Routing First-Step (First-Step)

Rating:
Summary: Start with a Horse carried letter, get to the Internet
Review: Cisco First-Step books are exactly as the name implies. This book assumes that you have zero experience with what routing is, how it works, what's the addressing structure or anything else. It starts off with a discussion on how to set up a snail mail system using horses, kind of like the Post Office had to use in its early days. How would you address an envelope? There is a convention that says the return address goes in the top left hand corner. But it doesn't have to be there, if we all agreed, it could be where ever we liked. But it has to be somewhere.

This is the level of detail of where the book begins. After that, it goes on to a highway system. You want to mail a letter from San Jose to Chicago, what kind of addressing do you need, where does the letter stop on its way. Finally, these conventions become standardized, and we give them names. The names just happen to be those of the computer protocols - surprise, surprise.

By the end of the book he is discussing Border Gateway Protocols, Multicast and things like that. By then you understand that the Post Office where you started doesn't do multicast -- they don't have copiers. By then you understand how the internet addressing scheme works. You clearly understand routing and what a router does. You're ready to move on to the next step.

Rating:
Summary: Routing First-Step may be Second-Step
Review: Routing First-Step
(Your first step into the world of routing)
Reviewer Name: Steve Owen Scheiderer, Network Administrator
Reviewer Certification: MCSE NT 4.0, CCNA

ISBN: 1-58720-122-4

To earn my CCNA it took a year's worth of time in Cisco Academy modules, numerous labs,
two 990+ page books, a test study guide, and the Cisco Simulator (which I also reviewed).
Bill Parkhurst did an excellant job of summarizing basic concepts in under 400 pages. I
would recommend Chapters 1 - 6 and 9 for those pursuing CCNA certification.

What is difficult to understand, from the perspective of Cisco Academy material, is why
topics like IS-IS and GP are included in this book. Even some of the OSPF discussion
seems advanced (pp. 217-227). As a mere, humble CCNA, these sections were somewhat hard
to follow and at times produced more questions than answers. On the other hand, the
introduction to these topics was appreciated and could be helpful to some who want a quick
overview of how more advanced protocols work.

Those just starting out in routing may wish to skip some of Bill's discussion. For example,
a lot of space is devoted to the "Octal Numbering System" which Bill explains "is not used
much" (p. 45). Some of the discussion was tedious and more advanced topics seemed out of
place in a book for beginners. The time spent in the practice Bill recommends would have
been better spent with the numbering systems more widely used.

While I follwed his analogy of post offices and phone systems as they parallel ip addressing,
a novice might actually find the parallels hard to follow. This is particularly true where
there are points when the analogy breaks down. At times I wished summary statements at the
end of a discussion had been put up front to help with focus (p. 90, ip headers; p. 103,
subnets and masks take time to master). At other times, concepts were mentioned prior to
their main treatment (TCP/IP Layered Model on p. 83, then explained on p. 90; VLSM on p.
142 under Rip 1, then explained as working only under Rip 2 on p. 150).

While there are many things which commend this book as a "first step into the world of
routing," I believe it is more of a mid level book. The information above is offered to
the beginner as a way to start using this as a "first step" book.

Rating:
Summary: More than expected.
Review: The First-Step series are introductory books intended for those new to the topic and assumes no previous experience. Routing First-Step, by Bill Parkhurst guides the reader through the intricacies of routing by building upon situations experienced in everyday life. Throughout the book are useful illustrations, tables and configuration examples making it easier for the reader to understand the concepts presented. Each chapter ends with a series of review questions that reinforce the material read and gauge the readers understanding of the chapter. There is also a glossary provided to help the reader understand and become more familiar with industry terms.

The first chapter begins with comparing routing to events that occur in everyday. How the delivery of mail, driving from point A to point B and establishing a telephone call are synonymous with routing. In addition, the author has the foresight to begin laying the foundation for route summarization. Throughout the book, these everyday events are referenced to reinforce the concepts conveyed, making them easier to understand.

The next two chapters move into numbering systems and IP Addressing, discussing topics from converting between numbering systems to hierarchal IP Addressing schemes. For an entry level book the author went a bit overboard on the different numbering system conversions but it makes a good reference for those of us who do not remember the steps. The IP Addressing chapter is very useful, taking the binary numbering system already learned in the previous chapter and applying the concepts to hierarchical addressing, subnetting and summarization. Having a solid understanding of these concepts is necessary for anyone involved in designing an organizations IP Addressing scheme.

The book continues with the introduction of routing protocols, starting with the distance-vector routing protocols RIP v1/v2 and the Cisco proprietary IGRP/EIGRP. The next two chapters move on to the link-state protocols OSPF/IS-IS and then onto a chapter on BGP. The final chapter details the various protocols used with Multicast. The content of the chapters are much more in depth than I would have expected for this level of book (I would go so far as to say that the content rivals some of the CCNP Routing books I have read in the past). The examples and illustrations provided for each protocol will assist in building readers understanding of the information.

The author has done a wonderful job at taking a very complex subject, reducing it to its core components and presenting the material in an understandable format. When the reader completes this book, they will have a good understanding of the concepts of routing and routing protocols. I would recommend this book for those looking for an introduction to routing and IP addressing and although I would not recommend this book as the sole resource in preparing for Cisco Certification, it definitely would assist in one's efforts.