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Title: CCIE Practical Studies, Vol. 2 (CCIE Self-Study) by Karl Solie, Leah Lynch ISBN: 1-58705-072-2 Publisher: Cisco Press Pub. Date: 10 November, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $75.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.11 (9 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: An Excellent Follow-up to Vol. I and Great Study Guide!
Comment: A CCIE candidate has to be very careful about the books he/she may select as a study guide. Most often, the two biggest problems about a CCIE study guide is either the material is extremely dated or the book itself is riddled with errors and is elementary on the topic it professes to educate the reader about. Thankfully, Karl Solie's CCIE Practical Studies Vol. II is neither of these.
I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of Solie's first CCIE Practical Studies. I was disappointed in other CCIE study guides, notably the earlier Hutnik/Saterlee "CCIE Lab Practice Kit". Practical Studies Vol. I, while having some dated material such as coverage of the Cat5xxx Series, provides an excellent treatment and foundation for Layer 2 protocols and IGPs. The labs at the end of the book were also of excellent quality.
I picked up CCIE Practical Studies in late December as a last minute addition to my CCIE prep library. I was scheduled to take the lab in February, and I anxiously awaited arrival. Needless to say, I was not disappointed! CCIE Practical Studies Vol. II coverage begins where Vol. I left off. The topics of focus include the Cat3550s, route-maps, multicast, and BGP. I found the chapters on BGP especially helpful. Upon completion of these chapters and labs, I had a much better grasp on BGP and the protocol's bells, whistles, and knobs. The appendix includes a great piece on prefix lists, an absolute must for any CCIE candidate. Finally, the labs at the end of the book were terrific, on par to many of the various "boot camp labs" available for purchase.
If I must provide one negative, it is that the author was inconsistent on providing IOS requirements needed to complete the labs. Sometimes Solie was kind enough to let me know I needed 12.2(T) or 12.3, and other times it was overlooked. As a result, during one lab, I needed to upgrade my IOS code and swap a router in the middle of my practice. A pain but, certainly not the end of the world.
As for my lab, I passed on February 26, 2004, CCIE #12932. I firmly believe that I would not have passed if not for Solie's wonderful treatment of BGP in CCIE Practical Studies Vol. II!
Rating: 3
Summary: Practical Studies Volume 2 (a path toward CCIE certification
Comment: CCIE Practical Studies, Volume II (Karl Solie & Leah Lynch) shows CCIE candidates a process for CCIE lab exam preparation. A good book to be read along with Volume I of the same tittle provides coverage of CCIE lab exam topics not covered in Volume I: route maps, BGP, QoS, and Multicast. Together with Volume I, the CCIE candidate experiences comprehensive coverage of the Routing & Switching, Security, and Service Provider labs. This book is recommended by CCIE training groups such as NLI & IPExpert.
Summary: What I liked about the book. It is very detailed and includes practice labs. Because of its in depth detailed coverage of topics such as Route Maps, it will likely remain a source of reference for the next 10 years.
Where the book could be improved. After passing the written test many candidates want to take the theory and apply it to some practical purpose: such as how to pass the lab and with the maximum confidence and skill possible. Sorting through all the theory for the commands that will be necessary can be tedious. Additionally, many CCIE books mention very little concerning how to go about acquiring your own lab equipment: ISDN simulator, using a 1750 for voice vs. purchasing voice modules; yet, the R&S CCIE page suggests that this is likely the most important process ie. `hands on preparation.`
If the reader is looking for loads of information concerning BGP, Route Maps, etc this book is the answer; however, if you have already passed the written test and are preparing for the lab it may be better to spend time on actually configuring your own network equipment that you have already purchased on ebay at a discounted price. Somewhere I noticed that a reader had cruised through this fine text in 2 evenings. At close to 900 pages it could take 2 days just to page through it... reading & comprehending the very detailed concepts should take most mortals much much longer.
Conclusion: Overall I recommend the book as a neccessary desktop reference in companion with Volume 1 and along with Doyle`s TCP/IP, and an R&S config book by IPEXPERT. Sometimes less is more & while I would like to know everything about the world and also networking, for the CCIE lab I am mostly concerned with which commands are neccessary to get the darn thing working & also, how to interpret tricky vague questions that may require disabling `inverse arp` for instance. Likely, becoming intimate with practice labs is the best solution in conjunction with owning as much lab equipment as you can afford.
Rating: 4
Summary: Practical, Practical, Practical......that's it!
Comment: After just finishing my reading of the new book entitled "CCIE Practical Studies, Vol II" by Leah Lynch & Karl Solie (ISBN: 1-58705-072-2), I am reminded of just how far I've come and how far I need to still go to obtain the elusive CCIE badge of honor. The book layout is very easy to follow and read and covers many topics with great detail and readability. I have not read Vol I but after reading this one I'm sure it will be soon a part of my invaluable resources.
The target of this book is definitely not for the beginner trying to enter into the world of networking, and this is evident from the first chapter which delves into the newly introduced 3550 intelligent switch. Right from the get-go you are immersed into the world of VLAN's, STP/RSTP and different trunking methods. The two labs at the end of the chapter not only show you some capabilities of the new switch but they provoke you to think "how do I make this work", without spoon feeding you too much allowing you to learn not just read words.
Route Maps and Policy-Based routing was a chapter that finally made clear some things that had been fuzzy to me in the past. The illustrations were very well laid out and easy to follow, especially in the explanation of each map step. The labs were easy to follow and didn't require complicated equipment. The next chapter was a quick trip into the world of Multicast Routing and had four nice and compact labs that left me wanting to discuss this topic more in depth.
The next three chapters were the hard areas for me. I did enjoy the topics of ATM and learning the different class of service offerings but, the network management commands reminded me of some of the topics I found ho-hum from the CIT test. I did enjoy the refresher on the topics: Switching Modes, CEF and the different compression methods. The lab part that I wasn't able to fully absorb due to a lack of proper equipment was in the ATM area (doesn't everyone have an ATM switch at home?). Integrated and Differentiated Services was a spot that I did find informative in resolving network congestion, as we are all aware of the increasing demands placed upon network administrators. Qos and Traffic Shaping topics were presented in a way that gives the reader enough information to simulate a working environment.
Lastly BGP was explained in much detail and very thankfully so, as this topic is one I find comes easy to me. Although these chapters are where I found some typo's that had me reverting back to previous diagrams for clarity (AS related). I didn't have time to do these labs but I do plan to go back and finish them and the 5 CCIE practice labs at the end of the book. The Appendix's and accompanying CD were also very informative and useful tools.
This book is a must-have for anyone preparing for the challenges and rigors of the CCIE hands-on lab. I'm sure that it'll be by my side in the future as I tackle that "beast" and as a handy tool. I look forward to the next book by these authors.
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Title: CCIE Practical Studies, Vol. 1 by Karl Solie ISBN: 1587200023 Publisher: Cisco Press Pub. Date: 17 December, 2001 List Price(USD): $75.00 |
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Title: Cisco DQOS Exam Certification Guide (IP Telephony Self-Study) by Wendell Odom, Michael Cavanaugh ISBN: 1587200589 Publisher: Cisco Press Pub. Date: 13 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $49.95 |
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Title: CCIE Practical Studies: Security (CCIE Self-Study) by Dmitry Bokotey, Andrew Mason, Raymond Morrow ISBN: 1587051109 Publisher: Cisco Press Pub. Date: 09 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $75.00 |
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Title: Routing TCP/IP, Volume II (CCIE Professional Development) by Jeff Doyle, Jennifer DeHaven Carroll ISBN: 1578700892 Publisher: Cisco Press Pub. Date: 11 April, 2001 List Price(USD): $70.00 |
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Title: Troubleshooting IP Routing Protocols (CCIE Professional Development Series) by Zaheer Aziz, Johnson Liu, Abe Martey, Faraz Shamim, Johnson Lui ISBN: 1587050196 Publisher: Cisco Press Pub. Date: 07 May, 2002 List Price(USD): $55.00 |
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