Foreword

Scott Morris

Four-time CCIE and JNCIE-M, and a Juniper Networks Certified Instructor

Charles Darwin once said, “I have called this principle, by which each slight variation, if useful, is preserved, by the term of Natural Selection.” This principle of evolution applies to business as well as to nature. Individuals, companies, and industries evolve and compete with one another in preparation for the future.

Back in 1998, a group of engineers decided to split from the mainstream and form a new company, Juniper Networks. That company has evolved to create and acquire many products over the last decade. While Darwin might have viewed this as an evolutionary step in products, we view it as a competitive step.

Humankind differs from the rest of the animal kingdom not only because our instincts go beyond the primal survival urge (a.k.a. Darwin’s “survival of the fittest”), but also because of our intellect and capacity to improve. When one group splits off from another, it does not necessarily sound the death knell for the original group. More likely, the two groups will start taking steps to outdo one another. In other words, they compete.

Those who are not directly involved in that competition can reap the benefits of the intellectual sparring. We have observed many such competitive moves within the routing industry over the years. Now, we are entering another such arena within the switching side of our industry.

Evolution of the Bridging World

More than 20 years ago, Radia Perlman developed an interesting algorithm while working for Digital Equipment Corporation. At the time, it was meant to solve an irritating little problem brought on by the forced evolution of data networks. Although networking in 1985 was significantly different than it is today, it’s amazing how some of the basic building blocks have survived.

This book discusses some of those building blocks, both historically and with reference to the present-day network infrastructure. For example, the Spanning Tree Protocol, which was based on Perlman’s algorithm, is like one of the amino acids from which today’s switching was created. (I’ve always despised biology, but it seems to fit here!)

You’ll also learn how to improve on features we’ve always believed to be necessities “just because they are.” This book helps you understand the evolution—or stagnation—of networking to date, and then shows you how to see past it and unlock your networking potential in a few short steps.

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