Reviews (18)

good for training, but seems incomplete
It is a good tool for exam practice, but doesn't seem too useful for practical network mapping, simulation, or planning.There's just too much that's incomplete.Commands are missing including some advanced routing protocol support, there's no support for larger switches, and some of the diagnostics are pretty kludgy.There is a CCNP version of the software that supposedly addresses these, but I haven't tried it.It may seem fairly expensive, but it is still a lot cheaper than buying an assortment of cisco gear to run through the exercises.

Too many mistakes
I read the other reviews on Amazon before purchasing this product.I saw some were good and some were bad.I thought, well, people have different opinions and I may like it.No.There are too many mistakes.Others have commented on VLAN issues with the 2950's.I had the same problem.Any more than 3 vlans and it just wouldn't work.It was very frustrating in that I wasted ALOT of time thinking it my configs at first.Then there is some kind of bug with pings.When you ping from one specific PC to another across your virtual network the entire application shuts down.This will consistently happen so you must remember which PC's you can and can't ping to and from safely and make sure to save everything before every ping.You will put in configurations then 5 minutes later do a "sh run" and they will mysteriously be gone.Or take a network statement out from under OSPF but it just will NOT remove it.Lastly there is the user friendly-ness.I rate this as a zero.It is the most cumbersome application I have ever used.It would have helped had I been able to open the user guide but that did nothing when I clicked on it.I lost many a network because I didn't save the topologies and configs correctly.So I called Boson for help.You have to leave your name and number and they will call back within 48 hours.That was 2 weeks ago.I have not heard from them.

Poor Implementation of ACL's
I sent the company some feedback last week and have heard nothing from them. Product does not apply ACL's properly to interfaces and has problems recording matches to outbound ACL's. Also there are problems with alternate vlans on 2950 switches. Numerous bugs running verion 5.07 with latest patch. Was a very disappointing purchase.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - Cisco    2. Computers - Certification    3. Study Aids    4. Test Prep    5. Tests    6. Computer Communications & Networking    7. Study Aids / Tests    8. Study guides, home study & revision notes   

Reviews (1)

Good Book, Big Inprovement from the 1 edition
Very Good Book. If you didn't know already the CCNA exam is no Joke. You really have to know the concepts and you really need a good book to prepare for it. Cisco is not giving the CCNA Certificate away anymore. They really want you to learn and earn it. I purchase this because I felt the sybex CCNA didn't cover the exam in full detail (Especially the NAT section). This Book is Well Written. The Price wasn't that bad either since it came with 2 Books (Intro&ICND) and a 30min Video CD. You won't be disappointed. A+ ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - Cisco    2. Certification Guides - General    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computers    5. Computers - Certification    6. Data Transmission Standards And Protocols    7. Networking - Network Protocols    8. Tests    9. Computer Communications & Networking    10. Computers / Technical Skills    11. Computing and Information Technology   

Editorial Review

The Read more

Reviews (18)

Everything You Need to Know, Updated to Current Tests
Cisco Press has re-issued the complete Certification Library in a Third Edition. These four books cover:
Good value, good books
Overall, thought the BCMSN was best, then BSCI, then BCRAN, then CIT.
Excellent
Once you have achieved the CCNA certification, your natural path points toward the Cisco Certified Network Professional certification. This title from Cisco Press is a set consisting of one book for each of the four exams specific to the CCNP certification. This set includes the following books:Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - Cisco    2. Certification Guides - General    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computers    5. Computers - Certification    6. Data Transmission Standards And Protocols    7. Networking - General    8. Networking - Network Protocols    9. Computer Communications & Networking    10. Computers / Technical Skills   

Reviews (8)

You can't be talking about this book!
I checked twice to make sure I was reading reviews of the book I am currently reading(now on Ch 8), because this is an excellent book.Before I begin - one caveat - I have the the Networking Basic, CCNA 1 Companion Guide (cc 2006) not the CCNA 1 & 2 Companion Guide.However, judging by the contents and excerpt it appears that Part I of this book is the same as the book I am reading.
Crappy book
I am teaching a networking course and am using the CCNA 1 and 2 Companion Guide as the required textbook for the class. I am very surprised that I am presently on Chapter 8 and I am still talking about Ethernet. I know Ethernet is an important subject matter, but it could be reduced to two chapters at best. The book,thus far, is way too technical for the students in my class. Thus, it simply isn't for students who are beginning their journey into networking. For the bang for my buck, I would recommend Todd Lammele's CCNA book, something to the point. The instructor could expand on the important material that the students need to know and the book would stress key points. I am CCNA and CCNP certified with practical experience so I believe I am qualified to know what is needed for students wanting to enter the networking field and like I said, the book has good info, but it is spread so far apart and is too technical for someone with little or no experience. I have talked to the Dean about this book and have recommended that another book be used. Cisco books are usually good for experienced people in the field.

Be warned
Don't buy this book unless your instructor specifically requires it.Terribly written with virtually no sign of editing, it's a struggle to read and, when covering extremely technical issues, virtually incomprehensible.Worse, the content does not exactly match the on-line curriculum, meaning that Cisco on-line tests typically ask questions about topics not covered in the relevant book chapter.Even worse, the answers to the tests in the book don't match the questions being asked.Buy the Sybex CCNA book instead; although it's not written to match the on-line course, it will help clarify networking, and not leave the reader frustrated and feeling cheated.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - Cisco    2. Computers - Certification    3. Data Transmission Standards And Protocols    4. Networking - General    5. Study Aids    6. Study Guides    7. Test Prep    8. Tests    9. Computer Communications & Networking    10. Computers / Networking / General   

Reviews (16)

I give this book a D+
I read the book cover to cover. Usally the book titled for the exam covers what is on the exam but this book does a poor job. Most of the Intro test is Subneting and Cisco commands while the book spends 3 out of 16 chapters on what is really important for the exam. One chapter for Subnetting I cant believe that. Its needs many more examples also for subneting the CD isn't enough. Don't even bother with the two chapters on commands just get your self a lab or Bosons. I just wish I had not wasted my time reading cover to cover. I wish I just got S..bex or some other book sooner I also used a video series. Pasted my exam its not that bad if you are studying the right stuff.

Fantastic Book
This book was fantastic.Absolutely recommend it - used it to pass the full CCNA exam the first time.Also get the ICND book by Wendell Odom as well - the full CCNA exam is better covered by the ICND book.
Networking review
I think that above title more interesting and really useful to get a CCNA cerification.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - Cisco    3. Certification Guides - General    4. Computer Books: Operating Systems    5. Computer networks    6. Computers    7. Computers - Certification    8. Data Transmission Standards And Protocols    9. Data processing    10. Electronic data processing per    11. Electronic data processing personnel    12. Examinations    13. Networking - General    14. Networking - Network Protocols    15. Study guides    16. Tests    17. Computer Communications & Networking    18. Computers / Technical Skills    19. Computing and Information Technology    20. Study guides, home study & revision notes   

Reviews (14)

A prefect choise for CCNA exam preparation
CCNA INTRO Exam Certification Guide and CCNA ICND Exam Certification Guide by Wendell Odom are prefect choise for CCNA exam preparation. Both books are easy to read for non-native English speakers (like me), all concepts are well explained and illustrated with good examples. Books also covers all exam topics, I used only those books for exam preparation and I answered all questions except one.

CCNA ICND Exam Certification Guide
Excellent book and I got it overnight. it is clearcut and precise and not techy talk
Recurring problem
I purchased this book set and passed the INTRO exam easily but have failed the ICND exam twice. I found the exam to be much more difficult than the practice questions. The exam gave me 60 minutes and at the end of 50 minutes I still had several questions left. Starting to have doubts as to whether this book was the best source of my study material. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - Cisco    3. Certification Guides - General    4. Computer Books: General    5. Computer network protocols    6. Computers    7. Computers - Certification    8. Data Transmission Standards And Protocols    9. Electronic data processing per    10. Electronic data processing personnel    11. Internetworking (Telecommunica    12. Internetworking (Telecommunication)    13. Networking - General    14. Networking - Network Protocols    15. Study guides    16. Tests    17. Computers / Technical Skills    18. Computing and Information Technology    19. Operating systems & graphical user interfaces (GUIs)   

Reviews (11)

Excellent, as Expected
Routing TCP/IP, Vol 1 - 2nd Edition
Excellent Comparative Reference on OSPF and IS-IS (IPv4 and IPv6)
OSPF and IS-IS : Choosing an IGP for Large-Scale Networks is an excellent source for understanding the similarities and differences of IS-IS and OSPF all in one book.It is the only book available with such complete coverage comparing these two IGP routing protocols.
The best book to learn Routing Protocols for Cisco!!
Jeff Doyle's 2nd edition of his best-selling book - "Routing TCI/IP Volume 1" is a welcome revision to the cannon required for any CCIE Routing & Switching candidate.Jeff Doyle, along with Jennifer Carroll, has done an excellent job at updating what is considered by many to be THE book on routing.In particular, the new edition does a terrific job at describing the white-elephant in the room - IPv6, IPv6's packet format and how to configure some routing protocols to advertise IPv6 prefixes.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - Cisco    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computers    4. Computers - Certification    5. Computers - Communications / Networking    6. Data Transmission Standards And Protocols    7. Networking - Internetworking    8. Networking - Network Protocols    9. Networking - Routers    10. Computers / Networking / Network Protocols    11. Networking standards & protocols   

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 (7)

There are better CCNA books available
I had to buy this book for a class.The first day of class the instructor commented that he wasn't happy with the book, but that it was too late to change.He was accustom to teaching from an earlier edition which had a broader scope of information. This book is the second of a two part series. The instructor had to explain a lot of details and providehandouts to clarify sections of the book.
Gets the job done, but be ready to work.....
The new split approach to the CCNA coursework, with the INTRO and ICND books, have provided better organization and a modular breakdown to the information. As a recertification candidate who just completed my exams, I can say that these books are a definite improvement over earlier versions such as 640-607.Odom (or other technical editors) have taken the time to present the information in a building block manner that is comprehensible.I won't repeat the longer descriptions of content that are already present in these reviews.
No WAY! This is not even close to the CCNA exam
The CCNA exam has very hard VLSM, EIGRP and OSFP questions, that are not even covered close to the depth needed to pass the ccna exam.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - Cisco    2. Certification Guides - General    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computers    5. Computers - Certification    6. Data Transmission Standards And Protocols    7. Internetworking (Telecommunication)    8. Networking - General    9. Networking - Network Protocols    10. Study Guides    11. Computer Communications & Networking    12. Computers / Technical Skills   

Reviews (9)

Wrong title
I was looking for CCNA 1 & 2 Companion Guide Revised Third Edition, from that page I clicked on 'used & new' link and oredered what I thought was the same product. It wasn't til it arrived that I received a used version of the previous year's non-revised which is quite a bit different than what I thought I was buying.

I thought it was good
True there are some errors, however, if you are in the class and use this book, the errors are not that profound and shouldn't cause you any confusion.If you are confused because a word is misspelled or there are 4 technical errors throughout the book...you should not be going into the technology field...try a different career path.

Hmmmm.....
I'm not sure about the other reviewers here but I found this book very, very useful.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - General    2. Computer Bks - Communications / Networking    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computers    5. Computers - Communications / Networking    6. Data Transmission Standards And Protocols    7. Networking - General    8. Networking - Network Protocols    9. Study Guides    10. Computers / Networking / General   

Reviews (16)

I passed!
I recently read the book titled "CCIE Routing and Switching - Official Exam Certification Guide, Second Edition", by Wendell Odom, Jim Geier and Naren Mehta.ISBN: 1587201410.Having read other titles from Wendell Odom, I had high expectations from this book.My expectations where met after reading this title.This is one of the most well put together study guides that I have read.Very well organized and easy to find information.
Worked for me
I used this book to study for and pass my CCIE R&S Written.
Excellent Study Guide
I used the book to study for the CCIE Written R&S and found it to be the most complete reference available. It provides a wide overview of topics but doesn't "gloss over" them. This book is a must for anyone working on their CCIE R&S. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - Cisco    2. Certification Guides - General    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computers    5. Computers - Certification    6. Data Transmission Standards And Protocols    7. Networking - Internetworking    8. Networking - Network Protocols    9. Networking - Routers    10. Tests    11. Computer Communications & Networking    12. Computers / Technical Skills   

Editorial Review

Nothing's more central to the Internet than the TCP/IP protocol stack, so internetworking engineers need to know--or have access to--as much information about it as possible. That's the function of Read more

Reviews (13)

Best-of-class book for external routing!
CiscoPress's "Routing TCP/IP - Volume II" by Doyle and Carroll is one of the `must-have' books on any CCIE's R&S bookshelf OR any network admin who needs to understand the intricacies of external routing. I have referenced this book many times for my preparations for the R&S lab and real-world implementations.
Ahmad Arslan Munir
Routing TCP/IP, Volume II presents a detailed examination of exterior routing protocols (EGP and BGP) and advanced IP routing issues such as multicast routing, quality of service routing, IPv6, and router management. You will learn IP design and management techniques for implementing routing protocols efficiently. Network planning, design, implementation, operation, and optimization are stressed in each chapter. Cisco-specific configurations for each routing protocol are examined in detail. Plentiful review questions and configuration and troubleshooting exercises make this an excellent self-study tool for CCIE exam preparation.
The best book on Bgp and Multicast
Perfect for Lab and real example on Bgp and Multicast! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - Cisco    2. Computer Bks - Communications / Networking    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computers    5. Computers - Communications / Networking    6. Data Transmission Standards And Protocols    7. Networking - Network Protocols    8. Networking - Routers    9. Computers / Networking / General    10. Networking standards & protocols   

Reviews (6)

Good reference
This book helped me a lot. I recently deployed over 250 ASAs and was running into a lot of problems with the IPS SSM and VPN features. I got most of my answers from this book.

Very Amatuer
What a waste of time it was reading this book. If you are not very familiar with FW/IPS or VPN then this may be helpful, but if you have been working with this technology and Cisco's products that address these technologies (ASA, PIX, IPS, VPN3k) then please don't refer to this joke. Go online to cisco.com and do the research. Sometimes it felt as if whitepapers were copied and pasted.
Excellent Book on Cisco ASA.
I bought this book 2 weeks back for an ASA project that my company is going to deploy. I am really amused to see that each chapter starts off with an in-depth architectural overview of the features to be discussed. It then provides full step-by-step configuration examples with lots of deployment scenarios. It even covers many troubleshooting and monitoring examples that helped me a lot when I started deploying it in my lab network
Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - Cisco    2. Computer - Internet    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computer Data Security    5. Computer Network Management    6. Computers    7. Internet - Security    8. Networking - General    9. Security - General    10. Computers / Internet / Security    11. Internet    12. Network security   

Reviews (6)

Best-of-class book at implementing QoS
CiscoPress's "Cisco QoS - Exam Certification Guide" 2nd Edition by Odom and Cavanaugh is marketed for the QoS 642-642 exam.In reality, this book is an excellent resource for both real-world implementations and for the CCIE R&S exam.Typically, QoS is not a subject that would keep me engaged, but this book does just that.The writing style is crisp, clean and succinct.
Absolutely the benchmark of excellence
The authors absolutely produced a gem in this Cisco QoS Exam Certification Guide.Whilst I used the book primarily to pass the 642-642 QoS exam, this book can definitely serve as a reference to anyone remotely doing anything with QoS.
Great book for your desk and the 642-642 exam.
I design voice, video and data networks and this book is great for QoS implementation and designs. Easy to follow and understand. Thanks Mr Odom a cisco press book that I can really use. I passed the 642-642 exam using this book also. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - Cisco    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computers    4. Computers - Certification    5. Customer Service    6. General    7. Study Aids    8. Tests    9. Computer Communications & Networking    10. Computers / Technical Skills    11. Computing and Information Technology   

Reviews (3)

Perfect for CCNP and Labs
Not only am I a Cisco Networking Academy Instructor, I am one of the official reviewers as listed inside this book.I spent almost a year working with the authors to make sure this book was error free, and full of realistic lab exercises.My students have used this book successfully for over 4 years.
Practically useful, well explained details (Cisco Press pls respond)
The guides were a great learning experience to me with a lot of practically useful well explained details. The following comment I sent a few times to Cisco Press - they invite you to do so at the beginning of the book - to which I never ever got a reply which is a bit disappointing for a publisher of such great books. Users who study these books may check if my findings are right.;-)
Cisco Networking Academy Program CCNA3 and 4 Companion Guide
Clear and concise.I couldn't have completed program without it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - Cisco    2. Certification Guides - General    3. Computer Books And Software    4. Computers    5. Computers - Certification    6. Data Transmission Standards And Protocols    7. Networking - General    8. Networking - Network Protocols    9. Computer Communications & Networking    10. Computers / Networking / General   

Reviews (5)

Helpful handbook
This CiscoPress book is quite an outsider compared to other more classical CiscoPress material. It does not talk about networking itself but about how to build
Guidance for Building a Data Center
When individuals consider recent events from natural disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes to terrorist attacks like September 11th, not to mention new government regulations within areas like HIPAA and Sarbanes-Oxley the need to secure organizations information is becoming more critical.Thus an organizations desire to design and/or construct a data center that will meet these needs has increased.