Rating: 

I suppose the primary problem with this book is its title. With a title of "Essential SNMP" I expected a book with the depth and target audience of the the standout title "Essential System Administration" but the book does not reach the level the latter does. I think it should be re-titled to identify it as an introductory level text.

Each section in the book starts exploring a concept or product but stops before reaching any depth - it is more like a series of introductions rather than an in-depth exploration.

The explanation of the structure and contents of MIBs was minimal, the concept of tables was not defined adequately - drawings of the structure of, and access to, table members would help greatly here.

The section on MRTG is symptomatic of the overall nature of the book. It gives a quick explanation of what MRTG can do but as soon as it starts getting into any depth it refers the reader to other sources of information - if this is the case why bother publishing the section at all.

If the book is aimed at a neophyte reader the emphasis on OpenView is pointless as this type of reader is unlikely to have access to the product, if the book is aimed at the technical user who does have access to the product then the references to the product do not explore the power of the product adequately.

Having said the above there are areas that are useful, primarily the PERL scripting information but overall I do not see the book as value for money, especially given the very high price charged for the book here is Australia.

I write this review based on 29 years experience in IT ranging from PCs to mainframes with emphasis in the last 15 years in the networking area. I currently use Tivoli Netview and MRTG for my network management and was hoping this book would add to my knowledge base, unfortunately it added little and did not provide value for money.

I am sorry to say that this is one O'Reilly book which will not join the many others from this publisher on my "daily use" reference shelf.