Comments about oreilly SSH, The Secure Shell: The Definitive Guide:

SSH: The Definitive Guide is an exemplary book written in detailed, easy-to-understand language that makes working with and understanding the SSH protocol and programs very simple.

Being an "ordinary user" myself, there were parts of this book that I did not understand very well, in every single case, these were chapters "meant for" sysadmins and other demi-gods and the authors made sure to mention this fact.

The book is also organized with this in mind, and so your approach to this book really depends on what level of expertise you already have with computer networking. I found that to be a valuable asset, as I am sure to return to this book when I learn more.

In addition to all of that, I found it to be a remarkably good starter for learning about and understanding cryptography. It is not a cyptography or cryptanalysis primer, but it does a surprisingly good job of explaining what these are to the uninitiated.

It's without doubt an extremeley helpful book that can come in handy and educational for both the average user and the system administrator.

Comments about oreilly SSH, The Secure Shell: The Definitive Guide:

Really a great book for understanding & working with SSH...

Comments about oreilly SSH, The Secure Shell: The Definitive Guide:

This book is very good selling product for my customers. It is writed clear, with good level of technical details. Many technically detailed examples show how to configure a SSH servers with more variants of integrating SSH with non-Unix client platforms.

John Patrick

webmaster of John's Book Store

Comments about oreilly SSH, The Secure Shell: The Definitive Guide:

SSH, the Secure Shell: The Defintive Guide is another great book from O'Reilly. As the name would suggest, however, it's not so much a meant as a tutorial or a howto as it is an in-depth analysis of SSH's workings, though the examples given could probably be used as the former.

The first chapters of the book begin with a lookat what SSH is, a summary of its general uses, and the differences between the various SSH implmentations. It then quickly moves onto a number of practical examples, with explanations of both the 'how' and 'why' behind the examples.

Some of the more interesting examples are those that demonstrate X11 tunnelling, key management, and how SSH can be integrated with other applications (such as PGP, for example).

One of the major faults of the book is in the writing style. The regular switching back and forth between a conversational tone and a serious, technical one was something that I found rather annoying. But other than that, this is more or less a well-rounded and nicely written book on SSH, and I would certainly recommend it to anyone who is interested in this topic.

Comments about oreilly SSH, The Secure Shell: The Definitive Guide:

"A comprehensive study... explanations are clear and thorough" read full review

Comments about oreilly SSH, The Secure Shell: The Definitive Guide:

An excellent guide for administrators or power users. Gives enough information to understand how to implement or accomplish tasks without going too deep into the inner workings. (Example: The cypher overview was brief and clear without delving into technical differences.) Discussions of different authentication methods are also handled well, and you'll definitely understand the trade-offs between hostbased, public key and passwd authentication well enough to make informed decisions.

Only drawback I could find was related to the extensive documentation on how the various software implementations differed and how un-documented or mis-documented features actually work. This information is really invaluable, but much will soon be outdated.

Comments about oreilly SSH, The Secure Shell: The Definitive Guide:

Before reviewing this book, I had used SSH but possessed no special understanding of the protocol or software. This book reads like a dream. Chapter 2, on basic SSH use is fantastic: the writing clear, the examples sound, and the benefit to SSH understanding great. It does a splendid job of laying a proper foundation which the rest of the text builds on. The chapters on the SecureCRT and F-Secure Windows clients are also excellent.

-Security Consultant, Fiderus Strategic Security and Privacy Services

Technical Reviewer

Comments about oreilly SSH, The Secure Shell: The Definitive Guide:

This book is excellent, suitable for beginners up through sysadmins, and a good reference on SSH configuration. The level of technical detail is just right, not going deeply into packet structures (for that you should read the SSH specifications) but explaining difficult issues like port forwardings in a very clear way. The chapter on recommended setup is very good because there are tons of configuration options in SSH.

Jari Ollikka

SSH Development Manager

F-Secure Corporation (Creators of F-Secure SSH)

Comments about oreilly SSH, The Secure Shell: The Definitive Guide:

Blimey, this book is great. Although I am an experienced SSH user, its amazing to see the volume of subject matter covered. The authors have done a really good job at capturing all the essential elements - and much more. They should get a lot of well-deserved praise for providing us with this much needed text.

Mike Smith

Technical Reviewer.

Comments about oreilly SSH, The Secure Shell: The Definitive Guide:

This book is essential reading for anyone interested in SSH at any level.

It serves as a handy guide through the complex maze of SSH protocols, implementations, and deployment issues.