NOTE: This digital course is part of the Cisco Digital Library and Networking CDL XL bundle but is not available for individual resell.
This course provides you with the required knowledge and skills to design, deploy, operate, and maintain an Internet service provider (ISP) backbone network. You learn how to build a network from scratch, starting with Interior Gateway Protocols (IGP), moving to Border Gateway Protocols (BGP), and then to Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS).
The course begins by asking the question, “What is an interior gateway protocol?” and then proceeds to distinguish the two interior link-state protocols: Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) and Intermediate System to Intermediate System (IS-IS), as well as their characteristics.
You also explore a basic BGP configuration. BGP is a path-vector protocol that exchanges routing information between autonomous systems. You learn how to set up interior and exterior neighbor-peering sessions and policies. Peering-session policy is accomplished with MED and local preference, which are two waysto establishcriteria for multihoming.
Multihoming, or multiple connections, is a strategy that reduces the potential for catastrophic failure should any one router in a network fail. You explore basic MPLS configuration and Virtual Private Networks (VPN) functionality to see how they insure isolated and secure traffic.
Lastly, you learn how to build some traffic engineering tunnels from head-end router to tail-end router, and how to test dynamic traffic rerouting to maintain traffic flow.