The Internet, an upstart academic experiment in the late 1960s, struggles with identity and success in the late 1990s. From the ARPANET to the NSFNET to ANYBODYSNET, the Internet is no longer owned by a single entitity; it is owned by anybody who can afford to buy space on it. Millions of users are seeking connectivity and thousands of companies are feeling left out if they do not tap into the Internet. This has put network designers and administrators under a lot of pressure to keep up with networking and connectivity needs. Learning about networking, and especially routing, has become a necessity.

People get surprised when networks fail and melt down; I get surprised when they don't. I say that because there is so little useful information out there. Much of the information on routing that has been available to designers and administrators up until now is doubly frustrating: The information makes you think that you know how to build your network until you try, and find out that you don't. I wrote Internet Routing Architectures to be the first book that addresses real routing issues, using real scenarios, in a comprehensive and accessible treatment.

Objectives

The purpose of this book is to make you an expert on integrating your network into the global Internet. By presenting practical addressing, routing, and connectivity issues both conceptually and in the context of practical scenarios, the book aims to foster your understanding of routing so that you can plan and implement major network designs in an objective and informed way. Whether you are a customer or provider (or both) of Internet connectivity, this book anticipates and addresses the routing challenges facing your network.

Audience

This book is intended for any organization that might have the need to tap into the Internet. Whether you are becoming a service provider or you are connecting to one you will find all you need to integrate your network. The perspectives of network administrators, integrators, and architects are considered throughout this book. Even though this book addresses different levels of expertise, it progresses logically from simplest to most challenging concepts and problems, and its common denominator is straightforward, practical scenarios to which anyone can relate. No major background in routing or TCP/IP is required. Any basic or background knowledge needed to understand routing is developed as needed in text discussions, rather than assumed as part of the reader's repertoire.

Organization

The book is organized into four parts:

•  Part 1—The Contemporary Internet. Chapters 1-3 cover essential introductory aspects of the contemporary Internet with respect to its structure, service providers, and addressing. Even if you are already familiar with the general structure of the Internet, you are encouraged to read the portions of Chapter 1 concerning Network Access Points, the Route Arbiter Project, and Network Information Services. The pressures that precipitated these components of the Internet have continuing practical implications for routing