CCNA Exam Certification Guide #640-607 [With CDROM]

This book covers every aspect of the CCNA exam thoroughly. If you are one of these people who like to have every little detail explained to you right down to the most miniscule concept then Wendell Odom's book is for you. Great buy to prepare for the exam. If I have one negative thing to say about this book is that it weighs a ton.

Wendell Odom has, yet again, created an excellent study guide for the latest CCNA exam.I teach Cisco courses at a large, Chicago based training center. Since we are not a Cisco authorized training center, we do not have access to the Cisco course materials. I use this book since it is as close as you are going to get to the Cisco course material. No one is going to write a book that compliments the exam material as closely as Cisco Press. As an instructor, I appreciate the depth in which the material is covered. This book does not cover exactly what is required for the exam. It covers significantly more. Given the competitive nature of the industry today, enough is not enough. You can't enter this industry and be average if you want to succeed. In the past, I have used the Sybex material for our training courses. Regularly, I had students that learned enough from the book to have questions the book didn't answer. The one complaint I have about this book is the speed in which the material gets deep. There is little ramp up time for a newbie to the material. If you are brand new to the IT industry and Cisco, you may want to start with a more watered down book, such as the Sybex 607 book and graduate to this book for additional detail.This book has an excellent assortment of charts, graphs and pictures for the visual learner. Read, see and do are all required parts of the learning process. I find I learn best when I read about a concept, refer to a diagram to solidify the detail, and then, if possible, do it.Lastly, the CD that comes with the book is excellent. In the past, Cisco's CCNA CDs have been mediocre at best. The new CD has the complete book in PDF format and a separate "topic focused" study guide for the last step of exam preparation. The practice exams on the CD are as close as you will come to the real thing (without paying).If you want to learn about Cisco, understand their products and get your CCNA certification. Stop here. You have found your book.

I will agree with others that this book covers everything you will need to pass the exam, BUT..... as with the practice exam and the eSim (supplementary study tool), the exams are questionable. I received a 77% on a test which was false. After review of every question, I found 6 questions that the exam said was wrong, but were in fact correct. Also, the practical simulations graded wrong as well. I accomplished the goal that the question asked, but the exam interpreted the answer as wrong.Again, as far as the book is concerned, the knowledge included is incredible. As for the tests.... well you make the call.

With this book and my knowledge of cisco through their networking acadamy it helped me solidify my knowledge. With this book I passed the CCNA exam, and it was my only study guide. Also, I passed the exam the first time, with a 930. I recomend this book for all the people who are goning to take the CCNA exam.Clarence H. Cannon IVCCNA

Having taught the CCNA course with Cisco Press providing the books I found that the Wendell Odom certainly goes far beyond the exam. With the new 640-607 exam out it is important to make sure that the material you study from is up to date and this book takes care of that. What you have is over 1,000 pages that cover the exam objectives and then some. Odom has taken a great deal of time to ensure that the material does exceed the exam. This book is more than a study guide it is a great reference manual to have. The book includes over 25 scenarios, 35 tasks, 8 labs and an appendix with 25 subnetting questions. The subnetting questions are difficult but if you use the manual to learn the techniques you should have no problem. Also each chapter has review questions and answers included. This book is natural progression for the classroom instruction but can be used in a self study mode as well. The cd-rom included has over 300 questions in the new exam format so you have a chance to see the exam before going live. Overall Odom has once again proven that he knows what you need to pass.