Cisco Catalyst QoS: Quality of Service in Campus Networks

"Cisco Catalyst QoS" by Flannagan, Froom, and Turek is one of a few books by Cisco dedicated to one platform and one feature of that platform. As a long-time CCIE candidate, I have found this book very useful in complementing my studies of the Catalyst 3500. But this book does much more than simply discuss the 3500. In particular, items I found important: * The book starts out by giving an in-depth review of how QoS is applied to the Catalysts. For example, the excellent diagram on page 13 shows how different entities may all employ QoS services (CAC, FRTS, cRTP, etc..) * Next, the book moves through the different QoS components - from scheduling, to token bucket mechanisms, traffic-shaping and policing. * The beauty of the book is shown around page 150 - the CoS to DSCP map. This is a sparsely documented area of QoS, and the only reference outside of Cisco (that I've found) which succinctly explains the layer 2 to layer 3 mappings for Catalyst IOS. * The book's 2nd part is dedicated to "Advanced QoS Concepts" (as if the concepts explored in the first 120 pages were not advanced enough!). This includes chapters on QoS for the beast of Catalysts - 6500s and 4000 Catalysts. I have not found many typos in this book, but one typo that made me do a double take is on page 125, 1st paragraph - "The match-all option is a logical OR operation" The match-all operation is a logical ALL operation (match-any is logical OR operation). If I had to pick a `Top 10' list of CiscoPress books, this would probably make the cut. The book discusses subject areas just not duplicated in other books. And, as the 3500 switch is part of the CCIE lab as of the writing of the book, it is a very useful tool for advanced configuration understanding. I give this book 5 pings out of 5: !!!!!

I'm a Global Knowledge instructor who teaches the Cisco DQoS 1.0 class. This book is GREAT! It unlocked many of the QoS mysteries that I still had concerning Layer 2 and 3 on the switches. Switches perform QoS in the TCAM and other hardware resources. Because of such, it is a very complex topic. This book is a great follow-on to the Wendell Odom DQoS book or great as a stand-alone if you already understand "some" QoS. These guys cover the Modular QoS CLI (MQC) and most of what you need to deploy a solution. GREAT BOOK!

This book started out a little scary, but as I read it a little more things started to sink in. There is a lot of material in this book. The first chapters run through all the theory and background fun. After that the fun stuff of applying what they were saying in the beginning applies and makes sense. This book is not for the beginner on Cisco networking. I would say CCNA/CCDA level people would be able to handle all the acronyms and feel comfortable with the way the book is setup. I have never touched any QoS stuff and this was not too bad for a technical book. Some parts did drag on, but all in all it moved pretty well. My favorite parts of this book are all the examples. This book goes through all the (time of publishing) current Cisco equipment and what different ways they handle QoS. The book also has some good insights on Cisco design, especially if you are planning VoIP or video implementations. It tells where you could leverage certain switches in a total solution for a customer. I have read this book once, now I have to read it again to reinforce what I have read. Good job!.

I have recently read the book titled "Cisco Catalyst® QoS: Quality of Service in Campus Networks, ISBN: 1587051206. Cisco Press recently released this book on June 6, 2003. This book is among the best technical books I've read. It is very detailed, covering Quality of Service in all the latest Catalyst Switches. This book is best suited for Intermediate to Advanced Networking professionals. Although there is a great section that explains the fundamentals of QOS for Beginners or those that need to brush up on QOS terms and definitions. I highly recommend this book to anyone who anticipates running QOS in the LAN environment. Having this book ahead of time, before networking equipment purchases or software upgrades will save you a lot of time and money. There are tables in the book that depict the capabilities of the more recent catalyst switches and modules. These tables help a great deal in assessing where your network is at in terms of supporting QoS and perhaps where you need to be in order to accomplish your QoS goalsThis book contains every aspect that should be considered, in order to properly deploy QOS in the LAN environment. There is an outstanding chapter covering the Catalyst 6500 series switch, with hard to find information. The chapter covers every detail from hardware to software requirements. The configuration examples cover both modes of operation whether you're running Hybrid or Native Mode software.This books straight and to the point examples with supporting figures allow a person to dig right to the meat of a given topic. The illustrations assist a great deal in conceptualizing the authors intended message.

The book is an excellent reference on a complex subject of Catalyst QoS.The book discusses QoS on all cisco catalyst platforms and analytically compare features of different products.I beleive it is a first book that discusses QoS on Catalyst Swicthes and provides information about all platforms in one place. It is a very useful book and customers implenting QoS in Campuses will find it very helpful.Salman Zahid