Yes, I still remember my first Segment Routing based network deployment back in 2016. Back then, even though the SR Architecture was not standardized yet, some of the early adopters understood the benefit of SR simplicity and joined the train as the pioneers to introduce SR in their Core and Backbone Networks. Working among the best people at Cisco, I had the chance to be involved in the early phase of SR Architecture discussions with different Network Operators, understanding their business requirements, and provide the right solution based on SR. Fast forward, our new Book ‘Segment Routing for Service Provider and Enterprise Networks’. Together with my colleagues Florian, Vijay, Rene and Matthys and around 18 months of writing, editing, building, testing and troubleshooting in a Lab environment we made it to the final step of publishing the Book. It is a deep dive book into Segment Routing and SRv6 technology.
All five of us come with a specific SR and SRv6 knowledge based on our experience with worldwide Network Operators who are either Service Providers or large Enterprises networks. The idea to write the book came to my mind sometime in mid-2022 while on a Business Trip in US. I was in touch with a couple of Publishers at that time, but decided to go with Cisco Press. I used to work on many occassions with Vijay and Florian supporting our customers in Design and Deployment of Segment Routing based Core Networks so it was a natural choice that we would work together on the book. While working on the outline of the book, we felt we needed something more than plain underlay technology, that’s where Rene and Matthys came on board to provide their expertise in Services design as well as Business requirements to where SR and SRv6 provide the real value. Officially, the project started in January 2023 and lasted until summer 2024, while the book was published in December 2024 by Cisco Press.
Working as a Solutions Architect at Cisco, I’ve had the privilege to design, deploy, and troubleshoot Segment Routing networks across different service provider and enterprise environments. During these projects, I noticed a recurring pattern, while SR and SRv6 are widely discussed, practical guidance and deployment best practices are often missing. This book aims to bridge that gap. It’s not only a theoretical overview, it’s a field engineer’s guide, written from real world experience, lab validation, and countless hours spent in front of routers and packet captures.
I believe by now it is clear that the goal is to help engineers, architects, and decision makers understand not just how SR and SRv6 work, but how to design, deploy, and operate a SR and SRv6 network efficiently. And I believe the added bonus is, if you’re pursuing CCIE Service Provider certification track, or working on SRv6 migration projects, or simply exploring how SR fits into your network strategy, you’ll find valuable insights and tested design patterns throughout the chapters.
Writing this book was both challenging and rewarding. Between global travel, customer PoCs, and Cisco Live presentations, most of the writing happened during late nights and long flights. But the process also reinforced what I’ve always believed, the best way to master a technology is to explain it clearly to others. The lab work was built on based on Cisco IOS-XR and IOS-XE platforms, allowing us to validate every configuration and topology before committing it to paper. Each example was tested, broken, and retested, because in the real world, you learn more from what fails than what works the first time.
We are also grateful for the support of our Technical Reviewers: Jakub Horn, Christian Schmutzer, Bram van der Zwet, Johan Gustawsson and Luc Andre Burdet.
Alright, here is the link to our book:
Cisco Press: https://shorturl.at/5DU2R
Amazon: https://shorturl.at/vPNrR
There are also other very good books related to SR and SRv6 written by the founders (Clarence and his team) of SR technology, make sure to check them out as well.
Categories: General Networking
CCIE #49534 