Rating: 
Summary: Simply unbelievable.
Review: "Cisco LAN Switching" surpasses the King James Bible as the greatest written work... ever. Guttenburg would have invented his printing press years before had he owned a copy of this book.Buy this, and be prepared to enter the Church of Clark and Hamilton. As a Cisco engineer, your life will never be the same. The only downside is that the last chapter wasn't finished in time, so you only need to assume that Bill Yeager is God, and he reigns supreme in ARPANET (not L. Ron Hubbard as previously thought.)
Rating:
Summary: Simply unbelievable.
Review: "Cisco LAN Switching" surpasses the King James Bible as the greatest written work... ever. Guttenburg would have invented his printing press years before had he owned a copy of this book. Buy this, and be prepared to enter the Church of Clark and Hamilton. As a Cisco engineer, your life will never be the same. The only downside is that the last chapter wasn't finished in time, so you only need to assume that Bill Yeager is God, and he reigns supreme in ARPANET (not L. Ron Hubbard as previously thought.)
Rating: 
Summary: read again before buy
Review: a little more deeper and comprehensive than other books on cisco lan switching area. not too good than what you think or imagine.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Book
Review: A very good book if u really want to know about Cisco LAN switching. Covers very basic but important concept that every network engineers should know. I like the spanning tree portion. The explaination is very clear
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Summary: Chock full of good technical info
Review: Absolutely fabulous. It covers STP, VTP, FEC, etc etc in detail with just enough humor thrown in. But not so much that it's distracting. Simply a MUST HAVE for the aspiring CCIE (or anyone who deals with Cisco Switches). This book is on par with Doyle's book.
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Summary: A very detailed and very useful overview.
Review: Although this book is designed for readers whose goal is to become CISCO CCIE certified, it could still be read profitably by anyone who needs to understand in detail the design and operation of LANs using CISCO technology. It could even serve as an introduction to general LAN networking technology, even though the book is dedicated to CISCO equipment. As someone involved in the mathematical modeling and simulation of networks, my interest in the book was to obtain knowledge of LAN network configurations and behavior in order to gain insight into performance issues that arise in these types of networks. The book is very detailed, and has exercises at the end of every chapter with answers given to all of these in the Appendix to the book. The emphasis of the book is on both the theory and practical issues that arise in CISCO LANs and how to administer them properly. Since the interest of this reviewer was in performance issues, I only skimmed briefly the discussions on LAN administration. Performance issues are addressed in the book, such as those that arise in Ethernet. The authors show how to calculate the theoretical frame rates for Ethernet, and also give advice on when to judge whether or not an Ethernet network is functioning well. That judgment will be dependent on subjective factors such as user perceptions, as well as quantitative measurements taken from the network. The authors also stress the need for being aware of the hardware limitations of the client when increasing the network bandwidth. Clients could handle a Fast Ethernet for example, and there are times when such bandwidth is needed. However a Gigabit Ethernet connection could actually slow down a typical client workstation due to software interrupts. They elaborate on the Fiber Channel technology when addressing these issues also. Also discussed are the differences between copper and fiber optic media and what kinds of configurations they are best suited for. The authors give the reader insight into the need for LAN segmentation, and compare collision and broadcast domains. They are careful to point out the need for actually measuring the average and peak bandwidth consumed by the applications, rather than just relying on the quoted theoretical bandwidth. All of the network configurations that the authors discuss can be modeled by commercial simulation software available on the market today. This software can complement the book in that the reader can see just what can happen when making network design changes as specified in the book. Large enterprise businesses frequently need to make use of VLANs and the authors discuss in detail the justifications for using them. These include network security and privacy, broadcast distribution, bandwidth utilization, network latency from routers, and complicated access lists. The authors though emphasize that VLANs may not be as simple to manage as some network administrators believe. The complexity of the network may in fact increase with the use of VLANs, due to the nature of the Spanning Tree algorithm and the dispersive characteristic of broadcast domains. The desire to have a "flat" network via "end-to-end" VLANs ran into issues with scalability, due mostly to the Spanning Tree algorithm. Due to its importance, the Spanning Tree protocol is discussed in great detail in this book, with two chapters spanning 136 pages devoted to its elucidation. It is introduced as a loop-prevention protocol that allows bridges to communicate with each other with the goal of discovering physical loops in the network. An example is given of a feedback loop that resulted in 2.4Gbps of traffic in 45 minutes, in order to convince the reader of the severity of feedback loops. All of the examples discussed in these two chapters illustrate the need for great care when implementing the Spanning Tree protocol in LANs. Also discussed is the tricky task of doing Spanning Tree load balancing, which must be done if one is interested in creating a network with optimal performance. Root bridge placement, port and bridge priority, and port cost are the techniques discussed for doing Spanning Tree Load Balancing. The role of VLANs in the creation of multiple Spanning Tree domains over a single physical infrastructure is readily seen in all of these techniques. The advantages and disadvantages of each technique are summarized in detail by the authors. Networks rarely exist in isolation, with connections between them being the norm rather than the exception. The authors therefore discuss different methods of doing the interconnection, via AIM, FDDI, or Ethernet. This is called "trunking" and is discussed in great detail in the book. As pointed out by the authors, trunking has more scalability then access links since a network administrator can distribute the VLAN connectivity without the need to use a large number of cables and interfaces. One of the most useful of trunking technologies, at least to this reviewer, is EtherChannel, which can give trunk speeds on the order of FastEthernet and Gigabit Ethernet without the need to use another technology. The authors discuss the advantages of using EtherChannel, its ability to function as both an access or a trunk link, and its ability to bundle segments so as to offer more effective bandwidth than any one of the individual links. The authors also discuss the proprietary CISCO link negotiation protocol called Dynamic Trunk Protocol, which reduces the possibility of incompatibility when links are being configured. The trunking capabilities of ATM technologies are also discussed in the context of their long-distance capabilities and their ability to carry different types of traffic, such as voice and video. For readers not familiar with ATM, the authors give a fairly detailed review of it, and an overview of Emulated LAN (ELAN), the latter of which is a special type of VLAN, namely a LAN emulated over ATM. This motivates a treatment of LANE, and then a discussion of trunking in a Catalyst environment, with Multiprotocol over ATM (MPOA).
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Summary: Practical, useful guide to issues in Cisco switching
Review: Cisco LAN Switching by Kennedy Clark and Kevin Hamilton is considered a definitive guide to Cisco switching - and rightly so. The book contains an exhaustive presentation on all aspects of switching - from the basics of switching technologies, to the protocols and algorithms used in campus switching, to real-world designs of campus switching environments. All this with an added bonus of tidbits of humor thrown into the discussion of serious, no-nonsense topics!
The book is surprisingly well written and easy to understand for readers who have a basic understanding of switching and routing in the Cisco world. The formatting in the book follows the standard Cisco layout for advanced level books. The headings, diagrams, tables, and notes are laid out in a clear and easy-to-scan format. Each chapter ends with review questions for those who wish to test their understanding of the material - these can prove particularly useful for the readers who may be studying for one of the Cisco certifications. The index is a crucial part of any technical book. Those of us working in the field can appreciate the importance of having a detailed and useful index when trying to put out fires at the workplace. This book offers a comprehensive, detailed index - spanning over 30 pages -- which provided me with useful knowledge on the topic(s) that I was trying to look up.
While the book claims to be a switching resource for those studying for the advanced Cisco certifications, I personally selected the book in order to help me in my work environment. It has served its purpose very well. The sample configurations given throughout the book for various situations were particularly helpful in tying the theory to the practical and especially helped in troubleshooting some of the issues I encounter every day. Presentation of the inner workings of some of the advanced material like the Spanning Tree protocol was surprisingly detailed and practical, while being easy to understand at the same time. I have not read any other book that covers this topic effectively with such detail.
The only suggestion I have for the authors is to look into writing an updated edition. Some of the topics - like layer 3 switching - do not seem to cover the latest switch types offered by Cisco. For example, the Cisco 3550 layer 3 switch, a popular and important milestone in the Cisco switching hierarchy, is not covered in any significant detail.
Overall, the authors present the material in a very well thought-out way, making sure that readers at all (reasonable) levels can understand the topics. At the same time, the material is not fluffy like some other books; it is a detailed, no-nonsense study of the important field of campus switching.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best book from Cisco Press.
Review: Cisco lan Switching is one of the best book written in very detail , simple and easy to understand . Wel done jobe by the authors. Regards Sukhi singh
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Summary: Outstanding book
Review: Complex switching technology and configuration are explained with authority and in highly readable form. The examples are clear and informative. I doubt there is an issue having to do with switching that is not addressed in this book. Too many Cisco Press titles are overpriced, under-inspired regurgitations of the Cisco CD documentation. This one is in a different class altogether. Clark and Hamilton both deserve honorary Ph.D's!
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Summary: Good preparation for CCNP & CCIE Exams
Review: Covers all the material for LANE, VTP, ISL. Details of how layer 3 multicast addresses make there way down to layer 2 mac addresses. Differences between bridges and switches, why would you implement a switch over a bridge? What are the benefits, if you don't know you need this book. What are the three types of VLAN protocols? Overall very good quality, authors knew the material well. I couldn't recommend this book any higher.
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