CCNP Switching Exam Cram

I have never configured a switch and I read only Richard Deal's Exam Cram book before getting a 901/100 (you need a 699) on the switching exam (640-504). This book will get you where you're going.

To the point. Covered subject well. Exam I had consisted of vlan, VTP, spantree, mls and multicast. No hsrp questions and a few general design questions.

After taking the BCMSN class, the instructor recommended this book for preparing for the test. He said that everything you need to know is in the BCMSN class materials, but highly recommended the book because of its concise review of the material and the question/answers supplied. Another great thing about this book is its inexpensive price. So I bought the book and wasn't disappointed. The tear-out sheet in the front of the book was my favorite part--it greatly helped me the 30 minutes before my test. Also, I really liked the format of the exam questions in the book--each choice was explained why it was correct or incorrect. I got a 978 on the test, so I have no complaints whatsoever with this book.

Perhaps the most important contribution this book has to exam preparation is (A) the Exam Alert (B) the end of chapter questions. I have been using Kennedy Clarke's Cisco Lan Switching to perpare for switching exam - but when I test myself against the question in this book I failed miserably - probably not getting more than 50% of correct answers. Worst still, on those topic that I am fairly confident like STP, L3 switiching, I run into so many tricks and trap that in the real exam I could have already given out there an then. The author appears to successfully create the kind of blur, unspeakable, tricky, trappy, questions that you normally would encounter in certificaiton exam - the kind of question that sometime you don't know what they are trying to ask you - let alone answer it. Otherwise, the book is a real exam cram - every topic is trimmed to the max - this book is 98% re-written from author previous book on CLSC 1.0 exam - shorter, sharper -- and people with no switching backgroup will not be able to understand it well. No worries, you have Kennedy Clarke's book. ATM is completely thrown out of the book, FDDI is mentioned only on 2 pages, but VLAN routing/L3 switching get 4 chapters and multicast get 3 chapters. ALthough I have yet to sit for switching exam - I believe I will not fail with this book.

This is an excellent study material for preparation toward CCNP 2.0. I used it together with Cisco Press book and it's everything you need to pass the exam. Also, for those interested in having a good knowledge of the so complex Cisco LAN world grab it fast! In 2 days you'll be a "MultilayerSwitched Campus Expert" over a "Collapsed GEC Backbone"!