CCNA Practical Studies

Gary Heap | Lynn Maynes

1 Starting hands-on, just what the doctor ordered
I believe the Cisco Practical series, CCNA, CCNP, CCIE is perfect. I need lots of hands on, over and over again.

Yes I can understand from 2 earlier reviewers that in order to really get the maximum use out of these practicals you need access to Cisco equipment. So a great deal of $$ equipment commitment is required. But unlike MCSE, where you can put 2 PCs together and you are off to the races, that is a major decision, no doubt about that.

I have CCNA, CCNP, CCDP and looking at someday doing the CCIE :) :), tougue in cheek. I am not sure how REALLY serious I am but I have spent a fair amount of $$ on Cisco gear. So unless I get a lot of hands on at work, getting the necessary hands on, the amount of practice needed is GONNA be on my own time. So I have brought as many Cisco Practical books as I can afford, and SLOWLY will work my way thru the books/hands on labs.

So I am slowly working my way thru the labs/hands on, and it definitely helps me at work from CCNA PRactical thru CCNP Practicals.

2 Practical Studies CCNA Lab not so practical
I am currently working on my CCNA and CCNP and thought i would be a good student and pick this book up. It was great until i started getting into all the expensive lab equipment i would need to set this lab up. $500 ISDN simulators and what not. great book but doesnt seem practical for someone starting out to drop a couple of thousand bucks on a cisco lab.

3 Maamoun El-Khalil (CCNA)
This is a must if you really want to deepen your knowledge of
the CCNA equirements.It goes beyond the basics and presents you
with a real life lab environment where you can apply what you
have learned in theory and see it in practice.
The book deserves 5 stars.

4 Make a few updates and this is a great book.
I have always wished that there was some sort of lab manual for the Cisco Press books that would allow the student to be able to work with real world examples. Now with the release of Practical Studies you have a handy study companion to work with.

The 500 page book is more than just an ad-on reference manual it is a useful study tool for the new 640-607 exam. The authors went to a great deal of time and effort to make sure all exam objectives were covered and the material up to date and technically accurate.

One thing I was impressed with is that this book fits right into any ICND training course because not only does it cover the exam it provide information for other CCNP exams as well. The breakdown examples use actual router code and show you what is happening throughout the examples.

While this manual is for the intermediate to advanced user the material is tailored made for those ready to take the exam but need just a little more help. One drawback is that you will need a great deal of equipment in order to follow the examples and that's why a router simulator should have been included.

Also the book does not have nay practice question software and this is something that should also be included in the learning process. The only other thing I saw was the inclusion of EIGRP routing protocol which the exam does not cover. Overall a few minor adjustments and this book are ready to use.