Designing Switch/Routers

This book examines the fundamental concepts and design methods associated with switch/routers. The book discusses the main factors that are driving the changing network landscape and propelling the continuous growth in demand for bandwidth and high-performance network devices. Designing Switch/Routers: Fundamental Concepts and Design Methods focuses on the fundamental concepts that underline the design of switch/routers in general. The book considers the switch/router as a generic Layer 2 and Layer 3 forwarding device without placing emphasis on any particular manufacturer's device. The underlining concepts and design methods are not only positioned to be applicable to this generic switch/router, but also to the typical switch/router seen in the industry. The discussion provides a better insight into the protocols, methods, processes, and tools that go into designing switch/routers. The author discusses the design goals and features switch/router manufacturers consider when designing their products, as well as the advanced and value-added features along with the steps used to build practical switch/routers. The last two chapters discuss real-world 6 switch/router architectures that employ the concepts and design methods described in the previous chapters. This book provides an introductory level discussion of switch/routers and is written in a style to appeal to undergraduate and graduate-level students, engineers, and researchers in the networking and telecoms industry, as well as academics and other industry professionals. The material and discussion are structured in such a way that it could serve as standalone teaching material for networking and Telecom courses and/or supplementary material for such courses.