Integrated Cisco and UNIX Network Architectures (Cisco Press Networking Technology)

Rating:
Summary: shrewd strategy
Review: A somewhat surprising book. One might think that Cisco would be threatened by the rise of unix (and even linux) gateways. These often are much cheaper at doing common networking in software, than buying hardware from vendors like Cisco, that perform similar tasks. Typically, the hardware has better performance. But a generic gateway does other things, and overall, that has led to a rise in unix boxes for gateways.

But Schmied suggests how Cisco hardware can still have a place in this environment. He gives many scenarios involving both types of devices cooperating.

Given that this book is published by Cisco, it suggests that the company is pursuing a shrewd strategy. By not advocating that unix boxes are unsuitable for gateways. Because doing so would lose a lot of credibility amongst its potential customers, who can easily try out such an arrangement and see it easily work, at reasonable if not good performance, and low cost. The coexistence approach prevents them from engaging customers in an argument that Cisco cannot win, and gives them a continued presence in the customers' networks.

Rating:
Summary: Author's comment on Mr. Boudville's "review"
Review: Dear Mr. Boudville, first of all I am sorry to disappoint you, there is no "world conspiracy" going on and if you find any "area 51" reference in the OSPF section this is purely by coincidence ;-).

I can assure you that both Cisco Press (Pearson Publishing) and Cisco were very enthusiastic about the book approach, during all my time of working on the manuscript I never got the impression of any hidden agenda or "shrewd strategy" as suspected in your review, nothing but inspiring conversations and peer reviews. You should ask yourself if you would have expressed the same biased opinion when the exactly same book would have been published with O'Reilly or Prentice Hall. In addition, I chose non-Cisco reviewers for the book on purpose. Besides, a lot of UNIX enthusiasts work in San Jose among the smart people of Cisco development. I am not sure whether a book review platform is the appropriate place to express a "conspiracy theory" without even talking about the content, but I do not mind, it's a free world.

I can assure you that the point of view expressed is solely mine and I would not have had it any other way, I did not mention Linux or BSD in the title on purpose as well to stay generic. Nevertheless, there are always psychological and paranoid perceptions involved when reading between the lines, Linux against Cisco, Linux against Intel, Linux against Microsoft, Linux against BSD, Debian against Gentoo, Redhat against SUSE... The reality in almost all of my consulting projects is a coexistence by reason and not Linux/BSD/.. for the sake of Linux as proposed by radical evangelists.