Barry Raveendran Greene wrote:
The best training available on the Net for a small ISP to learn from the best is available ..... At www.nanog.org!
All the NANOGs are on VOD. Just go to the presentation archive: http://www.nanog.org/presentations/archive/. Put in a keyword to search (say "BGP Tutorial"), cook some popcorn, and sit back and enjoy the session.
It helps also to communicate with people. [speaking in small sp context] If you know any of the engineers or operators of your upstream, perhaps ask them questions from time to time. If you really know them (and are serious about learning) ask them if they can provide you sample config snips. Contact the people that run your local IXP. I've found that the operators of the exchange points are an aggregation point of 'the best of the best from the best' information, as they generally discuss solutions with chief engineers of all companies that connect to their fabric. IXP ops are a rich source not only of technical information, but also of industry best practises relating to how other providers might prefer to be approached, if they like or dislike feedback, and whether they care to be approached at all. Don't go bombarding your local IXP op with silly questions, it's just another decent source of information, as they seem to be like myself...if you ask a well-thought-out question, you will likely get an answer (even if it's "I dunno, look over there"). With the books I mentioned earlier in the thread, and that others have re-mentioned, I prefer: - read - lab up current environment - implement what you read in lab - test for breakage - pilot lab findings into production - update/tighten control features - implement across network - watch for inconsistencies, but continue to tighten rules - read more - rinse,repeat Steve ps. as always, thanks Jon.