BKAMGTMN.RVW 931011 CBM Books 101 Witmer Road PO Box 446 Horsham, PA 19044 215-957-4265 215-957-4287 Fax: 215-957-1050 76702.1565@compuserve.com books@propress.com "A manager's guide to multivendor networks", Enck, 1991, U$35.00 In this case, the title really does say it all. The author's description, in the preface, of the difficulties encountered in working with multi-vendor systems will strike a responsive chord with just about every network manager or administrator. Only the most fortunate of systems operators these days exist in an ivory tower with support from a single vendor. In the divided world of "beards" and "suits," the term "manager" tends to indicate a lack of technical background. That is basically the case here, although the material is technically sound. There are some interestingly detailed inclusions, going so far as a layout of the frame structure of an Internet Protocol packet, but these are well explained and should not present any trouble to the intelligent reader who is nonetheless a technical novice. On the contrary, this is an excellent introduction to the basics of data communications technology at certain points. The work is quite practical at the managerial level. Four major vendors; DEC, IBM, HP and Sun; are examined in depth and in parallel. Standards, LANs and WANs, services, TCP/IP and network management are discussed. This gives a good start to managers who have to be able to evaluate competing claims (particularly from competing vendors). The book is not without faults and even technical errors. Although the author is obviously thoroughly researched and comfortable with the background of the whole network situation, certain parts that were up to the minute in 1991 sound oddly archaic now. Nevertheless, this is an excellent background and starting point for anyone who either has, or will have, charge of a modern business network. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1993 BKAMGTMN.RVW 931011 ====================== DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters Editor and/or reviewer ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 Author "Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses" (Oct. '94) Springer-Verlag