Chris Sanders is a computer security consultant, author, and researcher. A SANS Mentor who holds several industry certifications, including CISSP, GCIA, GCIH, and GREM, he writes regularly for WindowSecurity.com and his blog, ChrisSanders.org. Sanders uses Wireshark daily for packet analysis. He lives in Charleston, South Carolina, where he works as a government defense contractor.
First of all if you consider yourself an expert in packet analysis don't read this book to learn advanced techniques in packet analysis. Instead read this book as a teaching tool to help better explain packet analysis to others. I found myself reading this book and going "hey I wish someone would have explained it to me that way when I started" and "why didn't I explain it that way."
This book is written for people who have little to no experience with packet analysis. It is also a good read for those who might have been out of the packet analysis game for a little while and need a quick read to brush up the skill-set. The book is well written and Sanders does an excellent job explaining things in a manner that is well understood. He eases the reader into explanations by going from layman to more technical jargon. The examples in the book match the title, they are practical and likely to be experienced in the real world. I would highly recommend this book to those who have little to no experience with packet analysis and are looking for a solid book to help them understand what many of the other books tend to explain in a lofty manner.
Firstly, this is mostly a book about using the Wireshark protocol analyzer tool and secondly a book about packet analysis (in the sense that it does not have space to cover in detail all the sorts of protocol problems someone is likely to encounter). Nevertheless, it's a good book and I'd recommend it to anyone who's beginner to middling with Wireshark. It does a good job of explaining the use of Wireshark and in particular the various configuration options.
There are odd faults (for example, there's a diagram showing a Cisco router, except it's not). There are also some colloquialisms (such as when the author says "Why have chicken when you can have steak?"). And I was disappointed that IPv6 wasn't really covered at all.
If you're experienced with packet analysis and want to learn Wireshark, this book is good for you. If you're a beginner at packet analysis this book is also good.
If you have done any type of performance testing, you've inevitably come across an application or two that could not be scripted using standard protocols in a performance test tool like LoadRunner. The Loadrunner protocol of last resort -- when no other protocol will work -- is called Winsock, and it can be pretty nasty to debug. That's the main reason I picked up this book.
Wireshark is a free, open-source tool that allows you to capture and analyze network traffic. With the communication captured, you can then easily tell it to filter on certain protocols, making reading the packet info much easier than it is in LoadRunner.
This book starts at ground level, assuming no user experience with packet analysis and/or packet sniffers. It can basically be divided into four sections.
The first covers packet analysis and network basics, and gives a nice overview of the OSI model.
The second covers Wireshark's basic and advance features.
The next covers common protocols like ARP, TCP and HTTP,
and in the last section, the author ties it all together with real world examples using familiar sites like, Facebook and ESPN, while explaining how to troubleshoot common network issues.
I like the hands-on approach the writer uses throughout the book. He clearly explains everything in a clear, concise manner. I also appreciated the fact that the author uses packet capture files in each example that can be downloaded and opened in Wireshark in order to follow along. I was able to follow all of the examples without any confusion -- which is kind of a big deal, since packet analysis at this level is a new subject for me. Well done!
Product Details :
Paperback: 280 pages
Publisher: No Starch Press; Second Edition edition (July 6, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1593272669
ISBN-13: 978-1593272661
Product Dimensions: 7 x 0.8 x 9.2 inches
More Details about Practical Packet Analysis: Using Wireshark to Solve Real-World Network Problems, 2nd edition
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