Book Review:

Managing IP Networks with Cisco Routers- by: Scott M. Ballew

O'Reilly Press - ISBN: 1-56592-320-0 US: $34.95 - copyright 1997

If you are in a situation of having just 'taken-over' a legacy network, and.or if you have to design a new network, and this network will be a combination of routers, hubs, and perhaps switches too (in these days everything seems to have switching( except this book)), then you need to review the contents of this book. It is more a 'statement of good network design & management with routing) than it is a 'cook-book' - but in many cases we need more 'theory' than practice. One of it's strengths is that it helps you understand much of the 'why' did either someone else do something(I have to manage now) and/or why should I do something for the future?

Additionally if you are putting in a 'switched network to the desktop' and you are configuring VLANs, something /somewhere has to Route those VLANs between each other and to/from the Motorola WAN backbone. Many times the documentation we get on switching and on VLAN configuration does not do a very good job of enlightening us as to how to 'inter-connect' the VLAN configuration and the Router's ability / need / configuration for routing those VLANs.

This book really helps in that area as it is a conceptual model to routing, and routing VLANs is really no different than routing those physical ports on a router... - so if you understand Routing, then you can probably understand Routing VLANs

Mr. Bill's key conceptual design models have always included these four items that any network designer, manager, or implementor should consider:

• Security
• Productivity
• Economy
• Scaleability

This / these key items are also covered in this book and how the many trade-offs between these items must almost always be made and how you can best make those tradeoffs.

book review by: Bill Schell - 2 November 2000