From Zach Seils: I’d like to give special thanks to my peers and the management team of the Advanced Services Data Center Networking Practice. The DCN team has been my home since I joined Cisco, and I can’t imagine a better team to be a part of.

I owe a significant debt of gratitude to the technical reviewers, Etai Lev Ran and Mani Ramaswamy. Thanks for not only lending your precious time to review this book, but also answering my constant queries about the minute engineering details of the WAAS solution.

To my co-author Joel, thanks for making this project happen and your guidance throughout the writing process. I was selfishly sad to see you leave Cisco, but know that our paths will cross again one day.

Thanks to the Cisco Press team—Romny French, Karen Gettman, Christopher Cleveland, San Dee Phillips—for agreeing to take on this project, and for the assistance in getting things done on time and with quality.

And finally, I’d like to thank my parents, who always supported me, my brother, who has always inspired me to think, and my wife, Margaret—I love you.

From Joel Christner: To Christina, my beautiful, loving, and patient wife—thank you. I promise I won’t write another book for a little while.

I’d like to express my deepest appreciation to you, the reader, for taking the time to read this book. Zach and I are honored to have been given the opportunity to earn a spot in your personal library, and look forward to your feedback.

To Zach, for being such a great co-author and a good friend. Your expertise and ability to clearly articulate complex technical concepts is amazing, and I’m thankful to have been given the opportunity to collaborate with you. Numerous thanks to Etai Lev Ran and Mani Ramaswamy, our technical reviewers. Your attention to detail and focus helped keep our material accurate and concise. It was a pleasure working with you on this book—and at Cisco.

A tremendous thank you to the team at Cisco Press—Romny French, Karen Gettman, Christopher Cleveland—your guidance has been great, and Zach and I both appreciate you keeping us on track and focused.