Virtual Private Networks for Dummies

Author: Mark S. Merkow
List Price: $24.99
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ISBN: 0764505904
Publisher: For Dummies (15 November, 2000)
Sales Rank: 69,142
Average Customer Rating: 3.67 out of 5

Customer Reviews

Rating: 3 out of 5
Not too bad, but vague...
I found the book average. The majority of it is spent explaining the concepts and theories of VPN, but nothing about set-up or troubleshooting.
Where'a a list of VPN errors? How would I configure a VPN session on my server? What sort of browsers work best? Some good information on encryption, but I found it all very 20th century...

Rating: 5 out of 5
As It Promises, An Introduction
As part of the For Dummies series, this book delivers what it sets out to do: provide an introduction to the technically complex world of VPNs. I searched other titles and found them all starting at a higher level of competence than I possessed. This book provides the beginning primer that leaves me ready to move to those other available volumes. This book focuses upon security issues (the author is a security specialist), but also provides useful historical information, steps to plan, implement and test your VPN, and illustrative case studies of those who have been there before. The book also includes helpful appendices about other available resources (a buyer's guide), and even includes hints on how to justify a VPN to your boss...

Rating: 3 out of 5
A little to simplistic
I know the "for dummies" series is meant to be a jumping off point for people with no experience, but this was a little too simplistic for me. I expected that since the topic was pretty advanced, the material would be more advanced than something like, say, "PC's for Dummies". It wasn't.

This book gave a very basic primer on encryption. If you have ever used PGP, you understand most of the concepts covered in the first two chapters. I guess if you are not a network administrator or other computer professional, this would be good for covering the basics without jargon. But if you are at all familiar with any kind of encryption and networking concepts, start with something like O'Reilly's "Virtual Private Networks" by Scott, Wolfe, and Erwin.



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