6.2 Preparation

To be able to understand and apply the concepts in this chapter, you should be familiar with addressing and routing concepts for TCP/IP networks. Although the addressing mechanisms discussed in this chapter are relatively straightforward, you should have some background in IP addressing; thus, a good addressing reference is provided here. In addition, you should have some background in routing protocols, particularly Routing Information Protocol (RIP)/RIP version 2 (RIPv2), Open Shortest Path First (OSPF), and Border Gateway Protocol version 4 (BGP4). Some recommended sources of information include:

Everything You Wanted to Know about IP Addressing, by Chuck Semeria, available from 3Com at www.3com.com
Interconnections, 2nd edition, by Radia Perlman, Addison-Wesley Publishing, January 2000
Routing in the Internet, by Christian Huitema, Prentice Hall, January 2000
OSPF: Anatomy of an Internet Routing Protocol, by John T. Moy, Addison-Wesley Publishing, January 1998
BGP4 Inter-Domain Routing in the Internet, by John W. Stewart, Addison-Wesley Publishing, January 1999
Requirements for Internet Hosts—Communication Layers, STD 0003, R. Braden, ed., October 1989
Requirements for IP Version 4 Routers, RFC 1812, F. Baker, ed., June 1995

The host requirements and router requirements RFC and STD listed are heavy reading but thoroughly describe the vital characteristics of hosts and routers on IP networks.