This is not a new book but I wanted to improve my service provider side knowledge of MPLS and since the book is the on the CCIE list I picked it. I got it used off eBay for $20 I think so buying older books has some advanteages. I also read it to prep for the CCIE wrtiten test. I am going with the study for the lab then when almost ready take the written. Well MPLS is not in the R&S lab (yet) so this did not apply to that but since I work with routers attached to an MPLS network everyday I felt this would also apply to work as well. Now on to the review!
First let me get this out of the way, this is a slightly older book (2002) so some details have changed but the fundamentals are there. This is also the CCIP edition but its for an older 640-xxx test, not the current 642 test. The age was just a minor issue as this book will give you the fundamentals on MPLS VPN’s that most corperate networks are using now.
As for reading this book I felt it was very well laid out. It started out first with the basic and slowly built on that until you where running a full service provider MPLS network with multiple VPN customers. Though out the reading of this book I never got lost or wondered what was going on, the authors where very clear in taking you step by step though the process. The only area I could see people getting lost is with MP-iBGP. This book is heavy on iBGP and if you don’t have good understanding of it you might get lost as this goes into MP-BGP in great detail in explaining the how routes are propagated around between VRF’s. I found this discussion to be very clear and helpful.
Bottom line is liked this book, slightly dated but well worth a read today if your looking to improve your knowledge on MPLS and VRF’s.
http://www.ciscopress.com/bookstore/product.asp?isbn=1587050811