GET “SHEPARDED” TO THE REAL DEAL ON MANs Promising delivery of backbone-size bandwidth locally, where it’s needed, the metro area glows with vast profit potential—and some of the most brazen hype and outrageously confusing counterclaims in communications. Now Steven Shepard puts things in focus. One of tech's top writers, Shepard brings you clarity, breadth, and depth of vision—and a winning wit—to make understanding metro area networking a pleasure. You must read this book if— * You intend to explore the most potentially lucrative area of telecom *Unlimited bandwidth appeals to you * You work in communications management or technology but are not thoroughly versed in metro area networking * It’s your job to open the MAN bottleneck and let the bandwidth flow * Robust recovery, ease of local routing, and features such as QoS (Quality of Service), OSS (Operations Support Systems), and MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching) could be useful bottleneck-breakers * Orders of magnitude increases in bandwidth on a given strand of fiber are desirable * The question of which technologies are most likely to succeed in MANs falls into your need-to-know category A roadmap to Sonet, DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing), Fibre Channel, InfiniBand, 10 Gb Ethernet, Bluetooth, and other technologies in the MAN would be a valuable commodity * Knowing how VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) and SANs (Storage Area Networks) fit into Metro Area Networks sounds rewarding * The words dynamic routing, bandwidth increase, and packet addressing send shivers down your spine * You have a stake in business, and your business has a stake in the Internet * Investing in businesses crucial to the future of the Internet makes your wallet pocket tingle Metro Area Networks are going to be major telecom profit centers for years to come. If you are a networking professional—an investor or a manager—you must absorb this cutting edge insight into MANs today—and tomorrow.