Rating: 
Summary: May I have the author's signature?
Review: Excellent Book! If I could find a 6 stars, I will give it to this book. If you plan to use this book for CLSC 1.0 exam, maybe you will be disappointed. It is not concentrate on the exam. But this book is a very good reference. everytime, if I find something I was not very clear in my exam preparing book, I can find answer here. For example, What's the difference between VTP and ISL? You can get the answer in this book. My english is not very good. you can know this from my review :) But I find reading this book was really easy and enjoyable. Thank the author presented us such a excellent book!
Rating:
Summary: The CCIE Holy Trinity, Part One
Review: I am reviewing Cisco LAN Switching (ISBN 1578700949), part of the CCIE Professional Development Series from Cisco Press. The book weighs in at around 900 pages and is divided into 6 sections covering topics related to understanding and implementing advanced Cisco switched networks. The authors are Kennedy Clark and Kevin Hamilton, who have worked as Cisco trainers in the past and now work as consultants. I like it when authors have taught courses in addition to having dealt with the hands-on aspects of their subjects. It lends balance to their writing, allowing them the technical acumen to relate to engineers while being able to put the concepts into understandable terms. Clark and Hamilton are good writers and were able to make the book as enjoyable to read as a 900-page technical book can be. The authors haven't written any other Cisco books, but I'd like to see them do more in the future. I'm ready to get serious about my CCIE studies, and the first stop on that journey is Cisco LAN Switching. This book is on every CCIE reading list I've seen and is generally regarded as a "must have". I was prepared for some pretty heavy reading and was pleasantly surprised and pleased with this book. This isn't a book that's just for CCIE candidates, but rather it should be part of every Cisco professional's library. I'll take you through each of the 6 sections. Part I - Foundational Issues
The first 5 chapters of the book take the reader from the very basics of switched networking, providing a fair amount of the history and theory necessary to understand the rest of the book. Even CCNA candidates should read this section, as it explains the basic elements of switching much better than any other book. The thing that surprised me was the authors' sense of humor, which is surprisingly refreshing in a book of this size. Part II - Spanning Tree
Ah, spanning tree. There's nothing more exciting than reading about spanning tree. This book gets it all in within 2 chapters, again providing expert explanations laced with a sense of humor. The reader is taken from the very basics through very advanced spanning tree configurations. I would have like to have seen coverage of rapid spanning tree, but hopefully it's in the works for a future edition. Part III - Trunking
These 3 chapters, covering Ethernet trunking, LANE, and ATM, are sure to leave you a little numb. Since I've never used ATM or LANE and have no frame of reference, the material was skim-able at best. Since LANE is no longer represented on the CCIE exam, you can get away with skimming some chapters for vocabulary words. Part IV - Advanced Features
This section covers Layer 3 switching, VTP and multicast services. A lot of this stuff is rehashed from BCMSN, but it's well explained here. There is a lot of good information on MLS and VTP, but I found that some of the gory multicast details were better explained in the BCMSN book. Chances are good, however, that most CCIE candidate readers are CCNP's and have read that book as well. By this point in the book, the sense of humor has pretty well evaporated. Part V - Real-World Campus Design and Implementation
This section looks at a variety of network designs and the pro's and con's of each. These chapters bring together a lot of the ideas expressed throughout the book and put them into real-world situations. A lot of this is boring, but there are some tidbits and tips you can pick up along the way. Part VI - Catalyst 6000 Technology
I was greatly anticipating the coverage of Catalyst 6500's, since there is so little published work available for this platform, which I use extensively. They only gave me 34 pages (this was obviously an add-on to the original edition of the book), but I'll take what I can get. There was a lot of good information in this section, which I'd like to see expanded in a later edition. Conclusions
This book is widely regarded as part of the "Holy Trinity" of CCIE preparation books, standing alongside Routing TCP/IP Vols I & II by Jeff Doyle as the essential books to read when preparing for the CCIE written exam. This is for good reason. It provides an explanation of a majority of the pertinent switching technologies and also serves as an ample design and implementation guide. My only real critique is that some switching technologies from the CCIE blueprint are conspicuously missing. Hopefully, this will be corrected in an updated edition. Still, I recommend this book, not only for CCIE candidates, but also as an essential book for anyone serious about a career in networking. On my 5 ping rating scale, I give it a 5. !!!!!
Rating:
Summary: The CCIE Holy Trinity, Part One
Review: I am reviewing Cisco LAN Switching (ISBN 1578700949), part of the CCIE Professional Development Series from Cisco Press. The book weighs in at around 900 pages and is divided into 6 sections covering topics related to understanding and implementing advanced Cisco switched networks. The authors are Kennedy Clark and Kevin Hamilton, who have worked as Cisco trainers in the past and now work as consultants. I like it when authors have taught courses in addition to having dealt with the hands-on aspects of their subjects. It lends balance to their writing, allowing them the technical acumen to relate to engineers while being able to put the concepts into understandable terms. Clark and Hamilton are good writers and were able to make the book as enjoyable to read as a 900-page technical book can be. The authors haven't written any other Cisco books, but I'd like to see them do more in the future. I'm ready to get serious about my CCIE studies, and the first stop on that journey is Cisco LAN Switching. This book is on every CCIE reading list I've seen and is generally regarded as a "must have". I was prepared for some pretty heavy reading and was pleasantly surprised and pleased with this book. This isn't a book that's just for CCIE candidates, but rather it should be part of every Cisco professional's library. I'll take you through each of the 6 sections. Part I - Foundational Issues
The first 5 chapters of the book take the reader from the very basics of switched networking, providing a fair amount of the history and theory necessary to understand the rest of the book. Even CCNA candidates should read this section, as it explains the basic elements of switching much better than any other book. The thing that surprised me was the authors' sense of humor, which is surprisingly refreshing in a book of this size. Part II - Spanning Tree
Ah, spanning tree. There's nothing more exciting than reading about spanning tree. This book gets it all in within 2 chapters, again providing expert explanations laced with a sense of humor. The reader is taken from the very basics through very advanced spanning tree configurations. I would have like to have seen coverage of rapid spanning tree, but hopefully it's in the works for a future edition. Part III - Trunking
These 3 chapters, covering Ethernet trunking, LANE, and ATM, are sure to leave you a little numb. Since I've never used ATM or LANE and have no frame of reference, the material was skim-able at best. Since LANE is no longer represented on the CCIE exam, you can get away with skimming some chapters for vocabulary words. Part IV - Advanced Features
This section covers Layer 3 switching, VTP and multicast services. A lot of this stuff is rehashed from BCMSN, but it's well explained here. There is a lot of good information on MLS and VTP, but I found that some of the gory multicast details were better explained in the BCMSN book. Chances are good, however, that most CCIE candidate readers are CCNP's and have read that book as well. By this point in the book, the sense of humor has pretty well evaporated. Part V - Real-World Campus Design and Implementation
This section looks at a variety of network designs and the pro's and con's of each. These chapters bring together a lot of the ideas expressed throughout the book and put them into real-world situations. A lot of this is boring, but there are some tidbits and tips you can pick up along the way. Part VI - Catalyst 6000 Technology
I was greatly anticipating the coverage of Catalyst 6500's, since there is so little published work available for this platform, which I use extensively. They only gave me 34 pages (this was obviously an add-on to the original edition of the book), but I'll take what I can get. There was a lot of good information in this section, which I'd like to see expanded in a later edition. Conclusions
This book is widely regarded as part of the "Holy Trinity" of CCIE preparation books, standing alongside Routing TCP/IP Vols I & II by Jeff Doyle as the essential books to read when preparing for the CCIE written exam. This is for good reason. It provides an explanation of a majority of the pertinent switching technologies and also serves as an ample design and implementation guide. My only real critique is that some switching technologies from the CCIE blueprint are conspicuously missing. Hopefully, this will be corrected in an updated edition. Still, I recommend this book, not only for CCIE candidates, but also as an essential book for anyone serious about a career in networking. On my 5 ping rating scale, I give it a 5. !!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Best Book Available for Lan Switching and VLAN Design!
Review: I had an opportunity to review this book and found its discussions of VLAN's, implementation, design (best practice) and pitfalls, as invaluable knowledge. The additional discussions on ATM and designing switched Network was excellent. This book is logically put together, emphasizes real world, issues , and theory. Best book on switching and application of the technology that I have seen.
Rating: 
Summary: It could have been better
Review: I have handled most of Cisco switches from 1900 to 6500 series. This book covers almost everything a network professional could ask for help managing Catlayst Switches. But there is a lot of blah, blah, blah in this book - it's like those bedtime stories. If you want to save your money, better search the Cisco web site for help. Any shortcoming of this book I found the help from Cisco web site and Cisco Catlayst LAN Switching by Rossi of McGrawHill publishing.
Rating:
Summary: The Last Word in Switching!!!
Review: I have just recieved my copy of this book 5 weeks ago and I can't put it down! I had already reviewed my instructors copy, with his recommendation, and thought it was well written and informative. I would personally like to commend the author and I would highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome!
Review: I love this book... ...hope I can get a sample copy of it!
Rating:
Summary: A Beautiful Book!
Review: I usually hold my praise until I take and pass an exam but I'll make exception for this awesome book. Most CCNP books seem very disjointed and filled with numerous technical and egregious editing errors. Simply put they don't make a lot of sense because they seem like a collection of cut-n-paste from other techinical documents. If you were trying to learn and understand various switching technologies including LANE, STP, VTP, VLAN or etc.... i can truly say that this book is the best. It explains with authority, clearity, and humour. After you read this book, you'll feel like your time reading it was well spent because you will understand reasons and whys. Its just a beautiful book. Thanks to authors.
Rating:
Summary: If it is not in this book you do not need it!
Review: I usually say that no one book can be the end-all be-all. Well I am never wrong; but I in this case might not be all that right. This book covers questions that I did not know I had. And if you say this is not for beginners, then where would you begin? The diagrams are clear and plentiful. Every acronym is defined. In the end this book is a more of not how to kick it, but where to kick. The section that I used to apply is on "Campus Design Implementation." If you would like a preview before buying the real thing there is an excerpts book ISBN 1-58720-008-2 that lets you see more of the content.
Rating:
Summary: Best book ever on Lan switching
Review: I'm a BCMSN instructor and I found this book an invaluable help to explain my students complex arguments like STP and VLAN Load balancing (you'll finally understand the meaning and implications of portvlanpri, portvlancost , uplinkfast etc.), and is also very up to date with MLS and Cat6000 native IOS mode. It lacks only some newer protocols like VRRP or GVRP which are indeed very recent (how long for a Volume 2?). If you are designing / implementing / troubleshooting large campus with STP, Trunking, MS, ATM this book is definitely a must !
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