BKNTWRKS.RVW 940209 Prentice Hall/Brady/Ellis Horwood/Simon and Schuster/New Riders/Digital Press 113 Sylvan Avenue Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632 (515) 284-6751 FAX (515) 284-2607 phyllis@prenhall.com 70621.2737@CompuServe.COM Alan Apt Beth Mullen-Hespe beth_hespe@prenhall.com "Networks," Ramteke, 1994, 0-13-958059-X ramteke@pilot.njin.net The task of a reviewer is not necessarily an easy one. The hours involved in doing the actual reviews are not overwhelming when set against the tracking down and requesting of materials. So, when an author asks if you want a copy of his book, you generally jump at the chance. There is, however, a danger here. When the book arrives not from the publisher, but directly from the author, with a covering letter, personally autographed, you tend to feel a sense of obligation. One may be dismayed at the possibilities of a book said to cover both voice and data communications technologies. To have the book then arrive with the singular title of "Networks" is bemusing. What does it cover? More on TCP/IP? LANs? WANs? Public switched telephone networks? Yes. And very well, too. When a book less than 500 pages long attempts to cover concepts of networks, OSI, fiber optics, telephony, voice processing, SNA, X.25, SONET, Ethernet, NetWare, ATM and much, much more, something has to be left out. Ramteke, though, seems to be able to keep the most practical aspects of everything he covers. I have often bemoaned the inability of NetWare specific books to clarify Novell's security structure. Here, it is set out clearly in one page and a single illustration. Can't recall the minimum transceiver distance on Ethernet? It's here. (Unfortunately the "half wave length"; the reason for the transceiver distance; isn't.) Want to know how AT&T differs from MCI and Sprint--technically? This is your book. (And I am not just saying this from any sense of obligation.) In the Preface, and more so in the covering letter, Ramteke makes it clear that he sees this as an introductory networking text. An outline is included which sets forth four different course streams for digital transmission, voice, WANs, and LANs. Questions are included at the end of each chapter. This, however, may sell the book short. With the convergence of all forms of communications and networking, the computer and systems professional may have a need for such a book to cover gaps in the spectrum of knowledge. The technical manager, or even executive, will very likely have a use for the diverse information contained herein. Ramteke requests readers to comment on the work to improve it. I would heartily recommend that experts in the various fields do so. This has the potential to become a technical classic. It isn't perfect. The chapter questions are very simplistic and probably only of use as a check to make sure the reader hasn't skipped anything. The historical sections, while containing interesting tidbits, really don't contribute to an analytical understanding of what is involved. (Note to authors: when outlining the history of X.25, don't forget to mention Datapac and the Canadian contribution. Particularly if you are sending the book to a Canadian reviewer.) I can, however, forgive a lot to someone who entitles his glossary of acronyms, "Last Call for Soup." copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKNTWRKS.RVW 940209