Every modern organization shares data among its computer users and almost always via a local area network (LAN), so people who know how LANs work are in hot demand. If you want to break into networking, getting certified will prove your skills, so you might want to take the Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) exam in Networking Essentials (70-058). MCSE Training Kit: Networking Essentials Plus shows you what's on the exam and how to pass it. Supplement your study with some hands-on experimentation and you'll be ready. (This book also helps you prepare for the CompTIA Network+ exam, which covers much the same material.)
The book is organized around brief lessons, each of which deals with a particular set of facts you have to know for the test. The lessons themselves are mostly prose, though conceptual diagrams and screen shots help drive some points home. Each lesson concludes with a summary of key points, and practice questions appear frequently. (Answers to the questions are listed, without comment, in an appendix.) Exercises, discussed a bit in the same appendix, direct you through useful hands-on practice. The companion CD-ROM contains a multimedia training guide too.