Cisco(R) PIX (TM) Firewalls

It gave a great for overview for beginners and yet still has good information to be kept as a reference. He also has over 100 additional pages of info on his website. Great Buy

If you ever wanted a thorough overview of PIX firewalls this is it. Goes into quite a few PIX commands (and the difference with Cisco router commands). All aspects of PIX are covered, including failover, management options, and the joys(?!!) of IPSec onfiguration. Very readable for non-experts.

Richard Deal's "Cisco PIX Firewalls" provides essentially all of the information you will need to get a PIX up and running. It also has useful information on where to place PIX firewalls in your network design and how to ensure their configuration implements your security policy. I've never met the author or corresponded with him, so this isn't one of those "friends of the author" reviews. :-) Nonetheless, I do highly recommend the book.

Chapter 1 is a good introduction to what a firewall is and the different types of firewalls, including information on how to classify a PIX. In addition to Chapter 1, there's a nice insert in the middle of the book that encapsulates the most useful information regarding what a PIX does and how. I've never seen a book that has this sort of "executive summary" insert, or perhaps we could call it a crib for decrypting the rest of the book!? Seriously, the book doesn't need much decryption. One of its best features is its easy-to-follow style. Deal is an excellent writer.

Following the helpful introduction is a description of the PIX firewall product family line, which is important when working with Cisco products, since Cisco has a seemingly infinite number of products. Chapter 3 follows those chapters and offers a concise description of the PIX command-line interface.

The most valuable chapters are the ones that follow because they describe how a PIX works as far as its handling of traffic flow, address translation, filtering, fixing of problematic protocols, and support for VPNs. There are some minor errors with regards to protocol behavior in these chapters. As is the case with many configuration authors, Deal is not a protocol expert, but the errors do not detract from the book and will hopefully be fixed in a second printing.

The book also has a practical section, consisting of seven chapters, on PIX management, including logging, centralizing security, using PIXes in a redundant fashion, password recovery, and upgrading the PIX.

In summary, I found this book useful and readable.

This book is very well written and is an easy read. It will be very useful for anybody not yet familiar with the PIX firewall product, as well as experienced administrators looking to implement some of the newer, more intricate features. The author runs through the fundamental and more detailed aspects of configuring a PIX, and implementing it in a variety of production environments. Starting configuration/implementation from scratch, each chapter follows on logically to the next, leading to a fully functioning firewall; including the various other environmental considerations you need to make when implementing a total security solution. Written in Q4 2002, this book is currently up to date, and includes coverage of the new PIX 6.2 software features and commands. Its clearly defined chapters also make it very easy to navigate as a reference.
All explanations and examples are very clear and easily understood, with none of those 'confusing' explanations I come across in so many tech books. And I only spotted a few mistakes, which is very good going for this type of book. The author also incorporates some of his own experience; mostly to make a point or generally put what is being explained into a real-world context, thereby making it easier to relate to for the reader.
Finally, although this book is not intended as an exam study guide, it does cover a lot of the content included on the new CSPFA (9E0-111) exam. To be fully prepared however, you'd want to fill in the gaps (PDM, integrating IDS, downloadable ACLS, the VPN client etc.) with the relevant texts and tutorials available on the Cisco web site.

This was the book that I needed. I actually enjoyed this book! Most computer books I read as needed or use them as a refference, however I read this book through cover to cover.
I have not had formal Cisco training, so what I have learned has all been through books and online docs. If you are to buy ONE Cisco PIX book, this is the one. It covered EVERYTHING there is to know about the PIX. From what type of pix to choose for your needs, to licensing, to VPNs, access-lists vs conduits, attack guards, etc. I have the Official books by Cisco and they were ok for an intro and basic use, but Mr Deal goes into great real world use and explaination of all the PIX's features.
This is the book for ANYONE interested in PIX. If you are buying a PIX, check out Chapter 2 before hand.