CCNA Certification Library (CCNA Self-Study, Exam #640-801)

by Wendell Odom

Book Overview

An official self-study test preparation package for the Cisco CCNA 640-801, ICND 640-811, and INTRO 640-821 exams. The two companion CD-ROMs contain over 500 practice questions for the ICND, INTRO,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1587200953
• ISBN13: 9781587200953
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Cisco Press
• Length: 1320 Pages
• Weight: 6.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 3.9" x 7.8" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Excellent Test Preparation

These two books helped me pass the test (640-801) on the first try after about two months of self-study. I also used and recommend Boson Netsim, even if you have access to a live Cisco network for the hands-on lessons. I also used and less enthusiastically recommend the CCNA Flash Cards and Exam Practice Pack which is worth the price, but is incomplete in its coverage and annoyingly produced. Building on what some of the other reviews have written, I thought these books are very well structured and clearly written. Each chapter is framed by a "Do I know This Already?" Quiz at the beginning and a Q & A section at the end which I found to be well done and useful. Frequently, I found I didn't know enough detail and depth about things that I thought I knew. And several times that level of detail was crucial to answering questions on the actual exam. Also Odom provides some nice tips for quickly solving subnetting problems; which is one of the things that I knew but needed to know better. And the CD with the practice questions was very useful and, I thought, very true to the actual exam. There are a few typos in the book and a few things that perhaps could have been better explained, but these are really minor problems for such a substantial work that has so much right about it. Frankly, more often I was wrong when I thought I'd come across a typo, and nailing it down really fixed whatever detail it was in my mind. Do print out the errata and keep it handy. You'll probably also want to fill out your studying by looking at some Cisco papers on the web; I found myself reading more at Cisco about EIGRP, configuring NAT and zero subnets the night before the test. I recommend avoiding most other free study sources on the web because they are rife with errors. Having now taken and passed the test and reflecting on where I was weakest; I'd have to say the only major weakness from my book and netsim studies was with troubleshooting. Here more experience with a production or real test network would have come in handy. You need to know which show and debug commands to use for particular problems, where to look for errors across multiple routers in your configuration or to see problems in your route tables, and such. And you need to do this all quickly. These books cover the commands but don't give you problems where you need to apply them. One final comment about why I liked and recommend these books is that while they are focused on the test and giving you tips about passing the test; they also do a really good job of teaching you about the topics and not just what you nee d to answer the questions. There was enough theory and history to help contextualize why these technologies developed in the way they did; what their strengths and weaknesses are, what problems they solved and created and so on.

Great book! 4.5 is more appropriate

For what it is for, this book is great. And it is also one of the easiest to follow technical books I have ever read. INTRO gives you a great overview of OSI layer 1-4 and 7. Session and Presentation layer were not covered as much as other layers. Mostly used protocols on each layer were explained well though some of the protocols need more work such as SNMP. Cabling is also covered in the intro book which is good. ICND starts to pick up pace. STP, routing protocols, advanced routing, advanced tcp/ip, and wan technologies are covered in this book which could get you a little frustrated if you are a beginner. Keep at it and you will be fine. Do not give up. There are some typos (honestly not that many) so go to book's website and get a list of erratas. I agree with some other reviews that the book does not cover everthing that could be on the exam but you should pass the exam with only these 2 books if you thorougly understand everything. For example, OSPF DR BDR and neighboring relationship are not covered very well. For sim questions, make sure you remember VLAN, RIP, OSPF, EIGRP, NAT, and dynamic NAT configurations cold. These will be on the exam. At the mean time, you could spend less time on frame relay and ISDN configs because I think the chances of those showing up as your sim question is almost 0. Good luck on your exam

A great resource if you want to pass your CCNA

Let me first say that I took the CCNA exam last week (March 2005) and passed with a 933 (849 needed for pass). I have networking experience with Cisco equipment on an enterprise network, but it had been several years. I used these two books and the Boson Netsim for CCNA exclusively as study resources. I studied full time for two weeks, beginning the day after receiving the books, and at the end of two weeks took the exam. I thought Odom did a wonderful job explaining concepts and teaching you how to implement and troubleshoot them. Frankly, when I read the negative comments in these reviews, I don't understand them. For example, one reviewer commented that in an OSPF section of the exam he didn't know what the terms DR and BDR meant so he guessed. I'm not quite sure what he was reading because this volume covered those areas well. My advice for going through the material is to take the "Do I Know This Already" quizzes at the beginning of each chapter, and then reading the chapter anyway, even if scoring a (near-)perfect score. You may be able to skim through sections if you already know the material well, but be sure to at least skim through it. The included practice tests were a great resource. I used them well to find gaps in my knowledge and get used to the testing process, including managing my time. There were some annoying errors in the program but I was able to work around them with a little experience. There were a few questions on the exam that I guessed on, so today I went back into the books and found the answers. They were just areas I hadn't covered as deeply as others. But the topics were covered. Overall, I strongly recommend these two books if you want to be well-prepared.

This book is best study guide for aspiring CCNAs!

This book is best off the shelf study guide for preparing to pass the CCNA exams. The CCIE author is very knowledgeable and thorough. This book also includes a CCNA exam discount voucher and network simulator software. I'm impressed by the list of technical reviewers who are all CCIE certified.What I found helpful within this book is the information presented in an easy to read, digestible format. Nothing is more frustrating than spending hours wading through printed or online documentation attempting to locate the answer to the simplest of questions! This book offers very useful "Do I Know This Already Quizzes" at the beginning of each chapter. Each chapter also includes questions and answers for reinforcement--there are two CDs with more practice questions, and Boson's NetSim LE network simulator software allowing you to practice for the simulator-based questions on the real exams! Most of the time, the author's words are clear and concise--the book's layout is comprehensive and flows from cover to cover. This certification library is split into to two books. This allows you to study for the single 640-821 or 640-811 exam in a digestible format. You can also use both books in combination to prepare to pass the single CCNA exam 640-801. The author's technical background and knowledge are impressive. He must have had a difficult time working within the constraints of 1200 pages. It's also very impressive that the publisher was able to find three other CCIEs to participate in the technical review of this book. Could there possibly be any more technically correct book on the shelf?I was only able to locate a few small technical inaccuracies in this book. I have never found a technical book without errors! The few errors I found were in defined acronyms and may have been a result of the book's copy edit process. Refreshingly, this book focuses not only on preparing you to pass the CCNA exams but really helps you to understand the technology involved! This book's author and technical reviewers have years of real world experience, and are probably more concerned with the reader's ability to understand the material more than anything else.For the self-study candidate on a limited budget, who really wants to understand what's required to be a successful CCNA, this book offers a well readable format. When you want to prepare to pass the new CCNA exams, this book, practice questions, and Boson network simulator are a must have!

Third Times the Charm

I have all three versions of Wendell Odom's Cisco Press CCNA books. This latest set, the CCNA Certification Library is by far his best work.His first two books were great, if not a little overwhelming. I find myself constantly returning to them as a reference in the field.But these latest 2 books, "Intro to CCNA" and "ICND" (included in the library) are right on target.Beginners will find the Intro book a great place to start learning the technology. The ICND book gets a little deeper but builds upon the foundation laid by the Intro book.I found the questions in the beginning of each chapter helpful as they let me assess my knowledge of a subject and it gave me an idea if needed to go over a chapter again.I loaded the CD that comes with Books and it had practice questions. I did find a couple of questions that seemed incorrect, but over all a huge improvement over the Cisco Press CD's of the past that were full of errors.All in all, I believe that the Certification Library set is the best CCNA title from Cisco Press yet. I found them highly informative, easy to read, and the "Wow this is a thick book" factor has been toned down considerably. Plus the 2 book approach makes it easier for a non-technical person to ease into the CCNA at their own pace.I think if you are pursuing the new CCNA 640-801,811,821 or for those looking for a great reference book. This set is a good buy.