Introduction

Since the publication of Volume I of Routing TCP/IP , many volumes have been added to the Cisco Press CCIE Professional Development series. And the CCIE program itself has expanded to include various areas of specialization. Yet the IP routing protocols remain the essential foundation on which the CCIE candidate must build his or her expertise. If the foundation is weak, the house will tumble.

I stated in the introduction to Volume I that " as internetworks grow in size and complexity, routing issues can become at once both large and subtle." Scalability and management of growth continues to be a central theme in this second volume, as we move beyond the interior gateway protocols to examine both interautonomous system routing and more exotic routing issues such as multicasting and IPv6.

My objective in this book is not only to help you walk away from the CCIE lab exam with one of those valued and valuable numbers after your name , but also to help you develop the knowledge and skills to live up to the CCIE title. As with the first volume, I want to make CCIEs, not people who can pass the CCIE lab. In this vein, you will find in this book more information than you will need to pass the lab, but certainly all of the material is important in your career as a recognized internetworking expert.

When I earned my CCIE, the lab still consisted mostly of AGS+ routers. Certainly the lab and the nature of the exam have changed substantially since that ancient time. If anything, the lab is more difficult now. Another addition to the CCIE program has been the recertification requirement. Even before I took the recertification exam for the first time, people were telling me how much Volume I had helped them prepare for the test ”particularly for IS-IS, a protocol that few outside of service provider environments are exposed to. I have therefore written this second volume with not only CCIE candidates in mind, but also existing CCIEs who need to review for their recertification. The chapters on multicasting and IPv6 are directed to this audience.

I have endeavored to follow the same structure that I followed in Volume I, in which a protocol is introduced in generic terms, followed by examples of configuring the protocol using Cisco IOS Software, and finally by examples of Cisco IOS Software tools for troubleshooting the protocol. In the case of BGP and IP multicast, this structure is far too lengthy for a single chapter and therefore spans multiple chapters.

I hope you learn as much from reading this book as I have from writing it.