Book description
Frustrated with networking books so chock-full of acronyms that your brain goes into sleep mode? Head First Networking's unique, visually rich format provides a task-based approach to computer networking that makes it easy to get your brain engaged. You'll learn the concepts by tying them to on-the-job tasks, blending practice and theory in a way that only Head First can.
With this book, you'll learn skills through a variety of genuine scenarios, from fixing a malfunctioning office network to planning a network for a high-technology haunted house. You'll learn exactly what you need to know, rather than a laundry list of acronyms and diagrams. This book will help you:
- Master the functionality, protocols, and packets that make up real-world networking
- Learn networking concepts through examples in the field
- Tackle tasks such as planning and diagramming networks, running cables, and configuring network devices such as routers and switches
- Monitor networks for performance and problems, and learn troubleshooting techniques
- Practice what you've learned with nearly one hundred exercises, questions, sample problems, and projects
Head First's popular format is proven to stimulate learning and retention by engaging you with images, puzzles, stories, and more. Whether you're a network professional with a CCNA/CCNP or a student taking your first college networking course, Head First Networking will help you become a network guru.
Publisher resources
Table of contents
- Head First Networking
- Dedication
- Advance Praise for Head First Networking
- Praise for other Head First books
- Authors of Head First Networking
- How to Use this Book: Intro
-
1. Fixing Physical Networks: Walking on Wires
- Coconut Airways has a network problem
- How do we fix the cable?
- Introducing the CAT-5 cable
- The CAT-5 cable dissected
- So whatâs with all the colors?
- Letâs fix the broken CAT-5 cable
- A closer look at the RJ-45 connector
- So what are the physical steps?
- You fixed the CAT-5 cable
- Coconut Airways has more than one network
- Introducing the coaxial cable
- Coaxial networks are bus networks
- So can we fix the cable?
- The networkâs still not working
- So what goes on inside a coaxial cable?
- What about connectors and terminators?
- Use toner-tracer sets to listen to electrons
- No sound means no electrons
- Youâve fixed the coaxial cable
- Introducing fiber-optic cables
- The Coconut Airways cableâs over-bent
- How to fix fiber-optics with a fusion splicer
- A fiber-optic connector needs fitting too
- Weâre nearly ready to fix the connector
- There are two types of fiber
- Which mode fiber should you use?
- Letâs fit the connector on the fiber-optic
- Coconut Airways is sky high
-
2. Planning Network Layouts: Networking in the Dark
- Ghost Watch needs your help!
- Every good network needs a good plan
- So how does the device list help us plan a network?
- How to plan a network layout
- Letâs plan the cabling with a floorplan
- Ready to plot some network cables?
- So where have we got to?
- We need to decide on the cable management hardware
- Uh oh! The cabling is a mess
- Ghost Watch needs cable management hardware
- Things that go bump...
- Youâve really cleaned up that noise and straightened out MOST of the cables!
- Letâs start by labeling the cables
- But there are still lots of cables
- So whatâs a patch panel?
- Behind the scenes of a patch panel
- The wires go into a punch down block
- Roll the cameras!
-
3. Tools and Troubleshooting: Into the Wire
- Mighty Gumball won the Super Bowl contract
- A toner and tracer can check for a signal...
- ... but canât check for signal quality
- Introducing the multimeter
- So whatâs resistance?
- So how well did the multimeter do?
- An oscilloscope shows voltage changes
- Voltage is really electrical pressure
- Where does noise on network cables come from?
- So how well did the oscilloscope perform for Mighty Gumball?
- A logical analyzer uses voltage too
- When is a logical analyzer useful?
- So which tool is best?
- The Mighty Gumball bonus went to Jill
- A LAN analyzer combines the functions of all the other tools
- A LAN analyzer understands the network traffic in the signal
- So which tool is best?
- The Mighty Gumball problems are fixed!
-
4. Packet Analysis: Youâve Been Framed
- Whatâs the secret message?
- Network cards handle encoding
- To get the message, reverse the encoding
- The Ethernet standard tells hardware how to encode the data
- A quick guide to binary
- Computers read numbers, humans read letters
- Hexadecimal to the rescue
- We can convert to ASCII using hex
- Back at the spy agency...
- Protocols define the structure of a message
- Network frames have lots of layers
- Your friendly packet field guide
- So can we decode the secret message?
- Weâve got all the right packets... but not necessarily in the right order
- The packet tells you the correct order
-
5. Network Devices and Traffic: How Smart is Your Network?
- Youâve decoded the secret message...
- The packet information tells us where the packet came from
- So whoâs the mole?
- Thereâs more to networks than computers
- Hubs donât change the MAC address
- A hub sends signals, and sends them everywhere
- So what passed the signal to the hub?
- A switch sends frames, and only sends them where they need to go
- Switches store MAC addresses in a lookup table to keep the frames flowing smoothly
- The switch has the information...
- We can use software to monitor packets
- Letâs hook Wireshark up to the switch
- Wireshark gives us traffic information
- Routers have MAC addresses too
- Weâre closing in!
- Youâve found the mole!
-
6. Connecting Networks with Routers: Bringing Things Together
- Networking Walking on the moon
- We need to connect two networks together
- The lightâs on, but nobodyâs home
- Letâs see what traffic is on our network!
- MAC address versus IP address
- IP addresses give our networks a sense of location, and network nodes a sense of belonging to that location
- We retrieve IP addresses using the MAC address and the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP)
- So whatâs the problem with the Moonbase?
- How do we get network traffic to move between networks?
- How the router moves data across networks
- Back to the Moonbase problem
- The secret of IP numbers is...
- Routers connect networks by doing the math...
- Back at the Moonbase...
- Are you ready to program the router?
- You just created this router config file!
- Let the router tell us whatâs wrong...
-
7. Routing Protocols: Itâs a Matter of Protocol
- Houston, we have a problem...
- Routing tables tell routers where to send packets
- Each line represents a different route
- So how do we enter routes?
- Routes help routers figure out where to send network traffic
- So are the moonbases now connected?
- Back on the moon...
- So how do we troubleshoot bad routes?
- The traceroute command is useful too
- So whatâs the problem with the network connection?
- The network address changes keep on coming...
- Use RIP to get routes to update themselves
- So how do we set up RIP?
- But thereâs still a problem...
- There are too many hops
- The routing protocol zoo
- So how do we setup EIGRP?
- We have lift off!
-
8. The Domain Name System: Names to Numbers
- The Head First Health Club needs a website
- Hello, my domain name is...
- Letâs go buy a domain name
- Uh-oh! Weâre in trouble
- Introducing the DNS
- The DNS relies on name servers
- How the DNS sees your domain
- So how does this affect the Health Club?
- First install a DNS name server...
- ...then configure the name server
- The anatomy of a DNS zone file
- Hereâs what the DNS zone file tells us about the Health Club servers
- The Health Club canât send emails
- So whatâs the problem?
- Email servers use RDNS to fight SPAM
- Check your sources with reverse DNS
- The dig command can do a reverse DNS lookup
- Your name server has another important zone file...
- The emails are working!
-
9. Monitoring and Troubleshooting: Listen to Your Networkâs Troubles
- Pajama Death are back on tour
- So where would you start troubleshooting a misfiring network?
- Start troubleshooting your network problems by checking in with your network devices
- Troubleshoot network connectivity with the ping command
- If the ping fails, check the cables
- Get started with the show interface command
- The ticket networkâs still not fixed
- SNMP to the rescue!
- SNMP is a network admininistratorâs communication tool
- How to configure SNMP on a Cisco device
- One hour to go...
- Get devices to send you their problems
- How to configure syslogd on a Cisco device
- How do you tell whatâs in the logs?
- Too much information can be just as bad as not enough
- How do you know which events are important?
- Pajama Deathâs a sell-out!
-
10. Wireless Networking: Working Without Wires
- Your new gig at Starbuzz Coffee
- Wireless access points create networks using radio waves
- Letâs fit the wireless access point
- What about the network configuration?
- So whatâs DHCP?
- First make sure the client has DHCP turned on...
- Second, make the wireless access point a DHCP server...
- ...and then specify an acceptable range of IP addresses
- So has setting up DHCP solved the problem?
- This time itâs personal
- Weâve run out of IP addresses
- NAT works by reallocating IP addresses
- So how do we configure NAT?
- So has this fixed the problem?
- Thereâs more than one wireless protocol
- The central Starbuzz server needs to access the cash register
- Port mapping to the rescue!
- Letâs set up port mapping on the Starbuzz access point
- The wireless access point is a success!
-
11. Network Security: Get Defensive
- The bad guys are everywhere
- And itâs not just the NETWORK that gets hurt...
- The big four in network security
- Defend your network against MAC address spoofing
- So how do we defend against MAC address spoofing?
- Defend your network against ARP poisoning attacks
- So what can we do about ARP poisoning attacks?
- Itâs all about the access, baby!
- Set up your routerâs Access Control Lists to keep attackers out
- So how do we configure the Access Control List?
- Firewalls filter packets between networks
- Packet-filtering rules!
- Master the static packet filter
- Get smart with stateful packet-filters
- Humans are the weakest link in your security chain
- So how do social engineers operate?
- Smash social engineering with a clear and concise security policy
- Youâve hardened your network
-
12. Designing Networks: You Gotta Have a Plan!
- Now you have to plan a network from scratch!
- You have to know what the needs are before you can plan
- So youâve developed your questions, now what?
- Look at your action plan
- So you have a physical layout, whatâs next?
- Blueprints show everything in a buildingâs design
- You may have to modify your network design based on what you see in the blueprints!
- So youâve got your physical network layout, whatâs next?
- Finally, you need an implementation plan
- Leaving town...
- Itâs been great having you here in Networkville!
- A. Leftovers: The Top Ten Things (we didnât cover)
- B. Ascii Tables: Looking Things Up
- C. Installing Bind: Getting a Server to talk DNS
- Index
- About the Authors
- Copyright
Product information
- Title: Head First Networking
- Author(s):
- Release date: May 2009
- Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
- ISBN: 9781449368142
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