CCNA Study Books

zAbbo

Whats the best ?

I've a Degree in Computers, and work full time in a network environment, branching out on a few qualifications.

Help Appreciated

galactus

Sybex have a good rep.

FYI, cisco.com have a new(ish) prep center for CCNA

gline

How basic is the ccna/intro course??? Is it worth doing, i know a bit about networking not loads, what does it cover???

jayok

<Slow interenet connection - double post - deleted>

jayok

The CCNA course is quite good for understanding networking as it really delves into TCP/IP and routing. The only thing though is the first part of the course focuses on Cisco's product ranges and can be quite boring.

As for getting into networking it's not a bad place to start. When you say networking, this is quite a large field, what area are you looking to get into?

gline

jayok wrote:

The CCNA course is quite good for understanding networking as it really delves into TCP/IP and routing. The only thing though is the first part of the course focuses on Cisco's product ranges and can be quite boring.

As for getting into networking it's not a bad place to start. When you say networking, this is quite a large field, what area are you looking to get into?

i suppose i would be talking about setting up lans for companies, and all the equipment that goes with that - routers, fibre equipment, servers, etc, i used to do structured cabling, so i have an idea of the setup of a network but i dont know how to install cisco equipment and configure it or any other companies either.

gline

you see the company i work for are offering to pay for me to do ccna, but i saw an intro course and i dont know wether it would be better to do that first to get a basic knowledge first and then do ccna, or just to do ccna straightaway, as i would be just going through the books myself and then just do the test.

Static M.e.

I used the Cisco press books and found them quite good, coupled with some practice and lab questions from Celtic Rover http://www.celticrover.com/tig/ccna/ccnareviews.asp
and then some testking a week before the exam and your sorted. I also had a small router to play with but to be honest I didnt use it that much.

jayok

Well personally I found the CCNA ok, it will give you the basic command to use Cisco routers, etc. But it would break down the different type of switching levels, ADSL, etc. You'll normally end up picking this up yourself. I done the CCNA in 1998 and then the CCNP shortly afterward. Most of it was not really beneficial to what I do (install and comission network and systems) as you end up dealing with non-Cisco equipment, 3Com, Nortel anyway.

But if you're gonna get extra money for the course then it's no harm.

jayok

Hmmm... I suppose if you really want to learn networking there's no better was to learn than hands on. Thinking about it setting up LAN's etc, is very straightforward, just plug in a switch and the cables and you're done.

The real networking is in different layer switch, BGP stuff, redundant links, etc. Getting into this is a little more difficult.

p.pete

Best option is possibly to go to a book-shop and browse through a few books for different certifications and see which ones cover the topics most of interest to you.

Cisco is definitely a good place to start, trying to build the motivation to do it myself (have books already). Juniper exams can be started at about the same level as cisco I think but there would be less demand for people with this qualification - although if you do some cisco and then get juniper as well the money could be quite good

Also look at Network+, Server+ etc. exams, a lot of people do these but I don't know how valued they are.

For CCNA study books (title of the thread) Cisco Press books are proably fine. They do a self study book which is fine if you can slog through it yourself (with the aid of tons of sample questions which you'll find on the web). Amazon can be good for reviews of books. Start off by deciding if you want to do the complete Cisco exam or the 2 step approach, Intro and ICND.

p.pete

gline wrote:

you see the company i work for are offering to pay for me to do ccna, but i saw an intro course and i dont know wether it would be better to do that first to get a basic knowledge first and then do ccna, or just to do ccna straightaway, as i would be just going through the books myself and then just do the test.

They'll both cover the same material - basicly CCNA = CCNA Intro + CCNA ICND. So you can do the course in 2 halves, advantage being there's less to focus on for each exam so easier to get a pass.

gline

Thanks for the info on the intro course, that mite be the way to go - CCNA Intro + CCNA ICND. Im really going to be doing ccna just as a starting point then go on to do more advanced stuff, everyone i know that did ccna said it is easy enough to do, i'll get the books soon and start cstudying. Any idea how long it takes to be prepared (rough estimate) for the test - doing 2 evenings a week (2-3 hours an evening)

zAbbo

Thats super gline, thanks for hijacking this thread, back on topic.

I dont have a decent local bookstore that would stock these type of books, so I'll more than likely buy from amazon.com etc.

I'm in two minds as to get the sybex or the ciscopress one's or both.

Any other suggestions are welcome

gline

sorry dude

Static M.e.

Bazh,

Do you live / work in Dublin City? or Galway, I have both the Sybex and the latest Cisco books if you would like to have a look at them.

let me know, PM.

Unfortunatly though Im away from this friday to Sunday week, but you are more than welcome to have a look anytime after that if you want to see what they are like before you buy them.

Their is definatly more covered in the Cisco Press books (You get 2 books per pack, one for the Intro and one for the ICND) than the Sybex book, but alot more people find the Sybex books easier reading.

zAbbo

No, I'm a long way from from either of those places. I've more or less covered most of the ccna topics through college. I might opt for the sybex book, and rely on the internet for anything thats not fully covered.

Static M.e.

No worries best of luck with it.

zAbbo

finally got this - http://www.play.com/play247.asp?page=title&r=BOOK&title=492394

seems good so far