Inc. Cisco Systems
1 Poorly written
I am using this book in a CCNA semester 1 class. Although it is by Cisco and therefore contains the information they want you to know, it is poorly written. It is as if the original text were 3 times as long, and to shorten it, they had to take out every third sentence, because it does not flow, and concepts are often only half-explained. I am *often* reading it and think "What????" (And I'm fairly certain it's not just me - I have a B.S. and M.S in Computer Science and plenty of real-world computer experience). All in all, I have to say that this is not a high-quality book.
Although it's not a substitute for the CCNA material, I really like the book called "Interconnections" by Radia Perlman.
2 An Excellent Companion
Cisco seems to have made a transition from being a high performance workstation and server supplier to being a supplier of high end networking equipment. It seems like you cannot go into an Internet Service Provider without seeing at least some Cisco equipment. As such, being an authority on Cisco equipment and even more important understanding the Cisco approach to networking is a good start on employment. And the crowning achievement is the Cisco Certified Network Associate certificate.
This book is a companion to the on line course. It was written by the people who wrote the exam so it covers what you need to know to pass it.
