I think the book’s preface is more accurate than its title, in describing the focus as “network-centric, client-server information systems.” The book is aimed at students in undergraduate or MBA programs focusing on management information systems. It includes discussions of business goals, problems, and case studies.
The 17 chapter titles give an indication of the book’s coverage:
Local Area Networks: A Business Perspective
Local Area Networks and Client/Server Information Systems
Client Hardware
Client Software
Server Hardware and Software
Internet Clients and Servers
Local Area Network Architectures
Local Area Network Hardware
Local Area Network Applications Software
Local Area Network Operating Systems
Novell Netware
Windows NT
UNIX, TCP/IP, and NFS
LAN Internetworking
LAN Remote Access
Enterprise Network Architecture and Topology
Enterprise Network Applications and Management
An instructors’ resource guide provides answers to the questions in the text, along with sets of test questions that should make it easy to teach from this book. As product cycles shrink to 18 months, the half-life of textbooks is also shrinking. Case studies from 1995 and reformulated groups such as OSF and X/Open render the material dated. An update service with current URLs would improve the package.
