My Godfather wants to get me into networking/software development, so he sent me all these books, where should i start guys?

http://imgur.com/67H5Q5E

Keep "PHP and MySQL" and "PHP, MySQL and Apache", rest is useless and essentially junk. No of these books are about networking, rather sysoping and web development.
If you want to learn networking do Cisco CCNA.

I'd start with the Microsoft one on the right.

yeah my uncle gave me this;

Imgur

Do it then.

First of all, don't do anything you aren't interested in. You will never make it through any of those books just because someone suggested you should get into networking. PHP and MySQL really have nothing to do with "networking" that is more software development. Same with MS SQL server. I wouldn't even really read any of those books anyways. Unless they are less than two years old. You don't want to study outdated information.

There are two different paths with networking. There is Networking, and Systems Administration also know as "networking". People in networking deal more with routers and switches and networking appliances/devices. People in Systems Administration deal in Servers, Databases, and generalized Networking. Generally speaking the Systems Administrators are in charge and have Network Engineers to deal with the switches and routers. Of course this is different for every company. True network engineers really aren't needed until the Systems Administrator can no longer handle the amount of networking equipment in a company. So Network Engineers are generally found in mid-sized to large businesses. Sys Admins, are found in small, mid-sized and large businesses. Sys Admins are more generalized and Network Engineers are more specialized.

Developer = PHP / MySQL / .NET / MSSQL This involves lots of effort given to people who don't really know what they want and expect you to read their minds. However, if your good, it can pay really well.

Systems Administrator = Windows Server / Linux / VMWare/MySQL/MSSQL (If you aren't lucky enough to have a DBA) this involves lots of dealing with people, meetings, management, etc

Network Engineer = Cisco / Juniper / Brocade . This deals a lot with IP addresses, routing, security, and non people problems but has the ability to impact every one in a company in an instant.

If you want to get into networking pick between a Systems Administrator, or a Network Engineer. If you want Systems Admin, follow the MCSE track. If you want Network Engineer, go the CISCO track. The real valuable Sys Admins / Engineers have both certifications.

My personal recommendation would be to start on the MCSE track. You will learn enough about true networking there to determine if you want to switch gears and really get into the CISCO stuff.

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