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Title: Cisco Networking Academy Program: First-Year Companion Guide (2nd Edition) by Inc. Cisco Systems, Cisco Networking Academy Program, Cisco Systems ISBN: 1-58713-025-4 Publisher: Cisco Press Pub. Date: 09 May, 2001 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $66.67 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.33 (24 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Good content, but too many mistakes!
Comment: I found the book to contain excellent content, especially for the first year of Cisco training. I wouldn't mind if they skipped the chapter on Computer Basics, most people should have covered this in another class. The book does not get very advanced, but of course, it is the first year companion and is not meant to be. One reviewer mentioned that the book contains chapters devoted to Cisco router configuration and Cisco specific chapters, of course it does, the book was published by Cisco Press as a study guide for Cisco routers.
The drawbacks to the book are that there are too many typos, incorrect diagrams, text references to listings & diagrams that are mislabeled, etc. The most disappointing part is that the text refers to the movies on the CD to help you understand the concepts, but the movies don't exist. I sent an e-mail to Cisco inquiring about the missing movies from the CD, but never received an answer. Also, the practice labs are pretty slow to start up.
Overall, the book was very helpful if you disregard the misprints and get over the missing practice questions and movie clips from the CD. I expected more from Cisco Press and would expect a third edition to be out soon to replace this one.
Rating: 4
Summary: New to networking and routing? Learn the basics here.
Comment: The First-Year Companion Guide, 2nd Edition was designed as a supplement for the online curriculum version 2.1.4 supplied by Cisco - which is currently being taught in Cisco Networking Academies worldwide. However, you do not have to be a student of the Academy to grasp the concepts this book entails.
The Companion Guide itself is divided into 30 chapters. The first 15 chapters were designed to get you familiar with computer basics, the OSI model, and how data flows on a network. The beginning of each chapter contains an introduction and a list of objectives you will be able to perform after completion of the chapter. Many people do not pay enough attention to these objectives. They read through the chapter, answer the multiple guess questions at the end and move on. If you cannot answer the objectives of the chapter, you will never grasp the concept. Remember if it is in the book, Cisco wants you to know it for a reason. Each chapter ends with a summary of the chapter and a "Check your Understanding" section which poses questions concerning the reviewed material.
The second part of First-Year Companion Guide, 2nd Edition is where you learn the workings of a router and process of routing in a WAN environment. Here you will learn about router configuration, routing protocols, and introduction to network security and residential networking. As with the first part of this book, each chapter contains objectives, summaries, and questions on reviewed material.
This guide is not without it errors. The Cisco Press website contains a 6 page errata for this book. Many of the corrections deal with wrong answers to the "Check you Understanding" section, and diagrams located throughout the book. Also, many of the books come with incomplete CD-ROMs (i.e. missing lab files, videos, etc.) However, Cisco Press did a great job of posting these corrections and making them easy to download for your convenience along with replacing the CD at no cost.
The best thing I like about this book is that is clear and thorough. The authors did a wonderful job of including "More Information" sections to direct readings to RFCs, websites, and other material to help with the learning process. In the end, if you want to get a firm understanding of the basics of networking and routing, this book is for you.
Rating: 3
Summary: Good for reviewing course material, bad CD for Mac
Comment: I am a student in Cisco's online academy program. Though this book was not required for my course, I found the online material too hard on the eyes. The book contains nearly identical material to the online course. The main benefit is the review questions at the end of each chapter, which are more extensive and consistent with the chapter testing material than the online quizzes. The book is worth purchasing for these reasons. As for the CD, I am much less satisfied with it. My primary complaint is that it is NOT compatible with Apple computers (so I can't use it at home). Because my course is not as lab intensive as it should be, the CD is vital. I use it at school on a Windows machine, but because I do not have administrative access, cannot view the Movies program. If you have an Apple computer, you may want to purchase some additional software programs that will work on your computer. I hope that Cisco will rectify this issue in upcoming editions.
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