Rating: 
Summary: CCNP Self Study: CCNP BSCI Exam Certification Guide 3rd Ed.
Review: CCNP Self Study: CCNP BSCI Exam Certification Guide 3rd Edition by Clare Gough, CCIE No. 2893ISBN 1-58720-085-6 First Printing December 2003
Copyright © 2004 Cisco Press Indianapolis, IN 46290 USA Review by: Alan Spicer (a_spicer@bellsouth.net) CCNA, Systems and Network Administrator for approximately 10 years About the reviewer:
I started my interests in communications and computing devices back in my teens in the late 1970's. I worked in communications both visual (Morse Code, International Signaling Flags) and radio in the United States Navy initially qualified as Signalman (SM), and later studied to qualify as Radioman (RM) by official U.S. Navy Correspondence Course. I worked some with High Frequency (H.F.) Radio and Teletype over H.F. Radio. After leaving the Navy in 1981 I pursued a U.S. Radio Amateur Radio License of the Technician Class. My first Personal Computing device was a Texas Instruments TI-59 Programmable Calculator, and I have used a lot of the micro computers from Tandy/Radio Shack, Atari, Apple, and more in my thirst for computing and communications knowledge and power. In the 1990's I got interested in Networking along with Systems Administration from a BBS Sysop background which led me directly into the Internet as soon as we (ordinary) humans could access it. I worked remotely making user Tech Support Pages for several South Florida ISP's and eventually went to work full time for one of them. This increased my wanting for knowledge about both networking and Unix Systems Administration. I have been doing combinations of both ever since then. Cisco networking is a natural extension of the things that I love.
On to the book review: The layout of this book is 8 PARTS, with 6 main parts, and 2 other parts being Part 7 Scenarios - Scenarios for Exam Preparation, and Part 8 Appendixes - Answers to Chapter "Do I Know This Already?" Quizzes and Q&A Sections. The "Forward" gives a typical "it goes without saying" warning about blending your learning environment with classroom instruction and hands-on experience. I hope we already know that before we get to reading that forward. It is very true that hands-on experience with the equipment and command-line is the best way to reinforce topic materials you are learning. Unfortunately for many that is simply not possible. I myself have been lucky on occasion and found jobs with routers to practice on and even purchased a Cisco uBR 924 cable modem. There are also labs online where you can get some free or pay-for-rack-time use of different routers and switches. In my experience in general, many companies and organizations want "experience", but a lot less of them are willing to pay a talented individual reasonably to work for them while gaining such experience. This isn't just for Cisco experience, but I.T. in general. I think you can have a good foundation base, at any level, CCNA, CCNP; but the only way to handle certain situations, like debugging, is to have an actual reason on-the-job to try that functionality. Having the background to know it is there and knowing how the command-line help and command-line completion in Cisco IOS (for example) can help you find it, is an absolute necessity. I could not agree more that the more Cisco command-line and usage, monitoring, debugging; experience that you can get, the better off you will be both in TESTS and in ACTUAL WORK environments. The "Introduction" - "All About the CCNP, CCDP, and CCIP Certifications is a section that many of us may have a tendency to skip or browse over and move on. I think, however, that this section was well written and gives a lot of insight into the ideals that Cisco has for the Exams and is worth reading at least once and remembering to read it again before you go to sit for the actual tests. They tell you the goals of this book, and the actual requirements (tests) for certification. The go on to tell you the BSCI topics on the exam, and the topics in this book. Being the only books that are authorized by Cisco, you can bet they have done their homework (and your homework) to cover the material of the exam in the most complete manner possible. The second in the Intro., "How to Use This Book To Pass the Exam" and Exam Strategies depending on whether you have experience in the field, or have taken the Cisco BSCI course, can help you to make a plan of how to maximize your benefit from the book, and how to use its important features to your advantage in the book learning process. I have searched around on the Internet via Google.com a bit, looking for help on learning strategies and what works and doesn't work. So I have read a few articles on learning and short-term and long-term memory and such things. Some say that a degree of difficulty during the learning process can help later in actual job situations. Some also say that certain methods seem to help the ability to store and access information in our memories. Most seem to be saying that pre-testing (Cisco Press's "Do I Know This Already?") helps a lot in the learning - remembering process. Also the testing or drilling afterwards (Cisco Press's "Q&A" and "Scenarios") goes a long way towards cementing the knowledge into memory by retrieving it and working with it in actual situations. You can decide for yourself whether to skip, browse, or read-in-depth; the "Foundation Topics" and/or the "Foundation Summary". That's a pretty neat thing. Some of us may have already learned some topics by on-the-job experience or by other learning methods. Or they may be a review from previous certifications. I have to also say that the bonus of the CD that comes with this book is a welcomed asset as well. The complete book on the CD in Adobe Acrobat Reader format is definitely nice since you can carry it with you more easily to work or anywhere in a laptop or portable computer. The one thing I don't like (and a certain other book company recently took this approach as well) is that you are unable to copy-and-paste from the book text. You also cannot print individual pages. I for one certainly would like to be able to print the pre-Foundation and post-Foundation topics tests and be able to write my answers in to be able to work them. Or to be able to copy-and-paste those tests and be able to take those tests in another text editor application such as MS Word or Wordpad. I guess that is offset by the CD ROM questions included on the CD, which refer to the chapter and section they are drawn from. This is a Workbook. But I, like many others value the continued shelf-life of this book (and others like it) and may want to give it away later to someone else or re-sell it. This kind of blows-away the idea of writing in the actual book itself. Well I guess you could use a #2 pencil and later erase these things from the book. But that leaves some damage to the book anyway. The Cisco Press Examples on the CD were nice as well, and may lead you to wanting to purchase another book for another CCNP/CCDP/CCIP related exam or topic. They are no doubt good at face-value for the chapter topic material that they cover for other exams. The Layout of the book, with the "Parts" 1 through 8 breaks up the material into nice sections covering, in this books case, usually the different Routing Protocols. With the exceptions that Part 1 is Routing Fundamentals which you absolutely have to know before you can continue on to the specific routing protocols, and Part 8 which is Appendixes. The promise of the title of the book is well fulfilled, and I was surprised at the depth of the material presented. This is definitely at the Professional Level of material. You will no longer standing by while some other engineer or ISP configures the advanced settings for you. You will be knowledgeable and capable of configuring these settings yourself. You definitely need to have already passed your CCNA or CCDP certification, and it would also help to have gained some actual experience between the CCNA/CCDP certification and reading/studying this book for CCNP BSCI, Either that or having had access to Router Labs or Router Simulators which can operate on this level, and there aren't too many that I know of that can operate on this level.
I think that persons looking to advance their career, to pass the Cisco CCNP BSCI exam, and to take on more responsibility (and perhaps salary!) in their job or contract positions, will definitely benefit the most from this book. Even those that are looking for a career jump or move to a better position with such requirements and responsibilities as CCNP are definitely those that need to see this book. I am using this book myself in preparation for the for the CCNP BSCI exam. I also plan to use this guide as a reference in any project or employment situations where I will work. The contents are laid out and indexed nicely enough to find refresher material that I will need later on the job, and to give me ideas and recommendations of how to design or lay out a network in actual practice, and how to use the Routing Protocols in a production network environment. The addition of IPv6 material is definitely a needed item. IPv6 is already being used over tunnels across the active IPv4. The U.S. Government and many companies are accelerating their plans for IPv6 deployment. All major Network Operating Systems: Windows, Unix, Linux, Mac OS have IPv6 already included into their kernel (TCP/IP Stack). The figures and examples illustrations are well executed and help cement the concepts presented in the text. A lot of us learn better by doing, by experience, and working your way through understanding an example, in visual form, definitely helps us to retain the concepts and the material presented. On a scale from 1 to 5 I would rate this book a 5. My overall opinion of this book is that it was very well done, by professionals with experience in the topics presented. I believe this book will be a big influence in my passing the BSCI test as well as in the field working on actual Cisco networks. I have always like Cisco Press books, and this one is no different. I would definitely buy more books from these authors especially if published by Cisco Press. If you want to learn from the Pros, you should learn from the Cisco Professionals via Cisco Press.
Rating: 
Summary: Content good, but poor technical editing wastes your time
Review: I agree with Las Cruces's review. I am only posting because I disagree with his rating of 4 out of 5. I bought the book to help me learn the latest things for my recertification, not to learn how to decode extremely good, but poorly presented material. To be fair, I haven't read the whole book and am now seriously questioning if I will.
Rating: 
Summary: Good book for BCSI
Review: I picked this book because I wanted to see how the BCSI exam had changed. Some things I liked about this book and other I think could have been improved. I didn't like the way things were mentioned, and described in later chapters. I liked how the terms were defined at the beginning of the chapters. This made it easier to understand the material presented, and server as a reference if you needed more clarification. I found it hard to get into the book at first, but after about the 3rd chapter, reading went smoothly. I like the "Do I already know?" quizzes at the beginning of the chapters. These let you know where you need to concentrate to fill in the blanks of your knowledge. I found the scenarios helpful. They bring a real world example to an otherwise complex book. Over all I think this is a very good book. I felt VLSM, CIDR and summarization were covered well. The title describes the book very well. I feel intermediate to advanced users will find this helpful. This book could also be used as a great reference to routing and newer information. This serves as a guide to updated BCSI concepts. As the industry changes you need study guides such as this to stay current on the latest information. I really liked all of the diagrams in the book; they helped relate the information in pictures that made the concepts easier to understand. I would read other books by Clare Gough. I think this author is knowledgeable, and knows how to pass on their knowledge. I found the enclosed CD very helpful as well. I like the quiz questions, that allow you test your understanding of the covered subjects. Some of the topics in the book were hard to follow, and seemed cumbersome to read. The author seems to expect the reader to know concepts that she later explains in later chapters. I guess if you recently took the CCNA, and jumped right into the BCSI test, you would be better prepared for this book. I found myself look ahead to see what she was talking about. I also liked the charts comparing the different protocols. I think this make comparing one against another easier when you can see them side by side. I found myself reading a chapter and going on to the next as I found information very interesting. Although at times hard to follow, I thought the information to be accurate and concise. I found this book covered all the relevant topics for the 642-801 BCSI exam. I also liked how each chapter was summarized. The repetition of information in the charts was helpful in helping you remember the information. I would rate this book a 4 out of 5. I believe the book does what it was written to do, which is prepare you for the 642-811 exam. If you read this book you should be ready to take the exam. You may have to read certain chapters a few times to get the concepts down.
Rating:
Summary: Good book for BCSI
Review: I picked this book because I wanted to see how the BCSI exam had changed. Some things I liked about this book and other I think could have been improved. I didn't like the way things were mentioned, and described in later chapters. I liked how the terms were defined at the beginning of the chapters. This made it easier to understand the material presented, and server as a reference if you needed more clarification. I found it hard to get into the book at first, but after about the 3rd chapter, reading went smoothly. I like the "Do I already know?" quizzes at the beginning of the chapters. These let you know where you need to concentrate to fill in the blanks of your knowledge. I found the scenarios helpful. They bring a real world example to an otherwise complex book. Over all I think this is a very good book. I felt VLSM, CIDR and summarization were covered well. The title describes the book very well. I feel intermediate to advanced users will find this helpful. This book could also be used as a great reference to routing and newer information. This serves as a guide to updated BCSI concepts. As the industry changes you need study guides such as this to stay current on the latest information. I really liked all of the diagrams in the book; they helped relate the information in pictures that made the concepts easier to understand. I would read other books by Clare Gough. I think this author is knowledgeable, and knows how to pass on their knowledge. I found the enclosed CD very helpful as well. I like the quiz questions, that allow you test your understanding of the covered subjects. Some of the topics in the book were hard to follow, and seemed cumbersome to read. The author seems to expect the reader to know concepts that she later explains in later chapters. I guess if you recently took the CCNA, and jumped right into the BCSI test, you would be better prepared for this book. I found myself look ahead to see what she was talking about. I also liked the charts comparing the different protocols. I think this make comparing one against another easier when you can see them side by side. I found myself reading a chapter and going on to the next as I found information very interesting. Although at times hard to follow, I thought the information to be accurate and concise. I found this book covered all the relevant topics for the 642-801 BCSI exam. I also liked how each chapter was summarized. The repetition of information in the charts was helpful in helping you remember the information. I would rate this book a 4 out of 5. I believe the book does what it was written to do, which is prepare you for the 642-811 exam. If you read this book you should be ready to take the exam. You may have to read certain chapters a few times to get the concepts down.
Rating:
Summary: NOT at all easy to read, look no further
Review: I see all the reviews about this book. Where do people find the time to write such a lengthy article. I will make this short and sweet. The author does not make this book easy to read. I thought if I read the entire book maybe it will all come together...NOT. Even after reading the entire book, I found myself wondering if it was worth the time and money I put into this book. I should have returned this book when I had a chance. I bought this book becuase I needed a refresher course and to recertify my CCNP. I plan to take the BSCI test again just as a review. This book is of very little help. I book is not worth the effort. Don't take a chance! Short and sweet!
Rating:
Summary: This is the book to get!
Review: I've just finished taking a class on this subject and bought this book as a way to supplement my knowledge in preparation for the BSCI exam. I've now gone 65 pages into the book and I am amazed by the depth of knowledge this book brings. Whereas in the class, we may have used VLSM to come up with some very simple VLSM addressing schemes, this book shows you how to implement a five-level VLSM scheme - Region, Campus, Building, Floor and Host. Everything is written very clearly and I am recommending this book to my friends.
Rating: 
Summary: Good for review or recertification
Review: Information are thrown away in this book without a solid hierarchy. For example, compare the IS-IS chapters with another book (like Ciscopress 2nd edition Paquet, Teare-i would advise that book for 1st timers): Clare's book starts by throwing definitions all over, without explaining the OSI model and introducing IS-IS in a "smooth" way. The "backbone" concept is not clealry explained. Etc.
Hope this helps
Rating:
Summary: Decent but could be better
Review: The "CCNP BSCI Exam Certification Guide, Third Edition" (ISBN 1-58720-085-6; Clare Gough; Cisco Press; 931 pages) is the official study guide for the "Building Cisco Scalable Internetworks" exam (BSCI 642-801). The Forward states that the guide is "a complete study tool" for the CCNP BSCI exam. The book is organized into major sections covering IP routing fundamentals, OSPF, IS-IS, EIGRP, BGP and redistribution and policy-based routing, closely following the exam topics outlined at www.cisco.com/certifcations. Many chapters include scenario exercises and the final chapter is devoted to a dozen scenarios to help you prepare for the exam. Numerous tables, figures and examples are included to illustrate concepts. A handy glossary is also included at the back of the book. The book provides several suggested study strategies and useful tips for taking the real exam. "Do I Know This Already?" questions at the start of each chapter allow readers with different levels of experience to focus on the specific areas they need to improve. At the end of each chapter is a "Foundation Summary" that reinforces important concepts and which can be used for review a day or two prior to taking the real exam. Also following each chapter is a "Q&A" section with questions that are more difficult than the ones on the real exam. These questions probe your understanding of a topic and don't depend on the multiple-choice format that encourages guessing at answers. All questions and answers are grouped into an appendix that makes another good review tool to use before the real exam. Although the book seems to contain all the right ingredients and the author obviously is knowledgeable, it does make for some difficult reading. There are several reasons for this. Many times I found myself rereading unclear sentences or portions of text. At other times abrupt change in topics from one paragraph to the next often led me to wonder if a paragraph had been inadvertently misplaced. And the dry writing style can leave one looking with anticipation to see how many pages remain in a chapter. The general approach used to introduce each major topic is to first provide a lengthy table of all the relevant terminology. Most of these terms may not be referred to again for many pages, at which time only an acronym appears. I found myself flipping back and forth repeatedly while reading. A better approach would be to introduce terminology closer to the time it is actually used and explained. Some of the provided figures seem contrived, as though they were created as an afterthought. In a typical example, only a brief statement mentioning the need to send high-priority traffic over a dedicated path accompanies a half-page figure consisting of two autonomous system clouds and six routers. One omission becomes evident when using this guide to prepare for the BCSI exam: although router configuration for NAT is clearly identified as an exam topic both at www.cisco.com and in the Introduction section of the book this topic is inexplicably omitted from the text. You'll find only a brief introduction to NAT and not a single NAT configuration statement. The companion CD-ROM contains practice questions and the full text of the book in Adobe Acrobat format. A total of 355 test questions are available including 255 questions taken directly from the text and 20 lab simulations. The practice tests contain multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank and list-in-order style questions. The lab simulations, although useful, are fairly simple, typically requiring basic configuration of a routing protocol. More advanced features like creation of route maps aren't covered. And 15 of the 20 simulations are exactly the same as those found on the Cisco Press CCNP Flash Cards Exam Preparation CD-ROM. It's disappointing to find parts of one product you've purchased simply repackaged and sold as another. I, for one, expect better from Cisco Press. Though it's based on a recent version of the Boson test engine the test simulator does contain a few annoying quirks. For example, rather than displaying an explanation when you select an incorrect answer you are instead referred to a page number in the PDF - but these page numbers don't correspond to the ones in the printed text. There's a button on the question window to display the relevant PDF section but the button oddly isn't available when you get an answer wrong. And the flash-card style screen saver mode only works correctly on multiple-choice questions. Thankfully, as with other titles in the CCNP Exam Certification series, nothing prevents one from using the CD-ROM on more than one computer. So would I buy another book from this author? Well, yes, simply because she is knowledgeable about the topics. But as is the case with other Cisco Press publications a more diligent editing process could help a lot to improve the overall product quality. Overall the guide represents a decent value. On a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest rating, this guide rates a 3.
Rating:
Summary: NOT at all easy to read, look no further
Review: The CCNP BSCI Exam Certification Guide is a great resource for CCNP recertification. The material is not in-depth but informative enough for those that already taken BSCI exam before. The accompanying CD-ROM with sample test questions is also very helpful. With this book, along with the CCNP BCMSN Exam Certification Guide and related Transcender practice exams, I was able to pass the CCNP Composite exam (642-891) and complete my CCNP recertification.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book for CCNP Recertification
Review: The CCNP BSCI Exam Certification Guide is a great resource for CCNP recertification. The material is not in-depth but informative enough for those that already taken BSCI exam before. The accompanying CD-ROM with sample test questions is also very helpful. With this book, along with the CCNP BCMSN Exam Certification Guide and related Transcender practice exams, I was able to pass the CCNP Composite exam (642-891) and complete my CCNP recertification.
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