Acknowledgments

We would like to thank many people for helping us put this book together:

The Cisco Press team: Brett Bartow, the executive editor, was the catalyst for this project, coordinating the team and ensuring that sufficient resources were available for the completion of the book. Kimberley Debus, the development editor, has been invaluable in producing a high-quality manuscript. Her great suggestions and keen eye caught some technical errors and really improved the presentation of the book. We would also like to thank the project editor team for their excellent work in shepherding this book through the editorial process.

The Cisco IPS 7.0 course development team: Many thanks to the IPS course development team members.

The technical reviewers: We would like to thank the technical reviewer of this book, Brandon Anastasoff, for his thorough, detailed review and very valuable input.

Our families: Of course, this book would not have been possible without the constant understanding and patience of our families. They have lived through the long days and nights it took to complete this project and have always been there to motivate and inspire us. We thank you all.

Each other: Last, but not least, this book is a product of work by three strangers (now friends) and colleagues, which made it even more of a pleasure to complete.

From Odunayo:

The Cisco Press team was very instrumental in the success of this book. The executive editor, Brett Bartow, did an outstanding job of coordinating the team, ensuring that timelines were met and that resources required in completing the book were available. The hard work of the development editor, Kimberley Debus, produced the brilliant formatting of the text and images, which are pivotal to the overall experience of the reader. And also Tonya Simpson, John Edwards, and Drew Cupp, for making sure the text is free of typos with dotted i’s and crossed t’s.

My St. Louis Cisco family, especially Mark Meissner, Deana Patrick, Cindy Godwin-Sak, Brian Sak, Josh Gentry, Corey Moomey, and Jeff Peterson, encouraged me through all the stages of this project and provided some of the hardware used for the practical sections of the book.

My coauthors David Burns and Keith Barker worked diligently toward the completion of this book. Keith Barker also ensured the integrity of the text as a technical reviewer with Brandon Anastasoff.

And last but not least, my family, colleagues, and friends showed tremendous support and excitement while looking forward to the book’s completion; this I found very energizing.

From Keith:

Thanks to Dave Burns, Odunayo Adesina, Brett Bartow, and Andrew Cupp for the opportunity to be part of this project, and to all those who assisted in making my words look better, including Brandon Anastasoff, Kimberley Debus, and Tonya Simpson, as well as the other amazing folks at Cisco Press. A special shout-out to Jeremy Dansie for his assistance regarding this project.

Thanks to the viewers of my YouTube channel, Keith6783, for all your requests, encouragement, and kind feedback regarding the content there. It means a lot to me.

Finally, I want to thank my wife, Jennifer, for being a solid foundation for me and our family, and to my seven children, who continue to remind me how absolutely wonderful life can be.