Good book, Networking portions need technical reviewing
This is an excellent book overall. One of the core problems that I see with the book is it's take on networking. It has a tendency to give misleading descriptions of certain topics. The demonstration of making cat5 cable has one of the ugliest cables I've ever seen.
Discussion of managed switches and VLANs as an alternative to routing? VLANs create virtual lan segments. In order to connect VLANs you need a router. For large scale LAN parties the only benefit you'd obtain with VLANs is that VLANs won't forward broadcast traffic from one VLAN to another.. even then, you'd need a router to connect the network segments, which doesn't forward broadcast traffic by default to begin with.
Also in talking about hosting large groups the author suggests routers as the primary solution because of CSMA/CD problems. Collision problems occur on shared media environments from situations where you say.. used only hubs for your large network. Switches filter traffic based on MAC addresses and are pretty good at alleviating excess traffic. The only potential problem with switches is in regards to broadcast traffic, in which case a router to split up your LAN here and there would help that problem. However, routers are generally much slower than switches unless you are willing to shell out major amounts of cash.
CROSSOVER cables!? The author needs some help here. Uplink ports on a hub or switch are just ports that have already been crossed over. You can use that port for regular computers if you use a crossover cable (since it will turn the uplink back into a straight-through) OR you can connect switches/hubs together using it and a straight through. Crossovers can additionally be used with normal ports on a hub/switch to connect them together.
Good
Overall, not a bad book.
Does an excellent job of compiling all the "arcane" knowledge of how to plan for a LAN Party. Goes into some of the specifics of IP configurations, etc but leaves the reader hanging dry when it comes to managed switches and routers. I believe that the writer would have at least recommended some other books on the subject or maybe some online references.
There are some very useful tips on how to keep your LAN Party guests entertained and I am sure to utilize them on a LAN Party being planned.
Definitely an excellent reference for a "noob". Have fun!
Documents a subculture
The amazing continuation of Moore's Law for cpus and memory and of Metcalfe's Law for bandwidth has reworked entire industries and led to phenomena like outsourcing. But within the developed countries, it has spawned a subculture of twitch computer gaming. It has elements of the video arcades, post-1979 Space Invaders. But those were usually single player games, or turn-based two player games.
Now Steinmetz writes for so-called LAN Parties. The book has a lot of gritty hardware and software details. Especially, of course, how to network a bunch of computers together. Assigning IP numbers, using routers and switches etc. All the way up to configuring a large room for 63 players.
Note how wireless barely gets a mention in this book. Correctly so. While WiFi is hugely popular to a general audience, here its bandwidth is too small. You need wired connections.
Future historians and sociologists might also find this book useful. Aside from the technical details, Steinmetz helpfully documents this subculture on a contemporaneous basis. Even now, many people have no idea that such groups exist.
Who said computer gaming didn't require social skills?
As someone who has hosted a number of LAN parties, I found the book to be very helpful for the seasoned hosts as well the first time host. The book is well written and organized to allow readers to quickly find information that is pertinent to their plans. It covers all aspects of setting up a LAN Party from the small friendly gathering to a large professional event. It covers all of the technical aspects as well as all of the social and logistic issues that each type of LAN Party must deal with. It also provides realistic expectations for the hosts to have from each LAN Party.
"LAN Party : Hosting the Ultimate Frag Fest" is a must read for the first time LAN host and is highly recommended to the seasoned host as well.
An excellent guide to making it all work
Yeah, I've hooked a few PCs together to go head-to-head with buddies, but getting more than that organized? No chance. We've talked about it, but who wanted to do the legwork? Now, the legwork's done. This book covers everything, from putting it together to making a big party work. There's security information and stuff we just wouldn't have thought about. We're getting ready to set up a frag fest, thanks to this book. Awesome!
(6 reviews)
