Denise Donohue | Tim Sammut | Brent Stewart
The new Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) exams are out, and they're significantly different from their predecessors in style and scope.
CCNP Flash Cards and Exam Practice Pack helps CCNP candidates prepare for their exams by reviewing essential elements of routing and switching theory and practice. These cards--which are really pages bound in a paperback book--aren't much good at teaching their subject (though a series of Quick-Reference Sheets aren't bad for building on what you already know). They're meant for pure review, and for identifying knowledge gaps that will require an explanatory text or reference to fill. This book covers four CCNP exams, and includes about 500 questions and a 30-page reference section for each.
A trip through a section of this book involves looking at the right-hand page for questions--there are two of them on each such page--then flipping the page to see the corresponding answers on the other side. Most answers are reasonably well explained (readers get an idea of why the correct answer is what it is), but they do not include citations of authoritative Cisco documents or even other Cisco Press reference books. Also, some readers may prefer a more randomized sequence to this book's grouping by theme. For that, they will have to resort to the quiz software on the companion CD-ROM. --David Wall
Topics covered: The subjects tested on the four Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) exams, including Building Scalable Cisco Internetworks 2.0 (BSCI), Building Cisco Multilayer Switched Networks 2.0 (BCMSN), Building Cisco Remote Access Networks v2.0 (BCRAN), and Cisco Internetwork Troubleshooting Support 5.0 (CIT).
1 Not very useful
Generally a pain to use and work with. The format of the book is bulky and difficult - you have to HOLD it open. As someone else mentioned, it crashed my Palm hard. It also wouldn't run on my desktop PC or my laptop, so the CD was worse than useless - it was a a big waste of time.
The material seems decent, but it's so difficult to access that I just put it down and didn't pick it up again.
2 CCNP Flash Cards and more!
CCNP Flash Cards and more!
This self study tool is the best off the shelf product money can buy for preparing to pass the current CCNP exams. The two CCIE authors are very knowledgeable and thorough. This book includes flash cards, practice questions, and quick reference sheets for all 4 CCNP exams. The electronic versions of the flash cards have been ported to work with Windows, Palm, and Pocket PC devices. I like both the printed book format and electronic flash cards.
What I found helpful within this book is the information presented in an easy to use, digestible format. The flash card format is comprehensive and flows from topic to topic throughout each exam. This book offers very useful "Quick Reference Sheets" at the end of each exam section. Each exam section also includes questions and answers for reinforcement of key exam objectives in digestible sections. The book's CD includes PDF versions of all the quick reference sheets and copies of all printed flash cards! Most of the time, the author's words are clear and concise--the book's layout is comprehensive and flows from cover to cover.
This book is split into four sections; BSCI, BCMSN, CIT, and BCRAN. This allows you to prepare for each of the single exams in the final hours. You can also use both the printed flash cards and electronic version on a hand-held device for maximum efficiency and time spent. The authors' technical background and knowledge are impressive. They must have had a difficult time working within the constraints of a flash card format and limiting their answers for clarity and exam preparation. Each page of the book includes two flash cards on the front page and the answers on the back. The book is indexed and tabbed for easy reference when you need to focus on a particular exam's topics such as BGP or STP. The book weighs in at just over 800 pages. The electronic flash cards allow you to focus on a particular exam and topic or shuffle the cards randomly per exam.
I was only able to locate a few small inaccuracies in this book. The few errors I did find were not technical in nature and won't be noticed by most readers. They won't affect your preparation and can be easily documented with an errata reference on the publisher's web site. Refreshingly, this book focuses not only on preparing you to pass the CCNP exams but really helps you to understand the exam topics involved! This book's author and technical reviewers have what it takes to present the exam topics in an efficient format for any certification candidate.
For the self-study candidate on a limited budget who wants a last minute exam prep tool, these flash cards are invaluable. They are presented in a well readable format and even the book itself is portable enough for the train ride or discrete cram time. When you want to prepare to pass the new CCNP exams, these flash cards, practice questions, and quick reference sheets are a must have!
3 The Palm flashcards crashed my PEG-NZ90 hard
These flash cards are very informative, as were the CCNA flash cards.
My problem is that I wanted to study them on the train to and from work using my Sony Clie or Palm m515. When I loaded the software on my Clie Peg-NZ90 (Palm OS 5), it crashed hard. I had to call Sony Support to get it working again, and it just wouldn't run on my Palm m515 (Palm OS 4.1). I got the same fatal error of both devices -- a 'Fatal MemortMgr.c, Line: 3564, Null handel' error.
The content of the book is great, but the palm OS software obviously was not tested very well.
4 Useful with some errors
I found this particular resource very useful for my preparation for the CCNP and CCDP recertification particularly the CDROM exam generator however there appear to be some anomolies in this tool.
Some better editing of the material is needed. The switch and router simulators appear to have inconsistent CLI interfaces. (ie. some of the configuration exercises allow command line expansion, while others do not).
The subject reference material which is in PDF format is also a bit light on. Where the exam generator refers to these documents for answers to particular questions, the answers sometimes are not contained in the notes (eg. some CLI commands).
5 A good tool with a few updates needed.
All new Cisco exams for the CCNP certification are being released and new study tools are also hitting the market at the same time. Trying to find good and accurate material can be a challenging as the exam itself and that's why this flash card and practice exam set should be used as a final prep tool.
There is about 500 cards per exam and for the most part the answers are complete, although a few of the cards have the correct answers but explanation as to why it is correct and this should fixed in the next release.
There is also a cd-rom with the book has about 1000 flash cards and 1000 practice quesitons, so this should give you plenty ofpractice material to work with. One thing I have found is that flash card studying does make passing exmas easier.
Overall a very good study tool to have around and once Cisco Press releases the study guide books this becomes an even more valuable final study tool.
