802.11 Wireless Networks The Definitive Guide

Wireless USB is a short-range, high-bandwidth wireless radio communication protocol created by the Wireless USB Promoter Group. Wireless USB is sometimes abbreviated as "WUSB", although the USB Implementers Forum discourages this practice and instead prefers to call the technology "Certified Wireless USB" to differentiate it from competitors. Wireless USB is based on the WiMedia Alliance's Ultra-WideBand (UWB) common radio platform, which is capable of sending 480 Mbit/s at distances up to 3 meters and 110 Mbit/s at up to 10 meters. It was designed to operate in the 3.1 to 10.6 GHz frequency range, although local regulatory policies may restrict the legal operating range for any given country.

Among network designers and administrators, wired Ethernet is a known quantity. Plenty is known about how to build good twisted-pair network infrastructures, how to keep them secure, and how to monitor their excess capacity. Not so for the wireless Ethernet networks (built around the IEEE 802.11x standards)--these hold much more mystery for even experienced network designers. 802.11 Wireless Networks: The Definitive Guide aims to codify the body of knowledge needed to design and maintain wireless local area networks (LANs). The authors succeed admirably in this, covering what installation and administration teams need to know and digging into information of use to driver writers and others working at lower levels.

The only significant detail that's been excluded has to do with security--a notorious weak point of 802.11x LANs. The authors cover the feeble but widely used Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) authentication protocol in detail and devote another whole chapter to 802.1x, which is an emerging authentication scheme based on Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP). The author has considerable skill in communicating information graphically and does a great job of using graphs to show how communications frequencies shift over time and how conversations among access points and network nodes progress over time. This is indeed an authoritative document. --David Wall

Topics covered: How IEEE 802.11a and 802.11b wireless networks (also known as WiFi networks) work, and how to configure your own. The framing specification is covered well, as are authentication protocols and (in detail) the physical phenomena that affect IEEE 802.11x radio transmissions. There's advice on how to design a wireless network topology, and how to go about network traffic analysis and performance improvement. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Router Security Strategies: Securing IP Network Traffic Planes (Networking Technology: Security)

Router Security Strategies: Securing IP Network Traffic Planes provides a compre-hensive approach to understand and implement IP traffic plane separation and protection on IP routers. This book details the distinct traffic planes of IP networks and the advanced techniques necessary to operationally secure them. This includes the data, control, management, and services planes that provide the infrastructure for IP networking.

The first section provides a brief overview of the essential components of the Internet Protocol and IP networking. At the end of this section, you will understand the fundamental principles of defense in depth and breadth security as applied to IP traffic planes. Techniques to secure the IP data plane, IP control plane, IP management plane, and IP services plane are covered in detail in the second section.

The final section provides case studies from both the enterprise network and the service provider network perspectives. In this way, the individual IP traffic plane security techniques reviewed in the second section of the book are brought together to help you create an integrated, comprehensive defense in depth and breadth security architecture.

“Understanding and securing IP traffic planes are critical to the overall security posture of the IP infrastructure. The techniques detailed in this book provide protection and instrumentation enabling operators to understand and defend against attacks. As the vulnerability economy continues to mature, it is critical for both vendors and network providers to collaboratively deliver these protections to the IP infrastructure.”

–Russell Smoak, Director, Technical Services, Security Intelligence Engineering, Cisco

Gregg Schudel, CCIE® No. 9591, joined Cisco in 2000 as a consulting system engineer supporting the U.S. service provider organization. Gregg focuses on IP core network security architectures and technology for interexchange carriers and web services providers.

David J. Smith, CCIE No. 1986, joined Cisco in 1995 and is a consulting system engineer supporting the service provider organization. David focuses on IP core and edge architectures including IP routing, MPLS technologies, QoS, infrastructure security, and network telemetry.

• Understand the operation of IP networks and routers
• Learn about the many threat models facing IP networks, Layer 2 Ethernet switching environments, and IPsec and MPLS VPN services

• Learn how to segment and protect each IP traffic plane by applying defense in depth and breadth principles

• Use security techniques such as ACLs, rate limiting, IP Options filtering, uRPF, QoS, RTBH, QPPB, and many others to protect the data plane of IP and switched Ethernet networks

• Secure the IP control plane with rACL, CoPP, GTSM, MD5, BGP and ICMP techniques and Layer 2 switched Ethernet-specific techniques
• Protect the IP management plane with password management, SNMP, SSH, NTP, AAA, as well as other VPN management, out-of-band management, and remote access management techniques

• Secure the IP services plane using recoloring, IP fragmentation control, MPLS label control, and other traffic classification and process control techniques

This security book is part of the Cisco Press® Networking Technology Series. Security titles from Cisco Press help networking professionals secure critical data and resources, prevent and mitigate network attacks, and build end-to-end self-defending networks.

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Ethernet Networks - Design, Implementation, Operation, Management (Fourth Edition)

Ethernet Networks, Fourth Edition, provides everything you need to know to plan, implement, manage and upgrade Ethernet networks.

• Improve your skills in employing Ethernet hubs, switches, and routers.
• Learn how to set up and operate a wireless Local Area Network (LAN).
• Discover how to extend a wired Ethernet via wireless LANs.
• Understand cabling standards and the role of NEXT (Near End Crosstalk), FEXT (Far End Crosstalk) and other transmission parameters.
• Profit from Gilbert Held's tips and tricks on enhancing security

This indispensable resource features up-to-date coverage of:

Wireless Ethernet (IEEE802.11 standards)

10Gbps Ethernet

Firewalls in both a wired and wireless environment

The operation of new versions of Windows® on Ethernet LANs

The use of LAN switches at and above layer 2 in the ISO reference model

Copper and fiber optic cable to transport high speed Ethernet

Network planners, administrators, and system engineers working with Ethernet networks will find Ethernet Networks, Fourth Edition, an invaluable tool for implementing, updating, and managing their networks.

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