Press releases

O'Reilly Author Offers a Straightforward Approach to IP Routing

Press release: February 6, 2002

Sebastopol, CA--The routing of IP packets takes place behind the scenes, so that the typical network user who sends an email or views a web page may never give more than a passing thought as to how the information moves from one place to another. In his just-released book, IP Routing (O'Reilly, US $34.95), author Ravi Malhotra offers the analogy of a traveler boarding a train in one location and traveling via a route comprising several stops to a distant location, where she emerges, bags in hand. In the same way, IP packets in an IP network are moved from router to router to their final destination. While IP routing is a vast and intricate subject, especially in the context of the global IP network, it is an essential subject for network administrators to understand in order to configure routers and routing protocol for optimum use and efficiency.

This latest addition to O'Reilly's acclaimed series of books for network administrators introduces IP routing as it is implemented using Cisco routers. Each section of IP Routing leads the reader through the basics of configuring routing protocols, beginning with the simplest, Routing Information Protocol (RIP). Malhotra moves on to more complex routing protocols in subsequent chapters, including the Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (IGRP), the Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP), Routing Information Protocol Version 2 (RIP-2), and Open Shortest Path First (OSPF).

Among the questions Malhotra addresses are: What is the packet-forwarding process? How is the routing table maintained? How do Distance Vector algorithms work? How do classful and classless route lookups differ? These and other concepts are illustrated in Malhotra's discussions of traditional routing protocols.

Finally, Malhotra provides a detailed presentation of Border Gateway Protocol 4 (BGP-4). Says Malhotra, "BGP is the glue that binds the thousands of networks that combine to make up the Internet. Routing in the Internet is quite different from routing in intranets. I have included several new concepts in this chapter."

For network and system administrators, IP Routing is a straightforward, jargon-free introduction to the basics of IP routing. Readers will master not only the fundamentals of all major routing protocols, but also the principles on which the protocols are based. Intended for anyone with an interest in the subject, IP Routing is appropriate for beginners as well as for those already familiar with IP routing who seek a better understanding of the underlying concepts.

Online Resources:

IP Routing
By Ravi Malhotra
ISBN 0-596-00275-0, 219 pages, $34.95 (US), $52.95 (CAN)
order@oreilly.com
1-800-998-9938

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