Acknowledgments

Victor: The biggest thank you goes to Shannon for her support throughout this project. Thanks for understanding, keeping me balanced, and always seeing beyond what is perceptible.

The ideas here contained have been inspired throughout the years by many of our colleagues. There are too many names to mention here; thanks to all.

I would like to acknowledge the seminal contribution of pioneers in this field such as Gerd Pflueger, Patrice Bellagamba, and Guenter Honisch.

I would like to thank my co-author, Kumar Reddy. Kumar has been an extraordinary guide during my tenure at Cisco, and the writing of this book would not have been possible or enjoyable without him.

Kumar: First and foremost, I would like to thank Julia, Chloe, Emma, and Isabelle, who put up with me writing another book and being busy or absent during too many weekends, evenings, and holidays. It is a small part of our great adventure together.

Thanks are due to my co-author, Victor Moreno, as nice and as smart a coconspirator as one could ever hope to find. The vision in this book is very much his.

I would also like to acknowledge the many extraordinary people I have been fortunate to work with at Cisco, both now and in previous teams. I have learned a lot from them, and this book would be much poorer without their influence over the years.

Speaking of years, I want to conclude by thanking my boss, Stephane Lamarre, for his long-standing support and his friendship.

Both: our technical reviewers were wonderful. They were generous with their suggestions, exacting with their standards, and detailed in their correction. They are true experts in their fields.

A big "thank you" goes out to the production team for this book. Brett Bartow, Ginny Munroe, and Christopher Cleveland have been incredibly professional and a pleasure to work with. We could not have asked for a finer team.