Cisco ISP Essentials

Product Description

A comprehensive guide to the best common practices for Internet service providers

• Learn the best common practices for configuring routers on the Internet from experts who helped build the Internet
• Gain specific advice through comprehensive coverage of all Cisco routers and current versions of Cisco IOS Software
• Understand the Cisco IOS tools essential to building and maintaining reliable networks
• Increase your knowledge of network security
• Learn how to prevent problems and improve performance through detailed configuration examples and diagrams

Cisco IOS Software documentation is extensive and detailed and is often too hard for many Internet service providers (ISPs) who simply want to switch on and get going. Cisco ISP Essentials highlights many of the key Cisco IOS features in everyday use in the major ISP backbones of the world to help new network engineers gain understanding of the power of Cisco IOS Software and the richness of features available specifically for them. Cisco ISP Essentials also provides a detailed technical reference for the expert ISP engineer, with descriptions of the various knobs and special features that have been specifically designed for ISPs. The configuration examples and diagrams describe many scenarios, ranging from good operational practices to network security. Finally a whole appendix is dedicated to using the best principles to cover the configuration detail of each router in a small ISP Point of Presence.

Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful Network engineers, this book is for you, May 12, 2002 By A Customer This review is from: Cisco ISP Essentials (Cisco Press Networking Technology) (Paperback) This book is based on a living document that Philip, Barry and many network engineers around the globe have been working on for quite a few years. Since I do work with the original document I feared that it might only be a printed version of the online document, but I was delighted to discover that this is not the case, the book really is an expanded and up to date version of the recommended best practices based on real work network engineering experience. The book is well written (typos and a few mistakes here and there) but the essence, the meat of it all are the detailed Cisco related commands and the usefull information that is provided. Saves a lot of time versus searching mailing lists, Cisco's web site and other ressources. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  Was this review helpful to you?  Report abuse | Permalink  Comment 5 of 5 people found the following review helpful ISP Engineering Bible, August 1, 2002 By  Pyschederilict "Pyschederilict" (Sparta, NJ USA) - See all my reviews This review is from: Cisco ISP Essentials (Cisco Press Networking Technology) (Paperback) Finally....a book from Cisco press that is suited to the real world rather than the whiteboard or certification mill. This book is by far the best Cisco press book I have come across and is an end-to-end guide of ISP best-practices...in IOS! Probably not anything earth-shattering or unavailable elsewhere, but an excellent assembly of network engineering info for the service provider. Very high ROI on this one for those of us in the industry. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  Was this review helpful to you?  Report abuse | Permalink  Comment 2 of 2 people found the following review helpful Now this is a great book...., August 12, 2003 By A Customer This review is from: Cisco ISP Essentials (Cisco Press Networking Technology) (Paperback) What I love about this book is both the way the authors explain complex technologies simply and also (and more importantly for me) add a very real-world/practical slant to everything. Not much more I can say except do yourself a favour and buy this book. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  Was this review helpful to you?  Report abuse | Permalink  Comment

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Praise For Cisco ISP Essentials

Cisco ISP Essentials
Reviewer Name: Brian Sprague
Reviewer Certification: CCNA

Cisco ISP Essentials is the ideal book for those responsible for ISP networks, whether big or small. The authors mix in practical examples, along with industry standard methods to describe ideal network setups.

The book follows a logical step-by-step look at ISP networks, first by examining basic router setup and maintenance. Here topics such as memory and backup issues are discussed. The wonderful thing about this book is that it covers in detail what many books simply leave out. There are detailed examples of the Network Time Protocol and configuration management. Along with the "how," is the very important "why" for the various techniques.

In the routing protocols section, most of the space is dedicated to BGP, as would be expected in a book dealing with ISP networks. The authors did not forget about internal protocols and laid a foundation for the rest of the book. There is in-depth coverage of BGP setup, and the various features and settings to further enhance your network based on its requirements. Examples are provided to show actual running configurations proving the practices out.

Security is a hot topic right now, and it seems to not receive as much time in its chapter of the book. What you will find however, is the constant minding of security issues throughout the rest of the book. Securing routers and routing protocols is followed by discussions on ACLs and network filters. Every area of the book touches aspects of security at some point. The fifth chapter is entitled Operational Practices, and takes the detailed ideas presented so far, and applies them to actual situations seen on ISP networks. The chapter starts with design ideas, and follows with discussions of ISP services such as DNS, Mail, and News. A detailed discussion of IPv4 addressing covers the basic structure of addressing history. There is a detailed example of an allocation plan for an ISP's needs, as well as any customers. It shows the steps to plan for the present as well as future growth in your network.

There follows an extensive survey of external routing topics. A few examples for interior protocols are given, but the main topic is exterior protocols. Scaling route protocols is discussed for both interior and exterior protocols. This talk leads in to peering practices involving BGP. Multi-homing is the last topic covered, and is done in great detail. The authors describe the various options available for stub networks, single and multiple ISP connections, as well as load sharing designs.

Here again security and the management tasks talked about in earlier chapters are placed into the ISP network and their use described. Tools and sample configurations follow in appendices to wrap up the discussion on best practices.

Overall, the detailed examples and well thought out explanations of the various practices will serve your ISP for a long time.

"If you're a network engineer for an Internet Service Provider (ISP) that uses Cisco hardware, this book (Cisco ISP Essentials) is for you. Instead of having to dig around in IOS to find features and commands that might be of use to your setup, buy this book instead. It provides you with an overview of many IOS features essential to know for properly configuring equipment at your Point of Presence (POP)."
- Swynk.com, September 2002
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"Leave it to Cisco Systems to defy conventional wisdom and write a book (Cisco ISP Essentials) that provides ISP operators with a practical, yet comprehensive guide to best common practices of software and router management. This is the kind of book I wish I could have gotten my hands on three years ago when I was managing an ISP business. If you have a Cisco router in your network, and many of you do since IDC research says Cisco owns about 60 percent of the global market, you're going to want to pick up a copy of Cisco ISP Essentials for your library."
- ISP-Planet.com, August 2002

"Network engineers and others involved with Internet Service Provider technology will want a copy of Cisco ISP Essentials. It is a compilation of the best practices and wisdom of ISP networking."
- About.com, July 7, 2002

Index

Download - 136 KB -- Index

Table of Contents

Introduction.


1. Software and Router Management.