Todd Lammle | Kevin Hales
1 avoid
People,
I was not pleased with this book.
The cdrom contained some kind of bug which prevented me from reading
the enclosed pdf file.
Sybex support rudely suggested the problem was with my PC.
I pointed out that my PC has no problems reading the pdf files
on their site.
avoid avoid avoid
2 Here goes Sybex again! (only 1 thing to warn you)
This book ALONE will be enough for you to pass 640-606.
The only small weak point that I found was in the section where they were explaining "silicon switching""netflow switching"..etc, the whole explanation was not that clear; Cisco Press' equivalent book did a better job in this section. Except for this, I found this book was a way better than Cisco one with more detailed explanation for each subject.
With Sybex book of Support, I finished my CCNP study. Sybex was always there for me to help me out for each exam. I cannot thank them too much. Their books are easy, clear and fun to read.
3 Please note the Dates of the reviews.
The current test is 640-606 which came out in the first of 2002. This book is only been out sense September 20, 2002. Only one review is of the current edition. The old editions are very poor study guides. However, the current editions of the books are more in line with the test. As for the two new exams that I have taken, I found the Sybex as good as if not better than the Cisco.
The best options for the CCNP tests are to get both Sybex and the Cisco. Note however, that the Cisco books for this test (Support) and Remote Access and are for the old exams! Also Cisco books are poorly written and are full of errors and the Sybex will compliment the poor Cisco books
4 Disappointed with this particular Sybex book
I have used Sybex for the routing/switching and remote access exam and passed the respective exams. But this book on the other hand was lacking some of the information on various categories of the official exam. Today I have purchased the official Cisco press book for this exam, which I will likely do for now on in the future. For now I have to pay for this exam AGAIN, this was the first I have failed. Good Luck!
5 Sufficient if you are experienced
This book is a poor to fair study tool for those of you preparing for the CCNP Support examination. Although I have a good amount of experience with Cisco routers I have very limited experience with Cisco switches and RAS solutions. Depending on the amount of the experience you have this book may or may not be enough to prepare you for the exam. I normally expect study guides such as this one to assist me in overcoming the areas I am weak in, but this study guide does not do that.
In general the text is technically correct; however, it does not explore several important topics, such as Cisco NMS and support options, in sufficient detail and it is poorly organized. There were several topic areas on the exam, Token Ring is the best example, that I was totally unprepared for. The text does provide an overview of Token Ring operation and offers two examples of Token Ring network troubleshooting but does absolutely nothing to prepare you with the knowledge you will need to correctly answer the Token Ring questions on the test.
Overall my satisfaction level with the Sybex series of study guides for the CCNP exams is fairly low. For the next Cisco exam I take I plan on purchasing one of the Cisco texts.
PJZ
6 not good enough
Not a very helpful book for CIT 2.0 exam. Cisco Troubleshooting book is much better for CCNP exam.
7 A BASIC SUMMARY OF THE OTHER MODULES
This book was ok. I read it and passed ist time (now CCNP qualified) but I found the book a little woolly on MOST areas!!!
This book will only help you pass if you have already taken and passed the the other CCNP modules ie Routing, Switching and Remote Access as well as the CCNA. Otherwise the book is a basic summary tool. There is a lot of wasted space on outputs from commands hence the bulkiness pof the book!!! However if you only need to brush up your skills before the exams this will do. Overall Todd's done a good job on his series of CCNP books. REDUCE THE TYPOS THOUGH!!!
8 Not good enough, but not totally useless
Two reasons why I buy this book 1. I need to have some guide on the Support exam objectives - kind of like finding out roughly what Cisco really expects me to know before I click the start button. On this aspect, this book did quite OK. I have indeed compare it side by side with Sean Odom's exam prep and thought they have more or less the same coverage of topics - this book win simply because it is cheaper - not better. 2. I hope the end of chapter tests, assessment tests, might prove to be of some use - it does point out things that I overlook or cannot remember. Quite useful.
***Ten reasons why you should not buy this book*** 1. If you use this book alone, you will fail. If you can pass Support with this book alone, then I am starring in TopGun II. 2. Frame-relay troubleshooting is given a criminally incompetent treatment - other than about 11 pages of uninspiring explanation of SHOW and DEBUG commands - no example or scenario is use to illustrate how to use them to investigate a network failure. Also, do not hold any hope that these authors would point out particular issues to watch when using OSPF, and when using distance vector routing protocols, in a frame-relay network. 3. With the exception of a couple of better written chapters, the rest of the book are just pages after pages of lifeless, uninspiring explanation of a big bunch of SHOW and DEBUG commands. There is little attempt to TEACH the subject in a better way, possibly because the subject itself has not gain ground and mature in the authors mind. You simply cannot be convinced that there is a guru behind those words. 4. Some SHOW command is overly lengthy to be useful: SHOW CONFIG - 6.5 pages - but has little value. Obviously even the editor is too busy to find time going through this god forsaken book - or may be they are trying to beef up the book to respectable thickness - like surely the content should at least thicker than the hardcover? 5. Too many corners are cut. Example. To check backdoor bridge, check the bad hop count in SH IPX TRAFFIC - but never tell us why. Similar cutting corners is populated throughout the book 6. Chapter 5 was exciting! And display some real troubleshooting at work - wonder which of the 2 authors did it. But Chapter 6 deteriorate to mere tabulation of SHOW and DEBUG commands without much examples or or any attempt in explaining how or when to use it. Very cheap shoot. This trend continues right to the end of the book. 7. Cut corner example#2 - do you know that there are only 4 pages on X.25 - where 1.5 pages are taken by SHOW INTERFACE, another page taken up by a useless table - leaving not much to talk about x.25 troubleshooting. 8,9, 10. etc, etc, etc. I think you all show go get a better book - probably cisco press? But if you are stuck in some corner of the world where books takes 9 months before it arrives from USA, I think this book plus Cormac Long's CIT should get you thruogh the Support exam.
9 Almost Everything you need to pass exam.
This book has excellent coverage of every topic on the CIT exam. There is just one problem with this book, it prepares you for everything but the Cisco questions themselves. The review questions in this book did not represent the focus of the exam questions. Getting 100% right on the practice exams in this book does not mean you will have the same results with the real thing. For an acurate representation of test questions, purchase the Boson practice exams. Also, there are a few diagrams and explanations that are in the Cisco CIT book that are not in this book, but covered on the test. If you are planning on purchasing another book along with this one, get the Cisco book and read that one after you've read this one. The exam cram book is useless.
10 Same book as CIT just different name.
I was dissapointed when I went cover to cover and realized I bought the same book again. Don't let it happen to you. You'd think something changed. The CD is the only thing that was different. If you have the CIT from the same source don't waste your money.
11 Sybex should have a second edition of this book
This book doesn't provide an overview of the interfaces of Catalyst 5000 series which is covered mostly in the exam (Supervisor Engine, LED's, etc.). This is too wordy also, but doesn't provide you on how to interpret the output of the debug commands in IP and IPX protocol which is also covered mostly in the exam. To pass the CCNP 640-506 exam, you need not only this book but a full hands-on on Catalyst 5000 series of switches.
12 A fine book
This is a good book with a lot of relevant information; I definitely recommend it to others. However, it does have a few errors and the sample questions are not as difficult at the actual exam. I found that the exam itself was poorly worded and confusing. It seems weird to fault the book for having better grammar and logic in their sample questions then the actual test...but, whoever said life was fair.
13 Passed Support Exam First Time
I would recommend this book to anyone who is planning to study for the Cisco support 640-506 exam.
14 CCNA Study guide
Brilliant book, I passed CCNA exam yesterday with a 924 score first time, tried other books but Todds was the most readable as if he was actually talking to you, and the best explanation ever on subnetting, even though I read it over a few times, but I felt comfortable during the exam. I liked Todds sense of humour. The test questions at the end of each chapter, plus the test exam were realistic to the real exam, 2 CCNP books already on order by Todd of course!
15 Good Book
I just passed the CCNP Support exam and now I have my CCNP cert. This is a solid book with good review questions. I thought this was the hardest exam of the four required for CCNP certification but it can easily be passed with this study guide. I also purchased the McGraw Hill CIT book (updated for CCNP 2.0) but I think the CCNP Support book from Sybex is a superior study guide.
16 Passed the Support exam, the hardest exam in the CCNP series
This has got to be the hardest exam in the CCNP series. I was sweating bullets. I am thankful for this book, as it did prepare me, but you really have to study hard to pass this exam. If it wasn't for this book, I would have failed for sure, but I did get a 890, which is awesome for this exam. This exam hits hard on ISDN troublshooting. Read the ISDN chapter in this book at least twice before taking the exam. You'll pass, but you have to do some work too! Good luck
17 I just keep moving towards my CCNP with Sybex!
This is a great written book and it really helped my understand the ISDN troublshooting technique that is so difficult on this exam. To pass the Cisco CCNP Support exam, you MUST know your troubleshooting techiques for ISDN and Frame Relay realy, really well. Everything on the exam was in this book. I recommend this book for the exam and for a desk reference as well. It is the largest Cisco book I have bought from Sybex, so be prepared to read and read some more. Also, having routers and switches is the key to sucess on this exam.
18 Did he even write this himself?
I used Lammle's CCNA book, and loved it. And I've often heard people say "I'm going to use all of Lammle's books from hear on out". Don't. My guess is Lammle didn't write the majority of this book. The writing style and sentence structure in this book is very different from his CCNA book. The first few chapters are ok, and includes diagrams where needed. But about 3 chapters in and the writing goes to gibberish and the diagrams disappear. I think they hired someone in the mail room to write 80% of this one. I found myself going back to his CCNA book to understand what he was TRYING to say in the CCNP book. ISDN is a great example. For a MAJOR CCNP topic, the coverage is bad. He tries to describe the ISDN reference points (poorly) and does not include a diagram. A quick glance at his CCNA book cleared up what he tried to spend 2 pages describing. Anyway, I found myself barrowing a Support 640-440 book and was amazed what a little "effort" on the authors part can do for clarity. I passed the exam with a score in the 900's, but can not accredit much of that to Lammle's book. Since he's coming out with a whole set of CCNP books, lets hope he does better on the others.
19 Excellent book
Book is great with many sample tests. But hands-on experience will help. One book alone will not pass the test. This is a difficult test. Not a bad deal to have this book, alone with the exam cram.
20 Good Enough, but not as good as his previous works
I used this book and my own experience to study for the CCNP Support test. I did not use any hands-on time to study and passed the exam with a 896 (692 required to pass). So, based on the fact I passed the test, I have to say the book helped me to pass.
Keep in mind that the CCNP: Support exam is really nothing more than a review of the stuff you SHOULD have learned when you studied for the CCNP: Remote access, Switching and Routing exams, with a small emphasis on basic troubleshooting methodology thrown in. Because of that fact, I found this book really only re-stated things that were in the previous books. The only exception is the first chapter where they talk about basic troubleshooting methodology. (Hint: There were at least 5 questions on the test from this chapter).
The chapter review tests, along with the assessment test, practice test and 'bonus' test on the CD-Rom were very useful in focusing my study away from areas that I knew well and onto the areas where I needed to brush-up. This fact alone makes the book worth its price.
21 What are you waiting for?
I'm not going to lie. The Support 2.0 exam is very hard! If you have hopes in passing the exam the first time, I recommend you to study this book cover to cover. On top of that, this is the only resource I used to prepare. If you do not have access to a router, you can follow the excellent examples in the book by writing down the commands and their results a few times to jog your memory. Bottom line, this may be the easiest way to prepare for such a hard exam.
22 I agree, this is the best Support book!
Todd Lammle has rocked the Cisco world once again with an excellent addition to the CCNP courseware. If you want to pass the new, very hard, Support exam, you MUST have THIS book!
23 A good read but not what you need.
Just took the CCNP Support exam and did not pass. I based my whole preparation on this book and its exam prep software. I read the book twice and went over problem areas on a nightly basis. I was scoring 100% on the sybex edge test prep. Was confident of at least passing. The information in the book did not match up with the exam. Frankly, this book came up short. Though I failed by a calculated two questions, I can say practical job experience contributed more than this book. Things were worded in Cisconese and seemed to be centered around that company's learning objectives with no deviation. The main commands taught in this book were scarcely referred to by any of the test questions.
In conclusion, I would recommend obtaining training materials from Cisco. If they are not available, wait.
