The Rational Guide to Small Office and Home Networking

by Jim Boyce

Explains how to choose equipment, set up a network, share resources and Internet connections, and secure a network. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 097268882X
• ISBN13: 9780972688826
• Release Date: July 2005
• Publisher: Rational Press
• Length: 207 Pages
• Weight: 0.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Networking Guide

This has all the basic knowledge to set up your own home network. The instructions are simple and not very complicated so every homebased business should be able to follow.

Good Book to get You Started

I like the Rational concept of publishing. They distill what you really need to know from all the techno jargon. This gives you a book that will help you get the job done without being so heavy that you can hardly carry it. This is a book on setting up a small office or home office (SOHO) network. It starts with the basic question of why do you want a network, and some comments on what a SOHO network will do for you. The second chapter goes into what hardware you'll need, i.e. cabling, hubs and switches. Chapters three through five go into choosing the specific hardware you'll need, setting it up and configuring it the way you need. Chapter six is on firewalls. Most of the chapter is on using the firewall that comes with Windows XP. This is fair, because this firewall is basically free. But this firewall only protects the system it's running on. That means that you have to set up the firewall on each machine and keep it up to date. My own suggestion here is don't use the Windows firewall, instead go buy one of the commercial hardware units - I've used D-Link DI-604's (They're only about $50) for years and never had any trouble. Other brands are probably OK as well, I've just not used them myself. The last chapter is on Voice Over Internet Protocol or VOIP. Regular telephone long distance has gotton so cheap that I don't use it. But if you talk overseas a lot it would save a bunch of money. Good book to get you started.