCL/TK   

Reviews (1)

Good Reference
I just passed the CCA 4.0 test using This book as my study guide. Other than a couple of glaring errors it was well written:
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Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - General    2. Computer Data Security    3. Computers - Certification    4. Study Aids    5. Test Prep    6. Tests    7. Computers / Technical Skills    8. Operating systems & graphical user interfaces (GUIs)   

Reviews (22)

Very satisfied
I bought this new book which I got it for $4 less than any other place including internet and book stores. I received the book on time and as I expected. Started reading and enjoying it...

Use this book along with additional resources
The book is well structured to cover the exam topics. It does, however, omit certain details in some topics which would be unclear from just the book alone if I didn't already know them or didn't find some better explanations elsewhere online. You'll need some additional resource, including .NET class library online reference and online tutorials to fully understand certain topics.

Pretty decent
I've not finished reading this book yet, nor have I completed all exercises. Already having a fair bit of experience with .NET and ASP.NET I can see that this book covers only the basics, though it seems to cover them quite well.I have, however, found a few code errors in the examples, which I feel detracts a fair bit from the overall quality of the book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - General    3. Certification Guides - MCSD    4. Computer Books And Software    5. Computers    6. Computers - Certification    7. Electronic data processing per    8. Electronic data processing personnel    9. Examinations    10. Microcomputer Application Software    11. Microsoft .NET Framework    12. Microsoft software    13. Programming - General    14. Programming Languages - C#    15. Programming Languages - Visual BASIC    16. Study guides    17. Basic, Visual Basic & QBasic    18. C & Visual C    19. Computers / Database Management / General   

Editorial Review

Whom can you trust? Try Bruce Schneier, whose rare gift for common sensemakes his book Read more

Reviews (117)

It's not a product, it's a process!
Bruce Schneier offers an excellent 'big picture' overview of the computer security field. From types of attacks, to algorithm security to security in the context of your data center, you get a full overview of the current practices and consequences arising from them. The author argues for security as a process, not a product; security is not something you can add to your product after the fact. Starting from the product specification, down to your last outsourced programmer, security has to permeate your organization for it to work. Building 'attack trees', relying on peer review and enforcing liability are all suggestions advanced by Bruce Schneier.
One of the better books available on security
Secrets and Lies is one of the better books on computer security available today... from Bruce Schneier, the guy who literally wrote the book on cryptography: Applied Cryptography.
Good Overview of Computer Security
This is a great book that goes beyond the math associated with many security books.The author gives us the "big picture" of security, making it entertaining, informative, and highly readable.He also balances security and privacy, pointing out the delicate balancing act between the two (and the difficulty of achieving both).Bruce knows the theory and math inside out (he leaves most of it out of this book).He writes very well, and gives plenty of real-world examples and analogies.I highly recommend this book.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books And Software    2. Computer networks    3. Computer security    4. Computers    5. Computers - Communications / Networking    6. Networking - General    7. Security - General    8. Security measures    9. Computers / Networking / General    10. Privacy & data protection   

Reviews (2)

Great Book for CCNP, with a few errors
Once again, Sybex has come through with a great resource for CCNP studies.I have trained hundreds of students in pursuit of their CCNP certification with this book.
adequate as a review resource
Having all four CCNP topics in one book seems like a good idea.It only works as a review resource though.If you don't already know the material this is not the book for you.It doesn't go into enough detail on enough topics to cover everything that you need to know for the exams.It is a good resource to review before you take the exam. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - Cisco    2. Certification Guides - General    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computers    5. Computers - Certification    6. Data Transmission Standards And Protocols    7. Networking - General    8. Computer Communications & Networking    9. Computers / Technical Skills    10. Study guides, home study & revision notes   

Reviews (19)

No experience necessary
I have been working in a Windows IT environment for over 7 years, but had no Linux experience except for installing it on a test machine (but then again, even a 5 year-old could install it since it's so easy).But I never had to work with it in an enterprise level until now.Without any solid experience with Linux and armed only with this book (and 7 years of "figuring it out" IT skills), I managed to get Redhat ES v3 running on an old server class machine with an older RAID controller.I even got it to talk to Windows clients AND the old HP-UX servers (I didn't have Unix experience either!).The boss was impressed!This is an excellent book that doesn't get annoying (like those Dummies books) or pretends to be a "Linux Admin book for Beginners" like that other book that's out there.I started with an older version of this book from the library, and this new version is even better.This book is a great investment and I'm glad I bought it.

Right at my level
Now in its third edition along with a DVD that includes Full Fedora Core 4, the latest (as of 10/18/05). People have complained that this book (in its earlier editions) are too simplified and beginnerish. I guess then that I'm not enough of a guru to go to something more advanced.
Very good book
Very good book with lots of information, but sometimes the author gets carried away with his so-called version of MAN pages.If you need more detail on some stuff, you will need to reference some other book or check online.The book did have some errors and wrong diagrams, just wished someone have proof read it better.... ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computers    3. Computers - Communications / Networking    4. Networking - General    5. Operating Systems - Linux    6. Computer Communications & Networking    7. Computers / Operating Systems / Linux    8. Unix, Unix Linux & Unix TCL/TK   

Reviews (6)

Good book for finishing touches on your prep.
This book lives up to its name - it is full of questions, and it was helpful in testing my knowledge before the exam.I used this book, Andy Crowe's book, How to Pass on the First Try, and the PMBOK.The three books complimented each other well.Andy's gave a great narration of the material on the PMBOK, but was slim on the questions, this book gave me questions, but was slim on the explanations. I would recommend this book to someone who is near the end of his or her exam prep and want's to test their knowledge before the exam.Oh, and just a little detail in case the publisher reviews these....the binding on the book keeps coming undone.This book isn't priced correctly for the poor quality of it.For $50, I would have thought it would be put together better.On a positive note, some of the questions in here were exactly the ones that were on the exam.

Preparing for the (PMI) ® (PMP) ® exam.
The "Exam Question Strategy" and the "Types of Questions" detailed in the front of the book were worth the price of the book.The book also provides hundreds of questions and answers similar to other exam preparation books.This book, unlike many others, explains why incorrect answers are wrong and provides references directing the reader to additional sources if needed or desired. This book is an excellent way to review and prepare for the Project Management Institute (PMI) � Project Management Professional (PMP) � exam.

Great tool for passing the PMP exam.
Great book.I used this book as my primary source in preparing for the exam.The format and content of the questions were very helpful in my successful test experience. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

BPEL just may be the future of business data communications
There have been an entire bowl of alphabet soup regarding various kinds of distributed processing systems. All of them, in their time, achieved a certain level of usage. None of them has done much to change the basic way we do business communications. That may be changing.
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Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - General    2. Computer Architecture - General    3. Computer Bks - General Information    4. Computer Books: General    5. Computers    6. Computers - General Information    7. Data Modeling & Design    8. Computer architecture & logic design    9. Computer modelling & simulation    10. Internet languages   

Editorial Review

Oracle Financials play a big role in the information infrastructures ofmany companies, and a solid understanding of that environment can pay very largedividends in consulting work. Read more

Reviews (14)

Great introduction to Financials
Though the Financials OCP exam is being retired, the Financials package itself remains unchanged.This book is still the best introduction to how to use Oracle Financials.

Exam retires in June 2001
The exam this book relates to retires in about 2 weeks from now and Oracle Corporation has not given an indication of what will succeed this exam. Packed with info
Most complete treatment of Financials I've seen.Excellent book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - General    3. Computer Bks - Certification    4. Computer Books: Database    5. Computers    6. Computers - Certification    7. Database Management - General    8. Database Management - Oracle    9. Database management    10. Electronic data processing per    11. Electronic data processing personnel    12. Examinations    13. Finance    14. Financial Applications - General    15. Financial Economics (General)    16. Oracle (Computer file)    17. Relational Databases    18. Study guides   

Reviews (13)

Excellentwireless network security guide and reference.
This book provides the knowledge necessary to master wireless technology quickly and, more importantly, guide an individual/organization through the pitfalls of deploying the technology securely and rapidly.

A comprehensive, concise IT reference bible
John Vacca has brought to light, and more importantly, into focus all the underlying issues related to securing a wireless network in his new book Guide to Wireless Network Security.This all encompassing book belongs in the hands of all active IT professionals and "C" level executives needing to keep abreast of our ever changing technical environment.
Wireless Frenzy
As a professional consultant, increasingly I have to deal with wireless networks. This book provides for me the details about wireless networking, all at my fingertips.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computers    3. Computers - Computer Security    4. Computers - General Information    5. Information Theory    6. Networking - General    7. Networking - Security    8. Security - General    9. Communication Studies    10. Computer Communications & Networking    11. Computers / Networking / General    12. Information technology industries    13. Intrusion Prevention    14. Network Security    15. Secure Remote Access    16. Systems management    17. Virtual Private Networks    18. Wireless    19. technology   

Reviews (21)

this product is awesome,but ull need extra help to get cert.
this product is awesome,but ull need extra help to get cert.
Badly structured and written
I'm an experienced vb6 programmer and looked for a book to help me make the switch. I found this book diving into issues without giving you any prerequisites. I had a hard time understanding where he wants to take me.

Maybe good for exam, but you won't learn .NET or C# here
This book has some highlights, but it is tightly authored to the VS.NET version it comes bundled with. Some folks will find this a bonanza, but that's only if you're willing to rubber-stamp your exam. There's abundance of Wizard code specific to VS.NET 2003 version. I am working with VC# Express 2005 and many of the things are N/A in this environment. ... anyway, I could sort my way out by looking at the samples and learn that what used to be a Control is nothing more than a Class that derives from Controls and some additional boilerplate.
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Subjects:  1. C# (Computer program language)    2. Certification    3. Certification Guides - General    4. Certification Guides - MCSD    5. Computer Books And Software    6. Computers    7. Computers - Certification    8. Electronic data processing per    9. Electronic data processing personnel    10. Examinations    11. Microcomputer Application Software    12. Microsoft software    13. Programming - General    14. Programming Languages - C#    15. Programming Languages - Visual BASIC    16. Study guides    17. Basic, Visual Basic & QBasic    18. C & Visual C    19. Computers / Database Management / General   

Features

• Illustrated

Reviews (18)

Network Security Assessment
explainsa variety of exploits and tells you how to harden your network. This book is very well researched and extremely well written and is reader friendly, as some security books leave the reader lost in techno babble, not this book however very easy reading it now sits on my desk as a ready reckoner.

Very good book for security policy enablers and admins
This is one of the few books that I have come across that focuses mainly on the innards of security assessments. The services based security and counter measures are helpful for threat modeling. This book is really great for people in the security risk and threat analysis for a quantitative and qualitative validation. Good book to help in setting up corporate security policy model.
Good Methodology and Specifics
I've read a heck of a lot of books on security assessments.Some turn into hacking manuals, others turn into windy documents on documenting the process and why each piece of the process is important.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer Data Security    3. Computer Network Management    4. Computer networks    5. Computers    6. Computers - Communications / Networking    7. Networking - General    8. Security - General    9. Security measures    10. Computers / Communications / Networking    11. Computers / Internet / Security    12. Computers / Networking / General    13. Computers/Security - General    14. Data security & data encryption    15. Security, Network Administration, FTP, VPN, Proxy Services, Network Assessment, Security Assessment   

Reviews (15)

Appalling
I have not yet taken the exam, so I can only tell you about the material covered for it's own value.
Go get another book if you want to pass the exam
This book gets one star because it does not cover the material required to pass the exam.I would have almost failed the exam had I used just this book for my preparation.Luckiliy I have used online questions from one of the web-sited listed on Microsoft's web-site and that helped me to pass the exam.
confusing, vague, ambiguous, and difficult to read
This book uses words pretty loosely, and frequently confuses the readers. Explanations are not clear. Material is incoherent. Microsoft's proofreaders, reviewers, and/or editors did a poor job on this book. Buying it is a waste of money. Please look elsewhere. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - General    2. Certification Guides - MCSD    3. Computer Books And Software    4. Computers    5. Computers - Certification    6. Database Management - General    7. Microcomputer Application Software    8. Programming - General    9. Computers / Database Management / General   

Reviews (8)

Great book!
Explanations of complex terms are simple and easy to understand.Book is layed out well with multiple choice questions after each chapter and other questions and explanations for good comprehension.Definitely recommend this book as a great resource and prep book for A+
Interesting Read
I have read about 20% so far and the author is amazingly undry for a text book. His writing style is light but packed with information and it reads fast. Unlike my other A+ book his history lessons are interesting and makes comprehending the material much easier. By far one of the best text books I have ever owned

Not up to its description
You certainly should know that the included practice tests are just MS Word docs, in a format that does not match the actual test, with incorrect answers. And the movie clips are useless. So factor the CD out completely when you consider buying this book.
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Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - General    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computer Engineering    4. Computer Science    5. Computer Science (General)    6. Computers    7. Electronics - General    8. Engineering - Electrical & Electronic    9. Science/Mathematics    10. Technology & Industrial Arts    11. Electrical engineering    12. Technology / Engineering / Electrical   

Reviews (1)

A great review of network reconstructions
While this may not be an all encompassing review of what systems biology is, it provides an insightful view on network reconstruction. I've found this book very helpful and well written (being a first edition, it does have a few typos, but this is normal). It has a very logical flow, but it is written on the level of a professional or graduate student interested in entering the field of systems biology. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Bioinformatics    2. Computational biology    3. Genomics    4. Life Sciences - Biology - General    5. Research & Methodology    6. Science    7. Science/Mathematics    8. System Theory    9. Biology, Life Sciences    10. Science / Genetics   

Reviews (9)

Good, moderately Microsoft-focused, no Cisco
There's a lot in this book that is good. However, it's focused towards the future Microsoft server administrator, not the future router or switch maintainer. I'd suggest a CCNA-training book for that.

Not for self-study!
Please be aware that this book (and others by the same publisher)are meant for colleges and/or trade schools and thus the answers to exercises, labs, projects, etc are available ONLY to instructors. Furthermore, neither the publisher nor the authors maintain a website for errata so you are on your own if you misunderstand a concept due to typos and false information.

Awesome book for Network+ exam
While this book wasn't written specifically for CompTIA's Network+ exam, I found it extremely useful and informative.I have read many networking books, and this one explained the concepts very well, especially at what layers various hardware devices work.I bought it for a college networking class and kept it after the class was over because I thought it was so useful.I passed my Network+ exam a couple of weeks ago with the help of this book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computers    3. Computers - Communications / Networking    4. Networking - General    5. Computer Communications & Networking    6. Computers / Networking / General   

Reviews (10)

Good overview
This book is offers very broad and detailed information about python's network features. It is very good written with many source examples. The only thing with this book (like many other python books) is, that this book was published early 2003. So things lik "SOAP" or "Twisted" are only scratched. This book really shows the fundamental features of python networking.

Superb
Clearly written with tons of practical examples.Mr. Goerzen has a very deep understanding of internet protocols, network programming, and the Python libraries.If you are ever going to use Python to send or receive emails, write web servers, or anything else you can think of that has to do with internet, you should not hesitate to buy this book, far and away the best Python network/internet book on the market.

Book fills in an a gap
The author fills an important gap in writing this book. There are a lot of books about the programming language Python - good books and not so good books.These books surely are scratching the topic of network programming.But if you want to develop certain client-server applications in Python these books do not really help very much.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Languages    2. Computers    3. Computers - Languages / Programming    4. Internet programming    5. Networking - Network Protocols    6. Programming Languages - CGI, Javascript, Perl, VBScript    7. Programming Languages - Python    8. Python (Computer language)    9. Python (Computer program language)    10. Computers / Programming / General    11. Computers / Programming Languages / Python   

Reviews (3)

Title.
This book only seems to prepare for about half the SNPA test and offer a lot of other information that's nice to know but not needed.One thing people might want to study is the stuff that has only one sentence written about it.For instance, that's great 5 pages might be written on phase 1 and 2 for VPN set up, but if there's one sentence written about how the "nat" command affects anything at all to do with VPN, study that.

A top pick students will appreciate
The updated third edition of the Cisco Press edition of CCSP SNPA Official Exam Certification Guide (1587201526 $59.95) is a 'must' study guide for any interested in the exam. Network security consultant Michael Gibbs shares preparation tips and test-taking tips and points out common areas of weakness and places where refresher information comes in handy. The companion cd-rom offers a testing engine for either individual topic areas or the overall, timed exams and allows readers to self-test their knowledge, while chapters survey VPS remote configuration, Cisco access control servers, and more. A top pick students will appreciate.

New Third Edition Covers the Latest Test
As anyone who has ever experienced a virus or network break in clearly understands, network security has become a major part of the management of any network that is exposed to the outside world. And I doubt that there is a major network anywhere that doesn't have at least some Cisco equipment. To go with the Cisco equipment has come an examination based certification procedure. This began with the CCSP (Cisco Certified Secure PIX firewall). As the equipment has progressed so has the examination. This book covers the current SNPA (Secure Network PIX ASA) exam, 642-522.
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Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - General    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computer Data Security    4. Computers    5. Computers - Certification    6. Data Transmission Standards And Protocols    7. Networking - Network Protocols    8. Security - General    9. Computer Communications & Networking    10. Computers / Technical Skills   

Reviews (4)

Very good information, leaves more to be desired
I found myself wanting more when it came time to try the practice exam questions.The book comes with PDF's that serve as the practice exam.What I expected was software that would simulate the test.I'm taking the DBA class next month and I don't expect any issues passing the exam, though I would feel more comfortable forking out the $ to take it if I had a wider pool of questions to study from.
Thorough
This is an excellent book covering MySQL in great detail.
Exam voucher not honored for MySQL 5 exams! (but great book)
I love this book, but I am outraged that VUE refuses to honor the included voucher code for MySQL 5 exams.The book is targeted for MySQL 5, and the text in the book clearly states the voucher is for ANY MySQL exam.But VUE claims the included voucher is only valid for MySQL 4 exams.
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Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Computer Books: Languages    3. Computers    4. Computers - Languages / Programming    5. Database Management - General    6. Electronic data processing personnel    7. Examinations    8. MySQL (Electronic resource)    9. Programming Languages - SQL    10. Sql (Programming Language)    11. Study guides    12. Computers / Programming Languages / SQL    13. Computing and Information Technology    14. Databases & data structures   

Reviews (5)

To reiterate moussie99, Not so much
I've read the first half of this book twice now (once for a class, once to pass M.S. test).The book is terrible.There are virtually no examples to help you learn how to construct a Bayesian network.I'm serious.Virtually the only example is actually a homework question at the end of a chapter and the question is wrong!!! (there are dependcies in the table given for the joint distribution, but the acyclic graph shows them as independencies).
Elegant Discussion On Probabilistic Reasoning And Uncertainty
Pearl's "Probabilistic Reasoning in Intelligent Systems" is elegantly done seminal work on uncertainty, probabilistic reasoning and all things related inference. As the author says, "This book is a culmination of an investigation into the applicability of probabilistic methods to task requiring automated reasoning under uncertainty", it covers topics on all level i.e. basic ideas, technical and substantive discussions and advanced research. However, my impression of book's target audiences is researchers and readers with a advance understanding of these topics.
Not so much
I used this text in addtition to a few others for a course in probablistic reasoning (Bayes nets, etc.) and found that it was very unhelpful.The explanations were very poor and many parts were difficult to read.Also, there weren't very many examples and those that were provided were not very detailed.If you're looking for a text to learn probabilistic reasoning I would suggest trying a different book.Pearl's book could be useful as a 2nd or 3rd reference but not for the primary text.2 thumbs down. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Artificial Intelligence - General    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computers    4. General    5. Philosophy    6. Artificial intelligence    7. Computers / Artificial Intelligence