This “Introduction to IP Telephony” book explains why companies are converting some or all of their telephone systems from dedicated telephone systems (such as PBX) to more standard IP telephony systems. These conversions allow for telephone bill cost reduction, increased ability to control telephone services, and the addition of new telephone information services. By upgrading their systems, companies can immediately reduce their telecommunication costs 40% to 70%. Because IP telephony systems allow the end user and system administrators to setup and disconnect telephone numbers and services, this provides increased control over their telephone features and services. IP telephony is usually based on standard data formats (Internet Protocol). This permits information systems (such as product catalog information) to be more easily linked to the telephone system, thus providing the ability for companies to increase sales through interactive telephone and Internet order processing systems. You will learn that not all voice over data IP telephony systems and services are the same. There are cost and quality tradeoffs along with common problem areas and risks. There are many ways these systems can reduce telecommunication costs along with the ability to create new revenue producing services. You will understand how you can get better than telephone toll quality audio, how to maintain or increase system reliability, and new ways to use intelligent telephone systems to increase company revenues. You will learn how employees can keep their phone numbers and existing equipment (using adapters) and call anywhere in the world using IP telephony services. Discover how you can get one (or several) international telephone numbers so your customers can use a local telephone number to call you when you are in another country. You will learn how voice over data telephone service usually allows you to setup new telephone services instantly, display your accounting records and bills in real time, and allow you to integrate information systems (such as sales systems) with your telephone networks. This book explains the basics of how voice over data telephone service works. This includes how the different ways that voice signals can be converted to data signals (not all of them are the same) and how the conversion process can affect your voice quality. Discussed are the basic processes of sending packets through a data network (such as the Internet) and how the losses of packets (and some do get lost) do not usually affect the voice quality. You will be introduced to the different types of voice over data communication systems that are used for company communication networks. This includes public Internet telephone services providers (ITSPs), IP Centrex service providers, and IP private branch exchange (iPBX) systems. Also covered are the functional types of IP telephony network equipment such as gateways that are used in voice over data network and some key issues to consider when deploying VoIP systems. This will help you to understand the different types of servers including proxy servers, redirect servers, access control, provisioning, and policy servers. You will learn about telephone number portability. Next you will learn about the quality of service (QoS), security, and reliability you can expect from voice over data telephone systems and services. Find out how you can get guaranteed toll quality service with some voice over data telephone systems and why you may experience echoes and audio distortion on others. Learn about how secure your connections are and the different forms of security including the control of physical access, authentication checks, and data encryption. Understand how to maximize the reliability of your calls by understanding the reliability of different parts of the network. Finally, you will discover some of the advanced features and services that are possible with Internet telephone service that is not possible with most traditional telephone systems. This includes unified messaging, ways to connect telephone extension anywhere in the world, how you can setup one (or many) global telephone numbers that will ring to your IP telephone without international charges. Learn how voice over data telephone service allows you to share notes, pictures, and files using a whiteboard while you are talking for interactive web seminars (Webinars). If you are considering converting some of your telephone systems and services be able to use IP telephony services or you just want to know more about the options and advantages of IP telephony services, this is book is a great introduction.

About the Author

Mr. Harte has over 29 years of experience in the electronics industry including company leadership, product management, development, marketing, design, and testing of telecommunications (cellular), radar, and microwave systems. He has been issued patents relating to cellular technology. He has authored over 75 articles on related subjects and has been a speaker and panel moderator at industry trade events. Mr. Harte earned executive MBA at Wake Forest University and received his Bachelors degree from University of the State of New York. During the TDMA digital cellular standard development process, Mr. Harte served as an editor and voting company representative for the Telecommunications Industries Association (TIA) TR45.3, digital cellular standards committee. As of 2002, Mr. Harte had authored and co-authored over 20 books relating to telecommunications technology. He has served as a consultant and expert witness for leading companies including Ericsson, Siemens, VLSI, AMD, Casio, Samsung, Sony, ATT, Nokia, Hughes and many others.

This easy-to-use introduction to Microsoft Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) is ideal for developers who want to learn to build services on a company network or as part of an enterprise system. Built into Windows Vista and Longhorn, and available for Windows XP and Windows 2003, WCF provides a platform for service-oriented architecture (SOA) that enables secure and reliable communication among systems within an organization or across the Internet. With WCF, software developers can focus on their business applications and not the plumbing required to connect them. Furthermore, with WCF developers can learn a single programming API to achieve results previously provided by ASMX, Enterprise Services and .NET Remoting. Learning WCF removes the complexity of using this platform by providing detailed answers, explanations and code samples for the most common questions asked by software developers.

Windows Communication Foundation (or WCF, formerly code name “Indigo”) provides a set of programming APIs that make it easy to build and consume secure, reliable, and transacted services. This platform removes the need for developers to learn different technologies such as ASMX, Enterprise Services and .NET Remoting, to distribute system functionality on a corporate network or over the Internet. The first truly service-oriented platform, WCF provides innovations that decouple service design and development from deployment and distribution – creating a more flexible and agile environment. WCF also encapsulates all of the latest web service standards for addressing, security, reliability and more.

About the Author

Written by Microsoft software legend Juval Lowy, Programming WCF Services is the authoritative introduction to Microsoft’s new, and some say revolutionary, unified platform for developing service-oriented applications (SOA) on Windows. Relentlessly practical, the book delivers insight, not documentation, to teach developers what they need to know to build the next generation of SOAs

After explaining the advantages of service-orientation for application design and teaching the basics of how to develop SOAs using WCF, the book shows how you can take advantage of built-in features such as service hosting, instance management, asynchronous calls, synchronization, reliability, transaction management, disconnected queued calls and security to build best in class applications. Programming WCF Services focuses on the rationale behind particular design decisions, often shedding light on poorly-documented and little-understood aspects of SOA development. Developers and architects will learn not only the “how” of WCF programming, but also relevant design guidelines, best practices, and pitfalls. Original techniques and utilities provided by the author throughout the book go well beyond anything that can be found in conventional sources.

Based on experience and insight gained while taking part in the strategic design of WCF and working with the team that implemented it, Programming WCF Services provides experienced working professionals with the definitive work on WCF. Not only will this book make you a WCF expert, it will make you a better software engineer. It’s the Rosetta Stone of WCF.

About the Author

With more than 15 years of experience in Information Technology, Dux Raymond Sy has earned a reputation as among the leading experts in leveraging technology to enhance project management. He is currently a managing partner of Innovative-E, Inc.

As a thought leader in maximizing project team collaboration, he is focused on empowering organizations on how to leverage the benefits of collaborative tools with quantifiable goals such as: Increasing productivity and efficiency, decreasing collaboration redundancies and streamlining electronic communications.

A sought-after trainer, he has developed and facilitated management and technology training to government organizations, Fortune 500 companies, non-profit institutions in the United States, Bahamas, Barbados, China, the United Kingdom, and the Philippines and regulary writes about project management, SharePoint and globalization at http://www.meetdux.com.

From the Publisher

The only game texturing book on the market dedicated to game texturing. Contains full color, stepwise tutorials of the coolest game textures. Useful and informative for both game artists and general 2D digital artists. Includes a CD that contains all software including the Photoshop CS demo, hundreds of textures, and a Photoshop tutorial, so no previous experience is required. Covers every class of texture for all forms of adult (PG-13 and above) video games.

CCIE Routing and Switching
Certification Guide
Fourth Edition

• Master CCIE Routing and Switching 4.0 blueprint exam topics
• Assess your knowledge with chapter-opening quizzes
• Review key concepts with Exam Preparation Tasks
• Practice with realistic exam questions on the CD-ROM

Wendell Odom, CCIE® No. 1624
Rus Healy, CCIE No. 15025
Denise Donohue, CCIE No. 9566

CCIE Routing and Switching Certification Guide, Fourth Edition, is a best-of-breed  Cisco® exam study guide that focuses specifically on the objectives for the CCIE® Routing and Switching written exam. Well-respected networking professionals Wendell Odom, Rus Healy, and Denise Donohue share preparation hints and test-taking tips, helping you identify areas of weakness and improve both your conceptual knowledge and hands-on skills. Material is presented in a concise manner, focusing on increasing your understanding and retention of exam topics.

CCIE Routing and Switching Certification Guide, Fourth Edition, presents you with an organized test preparation routine through the use of proven series elements and techniques. “Do I Know This Already?” quizzes open each chapter and allow you to decide how much time you need to spend on each section. Exam topic lists make referencing easy. Chapter-ending Exam Preparation Tasks sections help drill you on key concepts you must know thoroughly.

The companion CD-ROM contains a powerful testing engine that allows you to focus on individual topic areas or take complete, timed exams. The assessment engine also tracks your performance and provides feedback on a module-by-module basis, presenting question-by-question remediation to the text and laying out a complete study plan for review.

Well regarded for its level of detail, assessment features, and challenging review questions and exercises, this official study guide helps you master the concepts and techniques that will enable you to succeed on the exam the first time.

CCIE Routing and Switching Certification Guide, Fourth Edition, is part of a recommended learning path from Cisco that includes simulation and hands-on training from authorized Cisco Learning Partners and self-study products from Cisco Press. To find out more about instructor-led training, e-learning, and hands-on instruction offered by authorized Cisco Learning Partners worldwide, please visit www.cisco.com/go/authorizedtraining.

Wendell Odom, CCIE No. 1624, is a 28-year veteran of the networking industry. He currently works as an independent author of Cisco certification resources and occasional instructor of Cisco authorized training for Skyline ATS. Find Wendell’s Cert Zone blog at www.nww.com/odom.

Rus Healy, CCIE No. 15025, CCIE No. 15025, is the Chief Technology Officer of Annese & Associates, a Cisco Silver partner ranked second in the Best Companies to Work For in New York.

Denise Donohue, CCIE No. 9566, is a Sr. Solutions Architect for ePlus Technology, a Cisco Gold partner. She works as a consulting engineer, designing networks for ePlus’ customers.

The official study guide helps you master all the topics on the CCIE Routing and Switching written exam, including:

• Bridging and LAN switching
• IP addressing, IP services, TCP, UDP, and application protocol details
• Layer 3 forwarding concepts
• EIGRP, OSPF, and BGP routing protocols
• Quality of service
• Frame Relay
• MPLS
• IP multicast
• IPv6
• Router and switch security
• Troubleshooting
• Companion CD-ROM

The CD-ROM contains 200 practice questions for the exam.

This volume is part of the Certification Guide Series from Cisco Press®. Books in this series provide officially developed exam preparation materials that offer assessment, review, and practice to help Cisco Career Certification candidates identify weaknesses, concentrate

their study efforts, and enhance their confidence as exam day nears.

Category: Cisco Press–Cisco Certification

Covers: CCIE Routing and Switching written exam 350-001 v4.0

Good computer books make assumptions about the reader: what they do and don’t know when they pick up the book, and what they want to know when they put it down. For each reader this could be very different; therefore, a book that suits one person may not be the best for another. Mac OS X Leopard: Beyond the Manual makes some assumptions too, ones that tend to differ from other Mac OS X books.

First of all, we assume that you have used a computer in that past: that you know how to use a mouse and you know the proper place to stick a DVD to get it to play in your computer. We won’t be showing you these things. (We will however demonstrate to our Mac converts how to “right click” on a trackpad with only one button!).

Second, we assume you know what you want to do with your computer. We won’t waste your time showing you specifically, step–by–step how to order a pizza from Pizza Galaxy in Milwaukee Wisconsin on the with Safari (though, when you’re done with this book we think you’ll be able to do this just fine… if such a place exists anyway).

Finally, we assume that you are a reasonably intelligent person with who realizes the value of such phrases as “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime” and can imagine how that might apply to a computer book.

If this sounds like you, then we think you’ll find this book rewarding.

Inside you will find everything you need to get up to speed with Mac OS X Leopard including:

• Using the standard included Leopard applications including Mail, Safari, Preview, and more
• Taking advantage of the Darwin subsystem in Leopard
• Learning all the ins and outs of the Finder and Leopards improved interface
• Administering your computer for yourself and for others
• Working with other computers and operating systems from you Mac
• Configuring the network to take full advantage of the powerful networking capabilities in Leopard
• Working with add on devices via USB, Firewire, and Bluetooth
• Effectively implementing data backup, recovery and security
• Getting started with OS X development in Leopard

About the Author

Emily A. Vander Veer has written several Internet-related books, including IDG Books’ JavaScript™ For Dummies® and JavaBeans™ For Dummies®. Her work has appeared in numerous online and print publications including Byte, CNET, Object Magazine, and WEBTechniques.

Emily resides in the hill country of Austin, Texas, where she lives with her husband, Clay (a jazz guitarist nonpareil), and her two-pound pooches, Lochlan and Ceilidh. When she’s not hard at work at her keyboard, Emily enjoys traveling, both in the U.S. and abroad.

You can contact Emily by e-mail at emilyv@sprynet.com or visit her on the Web at http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/emilyv/

About the Author

Scott Jamison is an expert on information worker technologies, collaborative applications, and software + services. He has more than 15 years of experience helping customers solve business problems through technology solutions, currently at Microsoft as Director of Enterprise Architecture. Scott has worked with SharePoint since 2001, recently participating as an architect on Microsoft’s developer advisory council helping design features for SharePoint Server 2007. Scott is a recognized thought leader and published author with several books, including Essential SharePoint 2007.  Scott holds degrees in business and computer science.

About the Author

Jeremy Zawodny and his two cats moved from Northwest Ohio to Silicon Valley in late 1999 so he could work for Yahoo!–just in time to witness the .com bubble bursting first-hand. He’s been at Yahoo!® ever since, helping to put MySQL and other Open Source technologies to use in fun, interesting, and often very big ways. Starting with the popular and high-traffic Yahoo! Finance site, he worked to make MySQL part of the site’s core infrastructure in large batch operations as well as real-time feed processing and serving content directly on the site. He then helped to spread “the MySQL religion” to numerous other groups within Yahoo!, including News, Personals, Sports, and Shopping. Nowadays he acts as Yahoo!’s MySQL guru, working with Yahoo!’s many engineering groups to get the most out of their MySQL deployments.

In 2000, he began writing for Linux Magazine and continues to do so today as a columnist and contributing editor. After over a year of active participation on the MySQL mailing list, he got the idea to write a book about MySQL. (How hard could it be, really?) You can still find him answering questions on the list today. Since 2001, Jeremy has been speaking about MySQL at various conferences (O’Reilly’s Open Source Conference, PHPCon, The MySQL User Conference, etc.) and user groups in locations as far away as Bangalore, India. His favorite topics are performance tuning, replication, clustering, and backup/recovery. In more recent times, he’s rediscovered his love of aviation, earning a Private Pilot Glider license in early 2003. Since then he’s spent far too much of his free time flying gliders out of Hollister, California and Truckee, near Lake Tahoe. He hopes to soon earn his Commercial Pilot license and then go on to become a certified flight instructor someday. Occasional MySQL consulting also helps to pay for his flying addiction.

Jeremy rambles almost daily about technology and life in general on his weblog: www.jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/

Derek J. Balling has been a Linux system administrator since 1996. He has helped build and maintain server infrastructure for companies like Yahoo, and institutions like Vassar College. He has also written articles for The Perl Journal and a number of online magazines, and served on the Program Committee for the 2008 LISA (Large Installation System Administration) Conference. He is currently employed as the Data Center Manager for Answers.com.

When not working on computer-related issues, Derek enjoys spending time with his wife Debbie, and their posse of animals (four cats and a dog). He also makes his opinion known on current events or whatever is annoying him lately on his blog at http://blog.megacity.org/.