Compras Nikon Bluetooth |
Otherwise, yes it is a good book. Tons of detail, however, you will be handicapped considerably without having $10,000.00 worth of switch and router gear just laying around. I bought Boson's Netsim hoping to help, and it didn't have any of the commands needed to do these labs. Bottom line, get the real thing if you can.
The book starts off with basic switch connectivity - identifying the different Cisco Catalyst switches, operating systems, supervisor engines and switching modules as well as installing, configuring, monitoring and troubleshooting a Catalyst switch on a network.
More advanced topics such as VLANS, trunking , spanning tree, inter-VLAN routing, layer 3 switching, multicast and security are covered in depth. Each chapter has several configuration scenarios that help in understanding the subject matter and reinforcing concepts.
Working with actual equipment would be best but for those who do not have access to switching equipment; the configurations are detailed and clear enough to follow.
For those who will be implementing VoIP on their networks, a good grasp of QoS is essential. The QoS chapter adequately covers how to configure end-to-end quality of service on a LAN.
This work is a great effort by Justin Menga and I highly recommend this book both as a reference book and to prepare for the CCNP switching exam.
The book covers a lot of material. Vlans, Inter Vlans, Layer 3 Switching, Qos, STP, VTP and more. Switches covered are 6500's, 4500's, and 3550's and a few others.. Cisco IOS and CatOS are also covered. I particularly liked the labs even though I don't have all the equipment needed to perform them. There are lots of diagrams and configs to help get you through the labs.
I was particularly interested in the real world scenarios that are discussed in the book as this helps me get a better understanding of how other networks are setup and would aid me in designing my own LAN / WAN.
Overall, I give this book 5 stars because there is just nothing else out there that can compare with the depth of knowledge contained in this book.
Cisco Press has done it again! Justin Menga's CCNP: Practical Studies: Switching is an excellent addition to the growing Cisco Press Library. As the title indicates, the author takes the reader on a journey through the areas of switching that are practical, timely, and very applicable, both as a reference for real life working situations and as a study guide for people working toward either their CCNP or CCIE for routing and switching. He does an excellent job of showing the ins and outs of configuration for both the CATOS and Cisco IOS.
As with any book, however, there are positives and negatives.
First the positives:
I found the book to be very readable overall. The information given is very straightforward and generally easy to follow. I found the in-depth explanations of the various aspects of switching and switch configuration to be very helpful both as a review and as a teaching guide. The illustrations, tables and configuration examples for the various switches were very useful in conveying the ideas and concepts the author was relating. Additionally, the index and appendices were well put together. I will be renewing my CCNP certification soon and then working toward my CCIE written and lab tests, and the information in both chapter 11 and the appendices will be invaluable in the process.
The chapters relating to vlans, vlan trunks, spanning tree, inter-vlan routing, and layer 3 switching were particularly useful, for me, since I do a lot of work in those areas. I especially liked the explanations relating to how ether channel works and how to configure it properly. I've done a bit of searching on Cisco's web site and haven't been able to find any information that comes close explaining ether channel as well as Menga. As well, the explanation and illustration relating to vlan hopping was very well done and very helpful from a security standpoint. I also found the information relating to Switch Fabric Modules and Supervisor 720s extremely valuable. Again Menga has topped any information I've been able to find elsewhere. The chapters relating to security and troubleshooting were also very well written and show the author's strength of experience. I will definitely read other books by the author.
Now the negatives:
Though I felt the examples were laid out well, overall, there were times I found the example numbering scheme hard to follow. There were some chapters where the example numbers listed by the examples matched the numbers referred to in the chapter paragraphs. However, there were several chapters where the numbering listed by the examples did not match the example number referred to in the paragraph, making it confusing at times to follow what the author was saying.
There were also several editing errors throughout the book that were a distraction. It wasn't very hard to figure out what the author really meant, but it was an annoyance at times to have to stop and re-read things to get the exact meaning. I got the feeling, as has been the case with many new technical books I've read, published both by Cisco Press and other companies, that the author and editors were under so much pressure to meet a publishing deadline that an appropriate amount of time wasn't allotted to ensure proper editing.
That said, I give the book an overall rating of 4.5 and would recommend the book to others. As stated above, the book is readable, the language and explanations are straight forward, and anyone in the industry will find it to be useful both as a reference for everyday situations, and as a certification study guide.
1: Switching Connectivity.
2: VLAN Operations.
3: Trunking and Bandwidth Aggregation.
4: Spanning Tree.
5: Inter-VLAN Routing.
6: Layer 3 Switching.
7: Multicast Routing and Switching.
8: Traffic Filtering and Security.
9: Quality of Service.
10: Maintenance, Monitoring, and Troubleshooting.
11: Comprehensive Switching Self-Study Lab.
Appendix A: Comprehensive Switching Self-Study Lab Part I Solution.
Appendix B: Comprehensive Switching Self-Study Lab Part II Solution.
I agree with previous reviewer. This book reminds me of the Clark and Hamilton book. That book and this book should be side-by-side. The Clark and Hamilton is good for developing and reburshing your theoretical knowledge and some practical and real life configuration. But since the book was a legacy (the book mostly used Catalyst 5000 as configuration example with some Catalyst 6000 example as well), the Menga's book comes in handy to upgrade the knowledge and deliver new features.
I don't really agree though with previous reviewer said that this book is too advanced for CCNP candidates. Hey, currently I am not even CCNA certified but I still can go along, even without equipments within my reach (only by reading and seeing the diagram and configurations). If you already have proper understanding of the Clark and Hamilton's book, devour infos on Cisco website, and some practical configuration knowledge; you will be just fine.
As mentioned by previous reviewer, Menga tries to balance the discussion on both IOS-based and CatOS-based switches. He mostly uses 2950/3500 XL, 3550, 4000, and 6000 running latest CatOS and IOS as configuration examples. For instance he uses two 4000, one 2950, and one 3550 for STP (Spanning Tree Protocol) illustrations (although you can also use one 2948, one 2926G, one 2950, and one 3550 instead for cheaper version). He also mentions that you can use cheaper version (e.g. 2948 instead of 4000) or even no equipment at all and still understand at least 75% of the book content. Go to Cisco Press's website to find out what the least equipments you need to practise the labs.
The book starts with Cisco switches product and technology, then it goes from foundation theory to configuration examples. Although the theory does not go as deep as the Clark and Hamilton's, it should be sufficient for brush up. Again, for those who have little of no switching knowledge, get the Clark and Hamilton's as well as the Menga's as side-by-side references. The link to the Clark and Hamilton's is already provided above for conveniences.
For you who still need more knowledge, you can also get Karl Solie's CCIE Practical Studies Vol. II as complement. Don't get so nervous even both the Clark and Hamilton's and Solie's have title "CCIE" on them. Their contents are not for CCIE but for CCNA and CCNP instead. These three books will provide you a solid understanding of Cisco switching technology and configurations.
There's no future in time travel.
After this was written there appeared a remarkable posthumous memoir that
throws some doubt on Millikan's leading role in these experiments. Harvey
Fletcher (1884-1981), who was a graduate student at the University of Chicago,
at Millikan's suggestion worked on the measurement of electronic charge for
his doctoral thesis, and co-authored some of the early papers on this subject
with Millikan. Fletcher left a manuscript with a friend with instructions
that it be published after his death; the manuscript was published in
Physics Today, June 1982, page 43. In it, Fletcher claims that he was the
first to do the experiment with oil drops, was the first to measure charges on
single droplets, and may have been the first to suggest the use of oil.
According to Fletcher, he had expected to be co-authored with Millikan on
the crucial first article announcing the measurement of the electronic
charge, but was talked out of this by Millikan.
-- Steven Weinberg, "The Discovery of Subatomic Particles"
Robert Millikan is generally credited with making the first really
precise measurement of the charge on an electron and was awarded the
Nobel Prize in 1923.
