Yes, off topic, but valuable for all...
First, TCP/IP. Know it, love it, understand it. The best book for this is
Internetworking With TCP/IP by Douglas E. Comer. This textbook is the basis
for nearly every university course on TCP/IP. It is complete and lucid.
There are three volumes, volume one contains almost everything you will
need. ISBN 0132169878.
Second, understand routing. Check out www.cisco.com. Here you will find
excellent basic technology primers for generic networking. These primers are
universal to any manufacturer. Most of the Cisco website is open to anyone,
so you can go on and learn about Cisco features and commands.
Third, understand Unix/Linux. These O/S' were built around TCP/IP and offer
the full suite of IP utilities, like traceroute and nslookup.
Buy/scrounge/dumpster-dive three or four machines and network them together.
Read and understand the Howto's (DON'T rely on mailing lists, they won't
teach you much and it's like asking the smart kid in class to do your
homework). Implement every feature you can (like NFS). Tear it down and
start over again. Add IPX support. Add Windows support with Samba. Make a
machine route IP between two interfaces. Use NAT and Dial on Demand through
PPP to the Internet. Make it all work without flaws. Only through
frustration and visualization do we really learn.
There you go. For about $45.00 you too can be the networking hotshot in your
neighborhood. I can vouche for this path, as I came from an electrical
engineering background and I am now designing networks using all the latest
advances in networking.
I wish you luck. A career change at 50 is a big step. I can't think of a
more exciting career at this time in technology history. My career change
came at 25 and I had to work hard at it (I am now 37, if your curious).
-----Original Message-----
From: Ernest N. Wilcox Jr. [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Monday, July 03, 2000 10:44 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [expert] Network / Internet basics - Suggested reading?
Hello to all.
I am proud to say that I have just landed my first job in the computer
industry (I'm nuts - right ?). I will be a tech support phone jockey for
an ISP.
They are going to provide training, but I wish to get a leg up on networking
and internet protocols etc. Can any one suggest usefull basic to
intermediate
books which I can buy and study? I am 50 years old, and I want this to be a
new
begining for me.
My applolgies if this is too far off topic - I know this is a list for Linux
and Mandrake, but I could not think of a better group of people to ask for
help.
--
____________________________
Ernie ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
