BKDWANAI.RVW   990927

"Designing Wide Area Networks and Internetworks", J. Scott Marcus,
1999, 0-201-69584-7, U$49.95/C$74.95
%A   J. Scott Marcus
%C   P.O. Box 520, 26 Prince Andrew Place, Don Mills, Ontario  M3C 2T8
%D   1999
%G   0-201-69584-7
%I   Addison-Wesley Publishing Co.
%O   U$49.95/C$74.95 416-447-5101 fax: 416-443-0948 bkexpress@aw.com
%P   385 p.
%T   "Designing Wide Area Networks and Internetworks: A Practical
      Guide"

A great many books have taken on the task of teaching how to design
the simpler local area networks, and failed.  Marcus has looked at the
much more complex job of internetworks, and, if he does not always
succeed on all points, at least provides a very useful addition to the
literature.

Part one presents background information for network design.  Chapter
one outlines what an internetwork is, and starts to talk about design. 
A rough outline of a design process is given in chapter two.  The
first phase of the process, the definition of requirements, is
introduced in chapter three.  While this is an area that could always
use expansion, Marcus lays out a comprehensive and comprehensible
explanation which should be helpful for novice planners.

Part two expands on the second phase; that of preliminary design. 
Chapter four lists some rough steps in this draft phase.  A number of
interesting points are made in chapter five regarding circuit costs
and the optimization thereof.  A solid assessment of transmission
technologies; such as ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode), SONET
(Synchronous Optical Network), ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber
Line), and the like; is given in chapter six.  Chapter seven looks at
hierarchy and topology.  Considerations for backbone placement are
discussed in chapter eight.  Access design is reviewed in chapter
nine, with access homing in ten.  At this point, and with the
extensive additional material in chapter eleven, one can design the
backbone topology.  Naming, addressing, and routing generally follows
the Internet protocols, and particularly IPv6, in chapter twelve. 
Security is usually an "add on" consideration, and so the reader is
lucky that chapter thirteen has such a wide ranging (though not
detailed) outline.  Chapter fourteen is both a general discussion of
the Internet backbone and a kind of case study.  A good overview of
the options for network management is provided in chapter fifteen. 
Chapter sixteen gives detailed instructions for validation against the
original requirements.

Part three, chapter seventeen, deals with the management review, and
particularly with how to present various aspects of the costs and
financing.  Part four looks at implementation.  Chapter eighteen
reviews the process for finalizing the design.  Selection of carriers
and vendors is discussed in chapter nineteen.

As Marcus notes, a cookbook guide to designing networks simply is not
possible.  There are a number of gaps, shortcomings, and missing
details in this work.  Nevertheless, this book is probably the single
most practical volume on the subject among the many attempts I have
reviewed over the years.  Managers and network administrators will
find useful guidance here, without being drowned by technical detail.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKDWANAI.RVW   990927