Ideal for any IT professional who uses Cisco technologies on a daily basis, or anyone who is preparing for their Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) certification.
The topics covered will be more in depth than other introductory-level books of similar topics, and will span from layer 2 technologies such as switching, STP, etherchannel, and trunking, all the way to application layer security topics such as firewall inspection and intrusion prevention systems. Items being covered in the middle will include all the common routing protocols RIP, EIGRP, OSPF and BGP. Many other routing technologies and WAN protocols will be covered including Multicast, MPLS, Cable and DSL. Coverage of redundancy protocols such as HSRP, VRRP and GLBP will be examined. A thorough coverage of convergence topics such as how voice, video and wireless traffic affect the network, and what can be done to improve the effects such as QOS and queuing.
This book is a key component for any IT professional preparing for their CCNP certification, as it covers in-depth the topics tested on in all four CCNP exams:
- Building Scalable Cisco Internetworks (642-901)
- Building Cisco Multilayer Switched Networks (642-812)
- Implementing Secure Converged Wide Area Networks (642-825)
- Optimizing Converged Cisco Networks (642-485)
CD includes the exclusive Sybex Test Engine, with two Practice CCNP exams, as well as author code files.
Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.
Customer Reviews & Comments
First of all I want to point out that this is the best guide for the current CCNP (2008/2009) I have come across so far. It is far superior to the 4 Volume "official" Cisco Press CCNP guides in terms of relevance, clarity, and general readability.
Highlights:
Chapter 3, Spanning Tree Protocol - Don't get me wrong. Spanning tree is still the most boring topic in layer 2 switching, but unfortunately it is absolutely essential that Network Professionals have a solid understanding of how to work with and design networks in terms of spanning tree. This is one of the few spanning tree chapters in ANY book, that hasn't made me want to shoot myself.
Chapter 8, Multicast - With the growing demand for video and voice on networks, Multicast routing is a needed in order to keep bandwidth utilization and overhead under control. While the concept of how multicast routing works can be difficult to grasp and the addressing mechanism seems like a nightmare, this chapter really helps the reader get their head around it. If you've never worked with multicast before you may still need to go over this chapter a couple of times. I would like to add that Dense Mode Multicast protocols are the Devil. Don't use them even if you do have a butt load of multicast on your network, all that flooding is bad ju-ju. PIM-Sparse Mode is the way to go.
Chapter 20, Wireless Management and Security - The author does such a good job on this section, but I just wish there was more of it! The security sections (encryption and authentication) are clear and easy to understand. It is an absolute must to understand the differences between the two and how to apply them in the real world in order to avoid looking/sounding like an idiot. The sections on the lightweight controllers and WCS management are also great. This book really just scratches the surface of what current controller based wireless systems are capable of (only a half page on mesh networking?, KILLING me here), but the chapter does cover the CCNP exam topics in the required level of detail.
My only complaint is that I believe the title is misleading. A main function of the book is clearly to act as a study guide for the CCNP Exams, but "CCNP" or "Study Guide" is nowhere in the title. This is a problem because people searching for a CCNP study guide are likely going to overlook this text because the name doesn't fit what they are expecting. Currently the book shows up at the bottom of the page (#12) when searching with the simple keyword of "CCNP".
