Large-Scale Network Design: Best practices for designing elegant, scalable, and programmable networks with OSPF, EIGRP, IS-IS, and BGP routing protocols

Video description

9+ Hours of Video Instruction

Large Scale Network Design LiveLessons takes you through the concepts behind stable, scalable, elegant network design, including modularity, resilience, layering, and security principles. This livelesson will focus on traditional distributed link state, distance vector, and path vector routing protocols, as well as the basic principles of centralized control planes (such as OpenFlow). A special point will be made of sorting out the relationship between policy and reachability, and where they can best be managed in a large scale network.

This video begins with an examination of basic network design principles, including an examination of modularization, hierarchy, summarization, aggregation, and resilience. More advanced foundational topics are then considered, such as an overview of network complexity, network models, and policy from within the context of the control plane. After this, the series will work through design using each of the distributed control planes, including OSPF, IS-IS, EIGRP, and BGP, on several network topologies to provide practical knowledge of actual deployment in real networks. The following section of this livelesson will consider the tradeoffs around programmable networks, including convergence, stability, and other factors. Finally, advanced topics, such as fast convergence, will be considered in detail, from principle to application in each protocol.

About the Instructors

Russ White has more than 20 years of experience in designing, deploying, breaking, and troubleshooting large-scale networks. Across that time, he has co-authored more than 40 software patents, has spoken at venues throughout the world, has participated in the development of several internet standards, has helped develop the CCDE and the CCAr, and has worked in Internet governance with the ISOC. Russ is currently a member of the Artchitecture Team at LinkedIn, where he works on next generation data center designs, complexity, security, and privacy. His most recent books are The Art of Network Architecture and Navigating Network Complexity. Russ holds several degrees and industry certifications, including MSIT Capella University, MACM Shepherds Theological Seminary, PhD in progress from Southeastern Theological Seminary CCIE #2635, CCDE 2007:001, and CCAr.

Alvaro Retana, CCIE No. 1609, is currently a Development Test Engineer in the Large-Scale Switching and Routing Team, where he works on advanced features in routing protocols. Formerly, Alvaro was a technical lead for both the Internet Service Provider Support Team and the Routing Protocols Team at the Technical Assistance Center in Research Triangle Park, N.C. He is an acknowledged expert in BGP and Internet architecture.

What You Will Learn

  • Drivers behind network design considerations
  • Classic network design principles
  • How to define network complexity and understand complexity tradeoffs
  • Link-state design concepts
  • OSPF network design
  • IS-IS network design
  • EIGRP network design
  • BGP network design
  • Network security basics, hardening networks, and protecting hosts
  • Programmable network design
This video is targeted at a broad range of network engineers, including those who are just starting in the networking industry to seasoned professionals who would like to expand their knowledge from a narrow range of technologies to a broader range of technologies and the principles behind solid design. This video will be of particular interest to those who are studying for the Cisco Certified Design Expert and the Cisco Certified Architect certifications.

Table of contents

  1. Introduction
    1. Large-Scale Network Design: Introduction
  2. Lesson 1: Design Drivers
    1. Learning objectives
    2. 1.1 Business Drivers and Modularization
    3. 1.2 Security Design Drivers
    4. 1.3 Applications and Availability
  3. Lesson 2: Design Principles
    1. Learning objectives
    2. 2.1 Failure Domains
    3. 2.2 Hiding Information
    4. 2.3 Aggregation and Redistribution
    5. 2.4 Design Patterns
    6. 2.5 Common Topologies
    7. 2.6 Spine and Leaf
    8. 2.7 Uncommon Topologies
    9. 2.8 Data Plane Models
    10. 2.9 Hybrid Device Model
  4. Lesson 3: Network Complexity
    1. Learning objectives
    2. 3.1 Defining Complexity
    3. 3.2 Understanding Complexity Tradeoffs
  5. Lesson 4: Link State Design
    1. Learning objectives
    2. 4.1 Link State Review
    3. 4.2 Flooding Domain Operation and Size
    4. 4.3 Optimizing Link State Convergence
    5. 4.4 Link State on Complex Topologies
    6. 4.5 Loop-Free Alternates
    7. 4.6 Interaction with BGP
    8. 4.7 Fast Convergence Considerations
  6. Lesson 5: OSPF Design
    1. Learning objectives
    2. 5.1 OSPF Flooding Domains
    3. 5.2 OSPF Suboptimal Summaries
    4. 5.3 OSPF on a Ring
    5. 5.4 OSPF on Spine and Leaf
    6. 5.5 OSPF Externals
    7. 5.6 Other OSPF Design Factors
  7. Lesson 6: IS-IS Design
    1. Learning objectives
    2. 6.1 IS-IS Flooding Domains
    3. 6.2 IS-IS Flooding Domain Lab
    4. 6.3 IS-IS Summaries and Route Leaking
    5. 6.4 IS-IS Metrics and Externals
    6. 6.5 IS-IS Metrics in the Lab
    7. 6.6 Optimizing IS-IS Operation
  8. Lesson 7: EIGRP Design
    1. Learning objectives
    2. 7.1 EIGRP Operation
    3. 7.2 EIGRP Convergence
    4. 7.3 EIGRP Summarization
    5. 7.4 EIGRP Externals
    6. 7.5 EIGRP Stubs
  9. Lesson 8: BGP Design
    1. Learning objectives
    2. 8.1 BGP Review
    3. 8.2 BGP Metrics and Policy
    4. 8.3 BGP at the Edge
    5. 8.4 BGP in the Core
  10. Lesson 9: Network Security
    1. Learning objectives
    2. 9.1 Security Basics
    3. 9.2 Hardening the Network
    4. 9.3 Protecting Hosts
  11. Lesson 10: Programmable Networks
    1. Learning objectives
    2. 10.1 CAP Theorem and Control Planes
    3. 10.2 Centralization versus Decentralization
    4. 10.3 A Taxonomy of Programmable Networks
  12. Summary
    1. Large-Scale Network Design: Summary

Product information

  • Title: Large-Scale Network Design: Best practices for designing elegant, scalable, and programmable networks with OSPF, EIGRP, IS-IS, and BGP routing protocols
  • Author(s): Russ White / Alvaro Retana
  • Release date: February 2017
  • Publisher(s): Cisco Press
  • ISBN: 0134686543