sbs-size me

as promised…

your friendly neighborhood happyfunboy has finally completed his study guide concerning the contents of a certain free 500+ page technical book available from the mothership titled, surprisingly enough…

tcp/ip fundamentals for microsoft windows

overall, a solid solid book.

well worth a download, and a read.

but such a large book ends up being more than a bit intimidating for newcomers…

as in…

folks simply looking to get the most fundamental of fundamentals down first.

which is why yours truly waltzed through the entire book, sorting all the bits into 1 of 4 possible categories, so folks could quickly zoom in on the parts most helpful to them.

as a side benefit…

folks who have a solid understanding of tcp/ip aka ipv4, but who have yet to get up to speed on ipv6, can also use this guide to zero in on ipv6 specific topics.

here’s how to read the guide…

• essential = must-read for beginners
• helpful = more advanced topic; skip if a beginner
• ipv6 = ipv6 specific-stuff; skip unless looking to learn ipv6
• skip = ignore unless you administer enormous, complex data networks

word of caution for all the tcp/ip newcomers…

don’t even think about skimping chapters 3 & 4 or 8 & 9.

seriously.

in the opinion of this happyfunboy…

achieving a solid, working knowledge of tcp/ip without a very good understanding of the content in those 4 chapters would be nigh impossible.

couple more things:

• the page numbers are as they appear on the physical pages themselves, not as paginated by acrobat reader. you might need to figure out a mathematical offset if you want to print selected sections. btw: first person who whines about having to figure this out for themselves will be mocked mercilessly here at the funcave and elsewhere. consider yourself warned.
• the chapter summary & glossary pages are excellent. use them as additional study aids, especially if studying for a certification exam. 

ok, without any further ado…

presenting…

happyfunboy’s super awesome guide to tcp/ip fundamentals for microsoft windows

chapter 1: intro

• essential: 7-12.5, 13.5-19
• helpful: 3-4
• ipv6: 12.5-13.5
• skip: 5-6

chapter 2: architectural overview

• essential: 25-32 (not igmp), 41-43, 48-49
• helpful: 44-45
• ipv6: 34-40
• skip: 33, 46-47

chapter 3: ip addressing

• essential: 55-67
• ipv6: 68-84

chapter 4: subnetting

• essential: 91-108
• ipv6: 109-112

chapter 5: ip routing

• essential: 117-128.5 (not dynamic ipv4 routing), 132-141, 152
• helpful: 128.5-131.5
• ipv6: 142-151

chapter 6: dhcp

• essential: 159-162, 172-182, 188-189
• helpful: 163-171, 183-184
• ipv6: 185-187

chapter 7: host name resolution

• essential: 195-203
• ipv6: 201.5

chapter 8: domain name system

• essential: 209-225, 229
• helpful: 226-228
• ipv6: 217

chapter 9: windows support for dns

• essential: 235-250 (not delegation), 251.5-252.5, 253.5-257.5, 260
• helpful: 250-251.5, 257.5-259, 261-262
• ipv6: 238-239, 241, 250, 251-253

chapter 10:  end-to-end

• skip: all, except as network analyzer reference

chapter 11: netbios over tcp/ip

• skip: all, unless legacy apps, including browsing, required

chapter 12: wins

• skip: all, unless netbios over tcp/ip required

chapter 13: ipsec & packet filtering

• essential: 357, 375-382
• helpful: 358-374
• ipv6: 374, 382-383

chapter 14: vpn

• skip: all

chapter 15: ipv6 transition technologies

• ipv6: all

chapter 16: troubleshooting

• essential: 451-461
• ipv6: 462-467

appendix a: ip multicast

• skip: all

appendix b: snmp

• skip: all

appendix c: browser

• skip: all, unless info for chapter 11 & 12 required