Introduction
This book is based on the Alcatel-Lucent's Scalable IP Networks course. It is designed to teach you the same material that is in the course and prepare you for the Alcatel-Lucent Network Routing Specialist I Certification exam (4A0-100). Like the course, this book teaches IP professionals the fundamentals of IP Service Routing, and so it is designed for network professionals with a limited knowledge of IP and Ethernet networking technologies.
While the primary focus of the book is to prepare you for the Alcatel-Lucent NRS I exam, bear in mind that the technologies discussed are also relevant to everyday networking activities and so the book can be useful as a reference even for those not intending to take the exam. However, the primary goal of this work is to prepare the reader to take the 4A0-100 exam, and thus not all topics are covered at the same level of detail that they might be for a general-purpose work on networking. Every effort has been made to cover the topics at a sufficient level of detail to prepare someone to take and pass the exam without giving too much information to overwhelm a network newcomer. The level of information for each topic has been carefully chosen to match the level of the exam.
Like the Alcatel-Lucent Scalable IP Networks course, the book has many objectives. Upon completing study of the topics contained in this work, the reader should be able to perform the following tasks:
- Describe the use of the Alcatel-Lucent 7750 Service Router (SR) and the Alcatel-Lucent 7450 Ethernet Service Switch (ESS) in the Internet.
- Execute basic commands with the Alcatel-Lucent SR command-line interface (CLI).
- Describe the purpose and operations of common Layer 2 technologies.
- Describe the IP forwarding process.
- Analyze an IP address with subnet mask and calculate subnet boundaries.
- Develop an IP address plan using IP subnetting and address summarization.
- Explain the differences between static routes and dynamic routing protocols.
- Configure static routes and dynamic routing in a single area OSPF network.
- Explain the purpose and basic features of BGP.
- Explain the purpose of MPLS and how it can be used to create tunnels across an IP network.
- Describe the MPLS-based VPN services supported on the Alcatel-Lucent 7750 SR: VPWS, VPLS, and VPRN.
Your success at understanding these objectives will determine your success on the exam. Each of these topics is covered in sufficient detail in this book to enable you to succeed when you take the Alcatel-Lucent NRS I exam if you apply yourself diligently to studying the materials. Some of the materials covered, such as IP subnetting, may be challenging and daunting to a network newcomer. However, we have strived to clearly explain the more difficult information and to provide guidance and examples that will help you understand the explanations. The Lab Exercises attached to the chapters will give you the opportunity to practice your new knowledge.
How This Book Is Organized
This book follows the outline of the Alcatel-Lucent Scalable IP Networks course. In the first chapter, we will give an introduction to the Internet and its history and a brief overview of the TCP/IP protocol suite. Chapter 2 examines the Alcatel-Lucent 7750 Services Router and the Alcatel-Lucent 7450 Ethernet Services Switch and provides an overview of the command-line interface used on both systems. Chapter 3 covers data link technologies, paying particular emphasis to the Ethernet protocol. Chapter 4 continues the discussion of Ethernet by looking at Ethernet switching and virtual LAN technology.
Chapter 5 looks at the IP protocol, including its addressing structure, and covers the concept of subnetting, complete with some sample exercises for creating subnets. Chapter 6 looks at the IP packet forwarding process and also some value-added services such as IP packet filtering. Chapter 7 concentrates on examining the upper transport layers of the IP stack and discusses both Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP). Chapter 8 begins a discussion of IP routing protocols and how they function in an IP network. Chapter 9 continues the discussion of IP routing by examining the Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) protocol. Chapter 10 concludes the discussion of IP routing with a discussion of the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP). We conclude in Chapter 11 with a discussion of Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) and Virtual Private Networks (VPNs).
Each chapter begins with a few pre-assessment questions to give you a flavor of the chapter content, and a post-assessment quiz to test your understanding of the material. You can find all the assessment questions and their answers in Appendix A. Most chapters include a Lab Exercises section to give you practical experience to reinforce what you are learning. The Lab Exercises from all chapters are collected in Appendix B, along with the exercise solutions.
In topics related to networking, it is not possible to avoid TLAs (Three-Letter Acronyms) or acronyms in general. The acronyms are so heavily used in the networking industry that some of the terms are more readily recognized by their acronyms, rather than through the expanded term. For easy reference, most of the commonly used terms and acronyms in the book are listed along with their definitions in the Glossary at the end of the book.
Conventions Used in the Book
Alcatel-Lucent provides a modular approach for configuring the Alcatel-Lucent 7750 SR and Alcatel-Lucent 7450 ESS products. In this approach, most of the IP addressing and IP protocol features are configured in a modular fashion. The modular approach makes IP network designs simple and elegant. This makes node configurations easier to understand and maintain.
CLI commands are entered at the command-line prompt. Entering a command makes navigation possible from one command context (or level) to another. When you initially enter a CLI session, you are in the root context. At the root context, the prompt indicates the active Central Processor Module (CPM) slot and the name of the node. (For more information on CPM, see Chapter 2.) Navigate to another level by entering the name of successively lower contexts. As you change through the levels, the prompt also changes to indicate the context you are in. Listing 1 shows an example CLI navigation and prompt change according to the context.
Listing 1: Navigation and prompt change
The root prompt of Listing 1 indicates that the active CPM slot of the node is A and the name of the node is configured as AIRP_R01. In the listing, upon entering the command show, the prompt changes to indicate the show context. As you can see in this paragraph, when CLI codes are used inline along with the main text, they are indicated by the use of monofont text.
A standard set of icons are used throughout this book. A representation of these icons and their meanings are listed under the section, "Standard Icons."
Audience
This book is targeted for network professionals who have some experience with IP and Ethernet networks and who need to prepare for the Alcatel-Lucent NRS I exam (4A0-100). While the topics covered are of general use and information for any networking professional, the level of detail and the particular aspects of the technologies covered match explicitly what is needed to prepare for the exam.
This book assumes that the reader has a basic knowledge of networking, the Internet or IP protocol, and experience with binary numbers. Familiarity with configuring the Alcatel-Lucent 7750 Service Router or Alcatel-Lucent 7450 Ethernet Service Switch platforms will be helpful, but it is not required. In order to perform the labs in the book, you will need access to Alcatel-Lucent 7750 SR platforms. However, even if you do not have this access, you can still glean valuable information by reading through the labs to see the types of configuration tasks that are relevant to the topics under discussion.
Visit www.alcatel-lucent.com/src for additional information on the Alcatel-Lucent SRC Program.
Feedback Is Welcome
It would be our pleasure to hear back from you. Please forward your comments and suggestions for improvements to the following email address:
sr.publications@alcatel-lucent.com
Welcome to your preparation guide for the Alcatel-Lucent NRS I exam, and good luck with your studies and your career.
Kent Hundley
Alcatel-Lucent NRS I No.1558
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