Eric McMasters | Brian Morgan | Mike Shroyer
As with most Exam Cram books, the obligatory warnings apply here, too:
- Exam Crams are not primary sources of reference by which to study.
- Exam Crams are not a place to start if this topic is new to you.
- Exam Crams are supposed to be refreshers; ideally, they're the heavily highlighted and dog-eared book that you bring into the exam waiting room to study while you await your turn to take the test.
There! Now that we've said that and feel better, let's ask the question: Does this particular Exam Cram serve as a good last-minute cram book?
The answer: Mostly. It's full of good, high-level overviews, explains most concepts well, and in general will serve quite nicely for anyone who's "got it" mostly, but needs that critical push to get over the hump. Unfortunately, the test questions are astonishingly weak for what normally is a series that sports some of the toughest questions around; the book offers little advice in the way of troubleshooting; and the explanation of one of the more commonly confused and commonly tested topics--BGP and EGP--is lacking.
First, let's go over the good news. The CCNP Routing Exam Cram sports some of the snappiest writing ever to grace an Exam Cram book--which is good, because routing concepts are tricky little devils that you just can't memorize. You need to internalize how each of the various protocols works, and not just snarf down some list of functions. The explanations for the reason that each protocol (RIP, OSPF, EIGRP, BGP) was developed and how it's implemented are well written and concise. The occasional spot illustration helps flesh out your knowledge of how routers share information under each protocol. If you've been a trifle unclear on what the precise differences are between the various routing approaches, this is where all will be revealed. Later sections of the book deal with traffic management and routing updates, and do it well, mixing a bit of real-world experience with lectures to give a well-rounded approach. Sadly, information on actual router configuration is fairly spotty, so probably you'll want to write down some additional cheat sheets for the actual configuration commands.
The bad news is twofold. First of all, the sample test questions are among the easiest we've ever encountered. Most of them can be answered correctly after merely skimming a chapter (and we tried this, just to make sure), or doped out from the context. If you're the sort of person who passes certification quizzes by taking sample exams over and over again, as many do, you're bound to be disappointed. Between that and a distinct lack of "Exam Alerts" to tell you what to watch out for, you might wind up wondering exactly what the core topics are that you absolutely must have down cold to pass.
The second problem is more serious. One of the more hotly tested topics, the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), is graced with a fairly confusing presentation. While it's possible to understand what the Exam Cram has to say about BGP after a couple of rereadings, the three BGP chapters lack the smartness and clarity of the rest of this book, which leads to needless confusion on the reader's end. Admittedly, BGP is a fairly hard subject for many CCNP candidates to comprehend, but that only compounds the problem; if BGP is the final hurdle that you must cross to get that passing exam score, the Cram could fail you as a last-minute refresher.
With these two drawbacks in mind, this is otherwise a fine book that does an excellent job of clearing away the mist of confusion that surrounds many routing concepts. And, at $29.99 (cheap by Cisco certification standards), it's a worthwhile addition to your library. --William Steinmetz
1 OK, but not what is needed.
The CD with this book has several errors and trying to registar it on line and get "free" updates just does not work. One would do much better to purchase BOSON practice tests from Geocerts.com. They are the way to go along with the Cisco Press book.
2 Good but not great...
As with all the Exam Cram books...this one is full of information that is not covered in the Sybex study guide (ex. passive interfaces).
The book does have typos in it, but they are very obvious to anyone who is serious about getting their CCNP.
I would recommend this book as a study aide.
3 Richard Deal for President!!!
Mannnn, this book is an excellent resource. Upon sitting for the test and being presented a few questions, I felt that I prepared well. I used this book and the Cisco site during my studies and scored very well. Buy this book, follow up on anything that you do not fully understand (Cisco site) and you will do fine.
The topics presented on the test were all covered in the book! Further, for an Exam Cram, the topics were covered in sufficient detail. Coverage of the XL access switches proved to be sufficient, as well. The test interrogated me on several topics related to those switches, more so than I expected. However, knowledge gained from this book pulled me through.
Note: I noticed a few errors in the book related to the all router and all hosts multicast addresses. Beware of that! All router = 224.0.0.2, All hosts = 224.0.0.1. However, a few errors are to be expected with any book. Hence, I bestow five stars upon this book, anyway.
Richard Deal for President!!! This book is off da chain! Thx.
4 OK for a high level view
If you want a 10,000 foot view of the exam this book is OK. If you aren't already familiar with routing protocols like BGP, OSPF, and EIGRP you'll need a more detailed reference... like a Cisco Press Exam Guide or CCO on line.
5 not enough info
I studied only using this book and minimal previous experience and passed with 739. The book has minimal errors. There were tons of questions/issues on the test that were not covered in the book. If you "have the nack" and are just wanting to pass the test, this might aid you, but it seems there's quite a lot it does not teach you. Even though I passed, I feel there is still so much I do not understand. 'Gotta find another book on routing to make sure I know what I'm doing.
6 Excellent Final Prep
This book is an excellent final preparation tool for the BCSN exam. It will not cover everything on your exam, but does an excellent job of highlighting a lot of the points you will encounter on the exam.
7 Great Intro, Poor Coverage
Bought the book based solely on the strength of the three authors' numerous qualifications and myriad experiences. Between them, they share the CCIE, CCDP, CCNP, MCSE, certifications among others.
What turned out to be a promising guide for my preparation became a revision tool instead. The coverage on OSPF, BGP and IGRP was clearly explained, but alas, the material was insufficient. I had to heavily supplement with the more expensive Cisco books for the test.
I guess you get what you pay for.
8 Desert Dweller
This book did a good job of explaining OSPF and EIGRP but was poor on BGP. When 10 out of the first 15 questions on the test were on BGP I knew my ship was sunk. Too many errors - especially in the examples where an error is the last thing you need. Better explanation of BGP is needed.
9 Used as my core study material all my Certs...
This book is pretty straight forward and concise. I used it to pass my Routing Exam (scored 886), used Exam Cram books to get my CCNA and MCSE. I am currently reading Exam Cram's Switching as well. Hopefully this gives you an idea of how much I trust these folks and depend on them to pass all my tests.
My core study material is as follows: Exam Cram Routing, Routing Certification guide from Cisco Press, and Transcender Practice Exams. Three more tests to go for my CCNP and Exam Cram will be on my desk for all of them.
Email me if I can help you with any questions regarding the CCNP and related books/tests.
10 Excellent study material
This book was an excellent study guide for the test. I read through this book 3 times in a week with two routers by my side and passed the test. This book has concise information on the topics needed to pass the exam. Although it doens't give you all the information you might need to answer every single question it gives you enough to pass the test and understand the material. As long as you read this book carefully and understand each section well you should be able to pass the test. GOOD LUCk
11 Not worth the money
I found this book to lack depth and full of errors. I looked for an errata from Coriolis, but there wasn't one. This book has been out for awhile and I found it disappointing that the publisher was aware of the many errors and failed to put an errata out there on their web site.
12 Good last minute review
This book is a good last minute review for the test, but not a good study guide. It does not cover commands in detail and is weak in the BGP and route optimization parts. The book talks about various topics from a high level view. I'd recommend using CCO or another study guide as your primary study tool and use this book as last minute review for the test. Also, the study questions are no where near the actual test questions. Boson provides better practice questions/problems.
13 Not at all complete
I just finished this Exam with a passing grade. I used this book and the Sybex CCNP Routing Study Guide. This was by far one of the harder certification exams that I've taken and I have to honestly say that neither this book nor the Sybex book were really complete. There was a great deal of content on my test that simply wasn't covered in adequate detail in either of these books.
All in all, I believe that if you study these books, you'll have a good foundation but, without some real world experience, I don't believe either of them, or both of them together for that matter, will provide everything you will need to pass the exam.
14 Mistakes and not enough materials
This book's organization is far from its Switching cousin. It has quite a few mistakes that can confuse readers. The exam alerts are useless. It does not have enough sample test questions for practice. It's maybe a good overview text.
15 Good last book to read
As it says in the book, it may not be the only book you want to read, but most likely the last book you want to read before the exam. If you have no knowledge on the topic, most likely it's not going to help you pass. However if you understand the concepts discussed beforehand, this book will help you figure out which parts of those concepts you need to know for the exam. It also comes with a quick cram sheet you can review right before the exam. I recommend reading Routing TCP/IP by Jeff Doyle first, then read this book before you take the exam. This combination helped me achieve an exam score of over 90%. You may also want to find some reading on the basics of BGP (Jeff Doyle doesn't cover it).
16 With the exam prep this is an unbeatable combo.
In preparing for the CCNP Routing exam I have read over books and each one is good and each one covers the objectives in great details. However there are times when I want to review and coverage of the major points only.
This is where Coriolis comes in with the exam cram version of the Routing exam. Right in the beginning is a Cram Sheet with major points to keep as a handy reference.
In only 320 pages you'll cover topics like internetworking, routing protocols like RIP, OSPF, IGRP, EIGRP and BGP, VLSM and management. Although this an excellent source of information it works best to use with the exam prep book to fill in the details.
There is review questions and also a sample exam has been included. Overall the value is worth the price.
17 Useless
This book is simply a waste of money. I have found other exam cram books to be very usefull and thought out. This book should be recalled, what a waste of trees. Stick to the Cisco Press books for this test.
18 Not enough info
While the book has some good information. There are to many errors and huge holes in topic coverage. If you use this as your only source for the test you will fail unless you are a routing pro. I had to buy and read a 2nd book and was then able to pass on my first try.
19 Good resources
I only use this book and some notes from web site to pass the exam. This book is concise and hits the point directly. It fits the syllabus of the exam. Moreover, it contains enough information about the OSPF, EIGRP and BGP. The Glossary is also good, you can have a quick look of the key words before taking the exam. Also, I can accept the writing style of the book. However, I think it contains not enough practice questions, and the questions are quite fit, but not very fit with the real exam. Anyway, it is indeed a good book for experienced people. But if you are not experienced, then you may find that it is not enough to pass the exam, you may need to buy a study guide and download materials from Cisco web site.
20 Exam Cram Ccnp Routing
This book is for the most part very well written, and provides some last extra assistance in passing the CCNP routing exam, which I did on the first try. It's one major draw back is that it is weak in it's explaination of BGP, which is a big part of the routing exam. This was not the first book I read to study for the exam, but was the last one.
21 Excellent Resource!
The term "routing" is something that should not be not be taken lightly. My job as a Senior Network Engineer has caused me to wade through countless books, both good and bad looking for references and study material to assist me in troubleshooting and optimization, not to mention just trying to understand what the heck I am doing! Hopefully, no one is going to try and take this test on the material presented in this book alone....being a CCNP means so much more than taking a test....however, if you are looking for a compact, lightweight, EASY TO CARRY AROUND book that covers nearly ALL of the terms needed to understand the routing process and specifics about routing protocols, than this is your book! Mr. McMasters has taken a complicated subject and brought it down to terms that the average person can understand using clearly objective questions and lots of excellent visual aides. There are a few typos, and some of the review questions have debateable answers, but those factors do not detract from the versatility of this book. Use this book for more than just cramming for an exam....use it for reference because all of the facts are in there and easy to find! Remember that there is more to being a network engineer than just a certification!
Good job Eric....this book will be well used!
22 Great for brushing up
This book is great if it is not the only book you use for studying the material. This book does cover 90% of what the test asks questions about, but it alone is not going to allow you to pass. My suggestions is to use this book in conjunction with one of the following: the course, an indepth book or someone who has taken the exam and can help you study.
23 Good Review Book!
I used this book just prior to the exam -- it was a great refresher! Questions are good, well written. This is the book to have if you need a good, solid review of the material. It's an exam CRAM not a textbook.
24 Good enough to PASS the TEST!
This is book is broder line. Good enough to pass the test. The first few chapters are basic, but then it goes depth with OSPF, EIGRP and BGP protocols. That covers about 90% of the test. The rest is general IP and subnetting information. There are some typos (but then again I have not read a book without any typos) and some of the review questions have the wrong answers. But, overall it is a good study guide.
25 Very Average...
I havent taken the exam yet, but i have taken the Cisco BSCN course and have been over the courseware. The exam cram does OK up until the BGP sections...it then falls over badly. Without the benefit of the Cisco course/courseware i wouldn't have had a clue what he was talking about. Some of his BGP info was not even covered in the BSCN course. The other topics get an OK treatment.
I am going to use the Courseware, Routing TCP/IP, Internet Routing Arch and a couple of other Cisco Press books + the Boson tests. I will still use the Exam Cram - but i won't be relying on it that much.
Good Luck All!!!
26 dissapointing
get this right...the book is not going to get you anywhere near passing the exam.the book does not even have good enough questions to be taken seriously as an exam cram.some questions for example .......which of the following is the IP address of class A .i thought i would get some questions better than that..also he launches into a detailed explanation of why the answer is right.....not just this one question ...many of them are pretty mundane and used to fill space..and many questions do not have the standard of CCNP exam.questions are just a rehash of what he says in the chapter.and the concepts were pretty vaguely explained.get jeff doyle's book on tcp/ip routing instead and another on EGP'S ..that would be more helpful..don't waste your money.. i do not understand how other reviewers gave it such a good rating....
27 Insufficient to assist in passing test
I took the Cisco official BSCN class, and without that and the supplied materials, would have failed the exam. There are very few options for self-study for this exam - even Cisco's book is not due out until next month. So, it's understandable that this Exam Cram misses the mark. The BSCN test hits heavily on BGP and EIGRP, which are weakly covered in the book. In general, the book seems to be guessing directions, given the fact that many components were pulled from ACRC and replaced with new material. I cannot recommend it at this point. Currently, the only place to get the info is Cisco's classes (expensive) and of course Boson's practice exams, which were invaluable.
28 Cisco + Exam Cram = Not worth it.
Do youself a favor, wait for the Cisco Press offering. Based on my experience, exam crams for Cisco generally miss the mark. The book was informative, but not what was needed for the test.
29 Decent Book, BGP Sections Need Work
This book provides fairly readable (and understandable) explanation of basic IP routing concepts. Its overviews of OSPF and EIGRP are also very good. Its coverage of BGP, though, is somewhat spotty and hard to follow. (In fact, they should flip the order of their two BGP chapters. The first chapter is the nitty-gritty configuration information, and the second chapter is more high-level overview. They should flip them for a more logical flow).
The book also has a few obvious mistakes and ambiguous examples, nothing serious but just enough to be annoying. Still, at $30 list it's a fairly good value.
30 Coriolis does it again!!!
The Routing Exam Cram Book is amoung the top of the line when it comes to preparing for a Cisco or any certification exam. I have always put my trust in the exam cram series and have yet to be failed.
