Customer Reviews

OSPF: Anatomy of an Internet Routing Protocol

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm biased against proprietary protocols, so understand where I come from when I say that I wouldn't run any other IGP than OSPF. ISIS has a few strange things but thats not the point here.

This book gives the networking world a great explanation of how OSPF is designed to work as a standard, not how Cisco implements it (which, by the way, I think they do very well). Not only does Moy explain how OSPF works, but he tells us WHY he decided it should work that way. He also gives a brief history of the early OSPF vs ISIS conflict and OSPF's development process, including what was wrong with OSPF ver1. This book helps spare you from scouring the 1000 or so RFC pages that describe OSPF.

This book is a little pricey, and probably isn't necessary to get OSPF running (read Doyle), but it will deepen your understanding of the protocol and is written in clear, old-fashioned English.

One last thing. Read Jeff Doyle or some other good material on OSPF first, this book will offer you much more if you already understand the protocol to a certain degree.

I wasn't thinking of reviewing this book till I saw the undeservedly negative comment. The book provides excellent information on OSPF and is a very useful companion to the OSPF/MOSPF RFCs (also written by John Moy). Having worked with routing for a few years now and having been through the excellently written OSPF RFCs a couple of times, I found parts II and III of the book to be a very good refresher on OSPF. On finishing the book I found my approach to solving OSPF problems a lot more purposeful and cleaner than before. The book definitely has a bias towards people already familiar with some of the core routing and OSPF/link-state concepts, but this shouldn't discorage the novice who should find this book an invaluable reference as he/she learns more about the subject.

Great book and great reference to OSPF and its many aspects. I have had this book for years and will not part with it.

No doubt, this is the bible of OSPF, the ultimate book on the subject matter.

J Moy has an amazing writing style and this book is a page turner. It starts from the fundamentals of link state algorithm and then moving onto more specific OSPF message types to OSPF areas etc. It also covers Multicast OSPF and OSPF MIB.

There is a really nice FAQ section that answers your day to day OSPF questions and comes as a handy reference.

Who better to write the book on OSPF than the person who wrote the RFC and worked hard to make OSPF the dominant IGP! and he also happens to be one of the guys at Sycamore.

Just like programmers refer to C++ as the language of choice. I refer to OSPF as the routing protocol of choice. After reading this book I have a new perspective on link state protocols and how they operate. I see how EIGRP, NLSP, and ISIS have incorporated the principles of OSPF into their protocols. Similar to how Java borrowed ideas from C++ and Smalltalk. If you have a good understanding of IP, master OSPF to quote Mr. Spock you will "Live Long and Prosperous"!

If you are a technical guy with interest in understanding
what happens behind the scene of your IP network this is a good book. The only drawback is that in some point you have the feeling things are non fully explained (details left to the reader); it's possible Jhon Moy had some interest in selling the second detailed book on OSPF (The complete implementation ..").
Nice to compare what Moy says about OSPF vs. IS-IS with Perlman idea.

A very detailed explanation of the OSPF protocol right from its infancy. Details the functional requirements and the implementation. The best part is that one does not have to be an IP expert to enjoy this book.

This is the author of the standard wielding the collective genius of the history and design decisions of OSPF. It eliminates the hype and mystery of the internet's best IGP by providing the detail necessary for a complete logical understanding. It was written for the most common of readers and the most serious of engineers in plain text. The book is well organized and well indexed for easy reference.

The development of the OSPF protocol, as described by Moy, was fascinating. I also appreciated the comparison to other routing protocols. Very helpful for everyday work with OSPF!

The author has a conversational, almost tongue-in-cheek style for a highly technical book - makes reading much more pleasant. The history of the protocol development is most interesting (and maybe just a teensy bit biased). The contents are very thorough and concepts are explained clearly. Would rank right up there with Internet Routing Architectures by Halabi for informational value.