In my opinion, this is one of the best hands-on guides to implementing Linux-based routers. It walks you through a series of production-routing scenarios and offers detailed advice on configuration, problem avoidance and troubleshooting. As well as coverage of some applications that help support the network infrastructure (such as traffic analysis and system monitoring), there is a general Linux production discussion alongside the related configurations. This discussion includes background information for new network administrators.
What's In It for Me?
In "Linux Routers: A Primer for Network Administrators" you'll learn how to implement Linux-based routers. The book offers detailed guidance on configuration, problem avoidance and troubleshooting, and the author walks readers step-by-step through a series of production routing scenarios.
What's Good?
There's a very good reason why this tome got a perfect "10" on a scale of 10 points: It is one of the best books I've read on using Linix to build routers. It provides a very thorough description of how to use ipchains in conjunction with forwarding, masquerading, accounting and so on.
The book is organized around chapters that describe how to build a LAN router, an extranet router, a frame relay router, an Internet router, a satellite office router and an Internet services router. "Linux Routers: A Primer for Network Administrators" would be an excellent base for a series of lab exercises.
Appendix C is another great feature. It describes how readers can use VMware to experiment with virtual network configurations.
Furthermore, the author has clear explanations and enough detail to get a workable configuration. The book walks beginners through building their own kernels. It is easy to read and provides just enough handholding.
Starting with Routing 101 basics and ranging to WAN configurations, this book has increased my understanding by a couple of notches. The author has written a book that is very easy to understand, very concise and explains many advantages to using Linux-based routers. His understanding of network administration is extremely impressive, and he conveys that in an interesting manner. This book is definitely worth the investment.
What's Bad?
There is very little to say that's bad about this book. Nevertheless, students (and instructors) should be aware that there are some minor typos in the text and diagrams. For example, Figure C.1 has two subnets labeled "A." The right-hand one should be labeled "B."
Conclusion
The author shares real-life experiences implementing high-performance, low-cost Linux routers in the corporate network. Coverage includes:
- Transforming any Linux-compatible system into a high-performance router.
- Step-by-step, hands-on guidance.
- Hardware, configuration, management and troubleshooting information.
- Linux routing for Ethernet, frame relay and Internet/extranet environments.
- Choosing the right hardware and Linux software tools.
- Using the same system as a router and Web server, DNS server and so on.
- Day-to-day router administration and monitoring.
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