Cisco Self-Study: Building Cisco Metro Optical Networks (METRO)
Reviewer Name: Paul Miller, Network Planner
Reviewer Certification: CNX, SCP, pursuing CCIE Security
I recently read the book Cisco Self-Study: Building Cisco Metro Optical Networks (METRO) by Dave Warren and Dennis Hartmann. This book has some pretty good information on the topic of metro optical networks. The key word in this title is "optical." I think this book is very well organized to help the reader understand foundational concepts of metro area optical networking, as well as grasp the application of the different technologies. The book accomplishes this by first laying down the foundation of a given topic, then presenting a practical application of the technology. The application of the technology is geared more for Cisco equipment, but nonetheless gives the reader a whole view on the topic.
The first three chapters offer superb information on the foundational information regarding the applications that metro area network supports. Being an enterprise type person I was able to grasp the concepts of metro optical rather easily. There are review questions at the end of each chapter that really help to re-enforce the content of the chapter. It also helps to identify whether a particular concept was understood correctly and in the right context.
This book is best suited for service provider design and implementation engineers, but enterprise engineers will find this book equally intriguing, because of how it unlocks the mysteries of metro area optical networking. Consultants in the metro area networking space will find this book to be worth its weight in gold. Not many folks take the time to understand the often-complex world of MAN and what derviceproviders are offering, beyond the marketing pitch.
One thing that would have been useful in this book would have been a glossary of terms. Although the author has done a good job of explaining terms throughout the book, a glossary would have been a handy place to reference in the future. One can still utilize the index and locate a term or topic rather quickly.
Because the title is written to educate the reader on optical networks, it has an outstanding section covering SONET. Yes, there are other books on the market that cover SONET with more detail and a little fluff, however I'm not one to dedicate my life to the pursuit of learning every detail about SONET that I will probably never need. After all I'm not in R & D. This title documents SONET really well, giving good illustrations, and is not so lengthy that you have to block out a Saturday just to get through a concept. The authors did a good job of consolidating the information so the topic is not overwhelming, but gives the reader a solid understanding of the technology.
The title covers basic information about the Cisco ONS 15454 and the Cisco ONS 15327 as well as initial configuration of the equipment. There are figures in the book that are snapshots of the application used to configure the equipment. While this could be very useful, in my opinion, it's a little risky because if the interface should ever change, then the book is dated. On second thought, what isn't dated these days?
A section I found rather valuable is a section on configuring SONET timing. Network timing in general is often misunderstood at many levels. The authors did a good job of documenting the challenges of network timing.
The title has a fairly short chapter on metro Ethernet. If you're interested in metro Ethernet I would recommend the title Metro Ethernet by Sam Halabi, also published by Cisco Press.
This book seems like a good place to start when setting out to understand metro area optical networks, but with the combination of adding implementation detail, it's just enough information to help grasp the concept of the technology. It doesn't seem to be a book that one would go to for actual implementation/configuration details, but rather a book designed to help the reader understand the technology and get a basic understanding of how a given technology is implemented.