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TCP/IP for Dummies aims to decode the protocols and executables that underlie the Internet and other networks that comply with its data communications standards. By combining how-to information that explains how to configure TCP/IP networking on various Microsoft Windows systems (including Windows 2000) with plenty of academic material on how Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP) work, the authors deliver considerable value to their readers. There ought to be TCP/IP configuration coverage of Linux and Mac OS--TCP/IP is, after all, ideal for heterogeneous networking--but the detailed information about the stack's workings offsets the hands-on shortcomings.

The authors spend a bit too long explaining elementary stuff about the Internet. Still, they unravel Internet phenomena very clearly, explaining for example that FTP is a protocol, a service, and an application in complete TCP/IP suites. Dummies books are big on using analogies to explain technical subjects; this book uses food and a set of dinnerware as an analogy for the TCP/IP software, and sometimes distracts from its educational objective by struggling to make the comparison fit. Regardless, the authors succeed in explaining an important and complex set of internetworking technologies to readers with no prior TCP/IP experience. You'll appreciate the background this book provides if you are planning to configure a small TCP/IP network or work your way toward more elaborate jobs. --David Wall [via]