Organization

Organization

The eighteen chapters and one appendix of this book fall into seven parts:

• Part I: Foundational Issues This section takes you through technologies that underlie the material covered in the rest of the book. Important issues such as Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, routing versus switching, the types of Layer 2 switching, the Catalyst command-line environment, and VLANs are discussed. Although advanced readers might want to skip some of this material, they are encouraged to at least skim the sections on Gigabit Ethernet and VLANs.

• Part II: Spanning Tree The Spanning-Tree Protocol can make or break a campus network. Despite the ubiquitous deployment of this protocol, very little detailed information about its internals has been published. This section is designed to be the most comprehensive source available on this important protocol. It presents a detailed analysis of common problems and Spanning Tree troubleshooting. This chapter also discusses important enhancements such PortFast, UplinkFast, BackboneFast, and PVST+.

• Part III: Trunking Part III examines the critical issue of trunk connections, the links used to carry multiple VLANs throughout a campus network. Chapter 8 begins with a detailed discussion of trunking concepts and covers Ethernet-based forms of trunking, ISL, and 802.1Q. Chapters 9 and 10 look at LAN Emulation (LANE) and MPOA (Multiprotocol over ATM), two forms of trunking that utilize Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM).

• Part IV: Advanced Features This section begins with an in-depth discussion of the important topic of Layer 3 switching, a technology that has created a whole switching paradigm. Both MLS (routing switch) and hardware-based (switching router) routing are examined. The next two chapters examine the VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP) and multicast-related topics such as Cisco Group Management Protocol (CGMP) and Internet Group Membership Protocol (IGMP) Snooping.

• Part V: Real-World Campus Design and Implementation Part V focuses on real-world issues such as design, implementation, and troubleshooting. These chapters are oriented toward helping you benefit from the collective advice of many LAN switching experts.

• Part VI: Catalyst 6000 Technology This section includes a chapter that analyzes the Catalyst 6000 and 6500 models. Focusing primarily on Layer 3 switching, it discusses the important "Native IOS Mode" of operation.

• Part VII: Appendix The single appendix in this section provides answers and solutions to the Review Questions and Hands-On Labs from the book.