Juniper Networks Warrior

Chapter 1. An Enterprise VPN

This book describes the jobs that I and other networking engineers have performed on client networks over the past few years. We are considered network warriors because of the way that we attack networking challenges and solve issues for our clients. Network warriors come from different backgrounds, including service provider routing, security, and the enterprise. They are experts on many different types of equipment: Cisco, Checkpoint, and Extreme, to name a few. A warrior may be a member of the client’s networking staff, drafted in for a period of time to be part of the solution, but more often than not, the warriors are transient engineers brought into the client’s location.

This book offers a glimpse into the workings of a Juniper Networks warrior. We work in tribes, groups of aligned warriors working with a client toward a set of common goals. Typically technical, commonly political, and almost always economical, these goals are our guides and our measures of success.

Note

To help you get the picture, a quote from the 1970 movie M*A*S*H is just about right for us network warriors: “We are the Pros from Dover and we figure to crack this kid’s chest and get off to the golf course before it gets dark.” Well, not really, but the sentiment is there. We are here to get the job done!

Over the past four years, I have been privileged to team with talented network engineers in a large number of engagements, using a tribal approach to problem solving and design ...