Advanced IP Network Design (CCIE Professional Development)

The Network Core

The core of the network has one goal: switching packets. Like engines running at warp speed, core devices should be fully fueled with dilithium crystals and running at peak performance; this is where the heavy iron of networking can be found. The following two basic strategies will help accomplish this goal:

• No network policy implementation should take place in the core of the network.

• Every device in the core should have full reachability to every destination in the network.

No Policy Implementation

Any form of policy implementation should be done outside the core; packet filtering and policy routing are two perfect examples. Even if the core devices can filter and policy-route packets at high rates of speed, the core is not ...