good vendor coverage

I had no idea a book on firewalls could be this big! The authors have striven to write a definitive Handbook (in the German sense of the word). It spans every major implementation, circa 2003 - Cisco, Nokia, Solairs, linux,... Which explains a substantial part of the heft. The firewall market has these major platforms, and there is enough detail on each for you to be able to install and run it.

But the book is more than a set of disparate sections on each vendor. More broadly, it goes into the theory of Intrusion Detection Systems and the common ideas behind most firewalls. You should note that the IDS topic alone is considered sufficiently important by others to have books devoted to it. The level of detail in this book about IDS is not the most comprehensive. But you'll get the gist.

So within the covers of this book, you are getting a broad scope of product information and theory. Even if the book's title is somewhat strident.

Other Reviews

• Misleading product description
• If you only own one firewall book then own this one
• Good, but not the best.
• good vendor coverage