Rating: 
Summary: Essential for 24x7 infrastructure strategies
Review: This book is an important addition to the body of knowledge of high availability in general and network availability in particular. Do not let the title mislead you, this book is not about high availability for Cisco - it uses that product family for examples. The information provided in this excellent book can be effectively applied to any vendor-specific or multi-vendor network architecture. I am not going to rehash the table of contents or the lengthly editorial review - I am going to jump into why I like this book and what I think makes it so valuable. First, no 24x7 system is a true highly available information resource unless you can access it. Try as I may, I cannot think of a single company that does not employ a network as the base infrastructure for their information systems. This book provides information necessary to create a foundation for high-availability and 24x7 operations. Second, the book is a catalog of high availability designs that will fit within any network architecture, regardless of complexity, products used or geographical scope. No matter what your network currently looks like you will find out what it takes to transform it into a reliable, resilient 24x7 network. The author has provided a design strategy for every conceivable situation and network configuration, and thoroughly discusses the underlying technical issues. This is where the "Cisco" part of the title comes in - he uses that particular product family as examples for achieving high availability designs for each scenario. Third, the disaster recovery section in the book is well thought out and shows that the author has a lot of knowledge and experience in business continuity planning and disaster recovery. This section alone is worth the price of the book. This book is, in my opinion, essential reading for network architects, consultants and integrators, and operations managers who are seeking a total solution to high-availability solutions. What I would love to see is a follow-on book that provides the design information reformatted as design patterns. This would be an invaluable resource for experienced network architects and consultants.
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