Reviews (7)

Thorough coverage of all exam topics!
I've just passed the CCDA exam with this book as my primary resource. The book is fully packed with information so that every sentence has to be read thoroughly in order to avoid overlooking some important facts. The author's style of writing is a little dry, so are the topics itself. Fortunately the are many case studies that will help you to apply the theoretical knowledge in real-world scenarios which is vital for passing the exam.
Impressive!Highly recommend
This book has very useful and detailed information that is hard to find elsewhere.Considering its size, the book is very well edited... I only recall seeing one typo but there were definitely not the usual amount of errors I find in other technical books.The book answered many questions I had about designing networks.I now understand what a good and bad design is and was actually able to apply what I learned in a real situation.
Good but wordy
Having just passed the CCDA exam, I have to agree with the most recent reviewers....this book does a great job of covering the CCDA DESGN exam 640-861.But considering the size of this tome, I also highly recommend, asadjunct, the the Cisco Press Sequeira, Wallace book for focus and final test preparation. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - Cisco    3. Certification Guides - General    4. Computer Books: General    5. Computer networks    6. Computers    7. Computers - Certification    8. Data Transmission Standards And Protocols    9. Examinations    10. Networking - General    11. Networking - Network Protocols    12. Study Guides    13. Telecommunications engineers    14. Computer Communications & Networking    15. Computers / Technical Skills   

Reviews (9)

Great tool for final exam preparation!
CCDA/CCDP Flash Cards and Exam Practice Pack won't teach you the concepts of network design, so it can't be compared to and won't replace a study guide. The only purpose of this book is to help you in finding weak areas and providing a summarization of all exam topics to aid you in your study.
Nice summary tool
Having just passed the CCDA DESIGN exam 640-861 and CCDP ARCH exam 642-871 within the period of one week, I found this book to be one of the more useful study tools.The ARCH exam is really an extension of the DESIGH exam...in fact the two tests share some of the same knowledge, so it's best to take them consecutively to cut down on your study time.The Flash Cards in this book relate directly to the Quick Reference Sheets and these Sheets are probably the most outstanding feature of this book.They do a great job of summarizing most of what you need to know to pass this exam.The study questions were great, too, at filling in small details that you will see on the exam.I want to stress that this was not the only study tool I used, but this book was outstanding for final test preparation.Highly recommended.

Useful but PDA users beware
All in all I found this to be a good supplement to my other CCDA study material. It particularly was useful to skim though the cards prior to reading that topic (from another source) and then really quizzing yourself after finishing the chapter.
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Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - Cisco    3. Certification Guides - General    4. Computer Books And Software    5. Computer networks    6. Computers    7. Computers - Certification    8. Data Transmission Standards And Protocols    9. Electronic data processing per    10. Electronic data processing personnel    11. Examinations    12. Internetworking (Telecommunication)    13. Networking - General    14. Networking - Network Protocols    15. Study guides    16. Tests    17. Computers / Technical Skills   

Editorial Review

Every partner company of Cisco Systems needs a number of Cisco-certified people on its staff. While the basic Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) exam will satisfy basic Cisco requirements, the Cisco Certified Design Associate (CCDA) indicates more rigorous training and greater capability. Job applicants with CCDAs will outshine CCNAs every time. Read more

Reviews (20)

Good for reference but not passing the test (640-861)
Although it contains useful information but does not come close to covering the exam objectives.The new CCDA exam (640-861) tests extensively on design and other topics such as VoIP and IPv6.I read the book cover to cover, went through all the questions at the end, covered the scenarios, but all that prep just wans't enough to cut the mustard.
This book and the exam cover different material
There's a lot of interesting material in this book. It does a good job covering different LAN and WAN technologies, routing protocols and voice over IP technologies. The problem is that it doesn't cover the same material as the exam. I read this book cover to cover and studied until I knew the answers to all of the review questions in the book and on the CD. Then I went and took the test. I was very surprised by the material covered on the test, because it wasn't what I had studied at all.

Completely outdated
The exam has been significantly updated while the resources for it have not. This book is seriously out-of-date compared to the exam, and the exam is the reason you are looking at this book, right?
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Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - Cisco    2. Certification Guides - General    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computers    5. Computers - Certification    6. Data Processing - General    7. Data Transmission Standards And Protocols    8. Electronic Data Processing    9. Networking - General    10. Networking - Network Protocols    11. Computer Communications & Networking    12. Computers / Technical Skills    13. Computing and Information Technology    14. Study guides, home study & revision notes   

Editorial Review

Of the preparation guides available for the Cisco Certified Design Associate exam (640-441), Read more

Reviews (87)

DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK
Todd should be ashamed of himself.I've used his material for my CCNA and it was fantastic.
Good overview, missing in some spots
This book does a noble job of trying to deliver the goods. Each chapter begins with a short list of the exam objectives covered - the same objectives that come directly from Cisco's site.
How to Pass CCDA
Unfortunately, this book is a miss. It missed out on too many objectives. Lammle does a great job with CCNA, and he's aterrific writer, but this book came out with too little research and too little attention to current objectives. Plus, there's a lot of obsolete material in this book.
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Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - Cisco    3. Certification Guides - General    4. Computer Books: General    5. Computers    6. Computers - Certification    7. Data Transmission Standards And Protocols    8. Electronic data processing per    9. Electronic data processing personnel    10. Examinations    11. Internetworking (Telecommunica    12. Internetworking (Telecommunication)    13. Networking - General    14. Networking - Network Protocols    15. Study guides    16. Computer Communications & Networking    17. Computers / Technical Skills   

Reviews (7)

Not the latest version of the Cisco Test
I'm sure this was a pretty good book - but don't order it unless you want to study for the expired Cisco CCDA test.Their is some similarity but the tests are not the same!

Made a great addition to my CCDA studies
Aside form some of the flubs mentioned by rob (which were occasionally annoying at most) I found this text to be a solid resource for test preparation. You need all "everything and the kitchen sink" texts (such as the Cisco Press DCN book), and a book like the Dummies book that focuses on the environment and high percentage areas. Bottom line: I got my certification and this book helped me a lot.

CCDA written by Dummies
This book is bad, and I don't mean in a good way. The book is missing a lot of details, and if you have any knowledge the mistakes will jump out at you. For example, on page 44 it gives the OSI model (from 1-7) as Physical, Data Link, Transport, Network, Session, Presentation, Application. Then, it says make sure you know the correct order for the test. Why? The authors don't. On another question, the book says you should answer, "I don't know because you haven't taught me, yet." Try answering a question on the CCDA exam, as I don't know it's beyond the scope of the test. Also, the editor must have just used the spell check and not actually read the book. There are a lot of errors like "form" for "from" and "wit" for "with." You can figure out what they are trying to say, but it is annoying and makes you lose your focus on studying. I do not recommend this book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - Cisco    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computers    5. Computers - Certification    6. Data Transmission Standards And Protocols    7. Electronic data processing per    8. Electronic data processing personnel    9. Examinations    10. Internetworking (Telecommunica    11. Internetworking (Telecommunication)    12. Networking - General    13. Networking - Network Protocols    14. Study guides    15. Computer Communications & Networking    16. Computer Software Packages    17. Computers / Technical Skills   

Reviews (5)

Terrible, book needs proof reading badly
This book is very difficult to follow. Topics are not presented in a way that promotes learning, full of lists of ill referenced tables and facts, abundant use of acronyms without definition. Many review questions referencing terms not presented. Typos abound, is it RTCP or RCTP? You've got me. A struggle at every turn of the page. Decidedly NOT recommended.

A somehow disappointing cut-and-paste
The exam focuses on three areas: a broad overview of network technologies, a set of methodologies and guidelines for designing a network, and marketing information about Cisco products. PDF plus Test Engine
I've taken other CBTs from Cisco, mostly on the web.Those were usually Powerpoint presentations with audio.I was very disappointed with this training.Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification - Cisco    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computers    4. Data Transmission Standards And Protocols    5. Networking - General    6. Networking - Network Protocols    7. Software - Study Guides - CDROM / PC    8. Tests   

Reviews (6)

Solid preparation for the CCDA exam
Cisco Press is the way to go on Cisco exams.Great info for both the CCDA exam as well as on-the-job network analysis.Translates well for the CCDA exam.

Provides full coverage
I have several books that are cited to support full coverage for the difficult CCDA exam, none of which except the CISCO written books really lived up to their promise. Makes my taking the exam a whole lot easier.
After passing the CCNA exam I decided to pursue the CCDA certification and since the exam was developed by Cisco, why not use their material in order to pass the exam. What I found in this prep library is 3 of the best books out on the market.Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - Cisco    2. Certification Guides - General    3. Computer Bks - Certification    4. Computer Books: General    5. Computers    6. Computers - Certification    7. Data Transmission Standards And Protocols    8. Networking - General    9. Tests   

Reviews (18)

Good content -- but terrible editing/proofreading
I am a beginner to technical certs -- CCDA will be my first one.That being the case, this book often confuses more than educates, because of poor editing/proofreading.Some sentences are incomplete, conflict with other text, or are just outright mistakes.This also applies to the practice test -- some of the test's "correct" answers are simply WRONG, when compared to the text in the book. Not Worth its Price
Not as good as others say, as far as the exam is concerned!

Inside Scoop to CCDA Certification : Cisco Certified Design
I like the book very much. It was easy to read, and folowed a smoth easy to understand steps. Unlike one other book I rade, this book simplified new concepts.Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Communications & Networking    2. Computer Programming    3. Data security & data encryption    4. Operating systems & graphical user interfaces (GUIs)    5. Personal computers    6. Systems analysis & design   

Reviews (33)

This book did it for me!
I used this book to pass the 640-441 exam. What more can I say? I read it from cover to cover and it gave me what I needed to pass the test!

They Could Have Been More Organized...
This book contains a lot of information obviously written by a group of people who didn't talk to each other.Most of the information is repeated several times.Content is very disorganized. Most other Cisco Press Certification Books are much better organized.On a positive note, the CD Rom is VERY helpful.(Note that as of this date (Mar 2003) the test 640-441 has been retired and replaced by 640-861.)

This book is no good for the new CCDA Test
I just bought this book. But the book was written for the 640-441 and you can't take that test anymore, they discountinued that test 3 days ago!! I get to the test and now the CCDA test is 640-861 and I was not told that the test was changed!! They sold me this book for a discountinued test!! Half the questions were on material not covered at all in this book such as IPV6 and VoIP. They should not be selling this book any more if the test is not given. I want my money back!! It i confusing to get a book for the CCDA test that is useless. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification - Cisco    3. Certification - General    4. Certification Guides - General    5. Computer Books: Integrated Systems    6. Computer networks    7. Computers    8. Computers - Certification    9. Data Transmission Standards And Protocols    10. Electronic data processing personnel    11. Examinations    12. Networking - General    13. Professional - General    14. Study guides   

Reviews (16)

Don't waste your money
While the book covers legitimate technology, it does not cover anything in sufficient depth. Additionally, there are numerous topics totally irrelevant to the subject matter being tested. Buy another book.............

Not up to standard yet
I have read a lot of certification books in the past and I have to say that this does not quite do the job.The book falls short on informing you correctly about the Cisco product line (left out a lot of products) and you will miss a lot of the paperwork and planning questions on the CCDA test.I found the book to be an easy read, but it is not up to the standard that I have found with other Lammel books.I also did not like, not having the free PDA flash card software that was in Lammel's CCNA book.All and all, this book will inform you, but you will still need greater detail into Cisco product placement, Cisco's planning model and Cisco's paperwork processes.

Awesome little book... quick and easy..
I think the key to passing the CCDA is to take it shortly after the CCNA. Within a month if possible. It's not a difficult test, and this is the primary book I used to prepare. The book is well written and well worth the money. It's a breeze to read and prepares you with the all of the concepts that you will need to pass the test. Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - Cisco    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computer networks    5. Computers    6. Computers - Certification    7. Data Transmission Standards And Protocols    8. Electronic data processing per    9. Electronic data processing personnel    10. Examinations    11. Networking - General    12. Networking - Network Protocols    13. Study guides    14. Computer Communications & Networking    15. Internet    16. Systems analysis & design   

Reviews (2)

**I passed the CCDA today and this book did it**
I used this book only for my study for the CCDA, and found it to be quite exceptional. It covered all of the areas that are on the test. The ideas, protocols and terminology are well explained and the scenario Case Studiesat the end are simply AWESOME!The practice tests on CD are great too witha lot of what I found on the exam itself. I spent about two weeks readingit and another two on the CD. It really wasn't that difficult. This is myfirst Cisco certification and I hope the others are as easy as this onewas!Get this book and get certified, it's that simple.

Great book, All I needed to pass.
This was a real cool book about networks and their design. Lot's of great info about protocols, devices, WAN's and how to plan and diagram a first class network.I bought it because I wanted the Beachfront Quizzer CD butfound the book to be equally as good. I was also relieved when I found theexam scenarios weren't far off from the case studies in the book. I passedwith time to spare. This book is all I used. If you want a Cisco cert, thisbooks all you'll need. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

CCDA in three weeks
...this test [is out of date] but you can buy this book really cheap and it will help you when you take the new test.You should read more than just this book.I...passed on my first attempt.You will need to do lots of reading and you must FULLY understand the material to have a chance at this one.Lots of case studies and this is what makes it a tough test.Good luck

Author could probably chopped offseveral hundred pages
Overall, the aurthor wrote the book with heart--really wanting the readers to understand.However, as reviewers before me stated, it could be more organized.I found myself reading the same subject several times in different chapters.I also think it could be more concise/compressed, thus easily removing several hundred pages if author really wanted to.I had to carry that heavy book with me for three weeks while reading it to and from work.Believe me, it gets heavy after carrying an 800-page book for a while during commmute. Very bad organisation, practice questions not helpful
There is a wealth of information in this book, but it is all over the place; organisation of chapters according to certification objectives leads to much repetition. Rather than waste your time trying to sort it out, my advice is to use some other text instead. Furthermore, there are not many practice questions based on design scenarios in the CD-ROM, and a few are simply silly e.g. "Ethernet was invented by whom?". I must say that I am really impressed by those reviewers new to networking who used this book and passed on their first try.Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification - Cisco    3. Computer Books: Integrated Systems    4. Computer networks    5. Computers    6. Computers - Certification    7. Electronic data processing per    8. Electronic data processing personnel    9. Examinations    10. Networking - General    11. Networking - Local Area Networks (LANs)    12. Study guides    13. Computer Communications & Networking   

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer Science    3. Computers   

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computers    3. Data Transmission Standards And Protocols    4. Networking - Network Protocols    5. Reference - General