LAN Switching First-Step
Reviewer Name: Steve Owen Scheiderer, Network Administrator
Reviewer Certifications: MCSE NT 4.0, CCNA
For the most part, LAN Switching First-Step by Matthew J. Castelli is a good review of the basic elements needed for success in setting up a switched LAN. This is increasingly important today due to the phasing out of hubs and the increased security threats facing today's LANS. In this light, I think Chapter 9, Switching Security, is the most useful chapter. I think Chapters 3 and 4 could have been combined for the sake of brevity and some discussions, like the Hierarchical Model on page 236, were redundant.
If there is an ongoing weakness it is the figures throughout the book. For example, in Figure 1-2 Train 2 and Train S do not connect at Times Square. It is hard to follow in 1-8 how the illustration relates to Half Duplex (and the discussion of half-duplex on pp. 40 and 92 is confusing). In 2-2 the combination of Frames & Bits was confusing (which also makes references on pp. 57, 61 and 67 confusing as well). The comparison in 3-15 between the LAN and railroad topology was hard to follow. The figures in Chapter 7 were not very helpful. Figure 8-8 would have been better with IP addresses represented. Figure 10-2 is supposed to represent "one host per port" (p. 221) but the graphic's Ethernet icon shows multiple systems on the segment. In one place in Figure 11-9 there is typo that says "user date" rather than "user data." Where is the router in Figure 12-8?
At times terms were introduced with definitions following later, like "frame" on page 8 and "full mesh and star topology" on page 57. Some topics were a bit advanced and would have been better found in an appendix, like the presentation of ITU (International Telecommunication Union) on page 37, and Long Reach Ethernet (LRE) [and] wave-division multiplexing (WDM) on page 47, and Layer 3 Switching on page 129.
With these things in mind, I think this book would serve better as a review for those with some switching experience rather than first-steppers.