CCNP Humble Beginnings

siggnation

Hey All--

I'm starting my CCNP journey today in earnest, hoping to finish in the next ~7-9 months.

I've decided to take on CCNP Route first; and I purchased the CCNP Route Simplified book.

I appreciate any and all advice you guys may have for me, for additional study materials and general advice.

Thanks!

-sigg

thatguy67

Good luck man. Perhaps you can read both BGP Fundamentals and Internet Routing Architectures from Cisco Press.

siggnation

thatguy67 wrote: »

Good luck man. Perhaps you can read both BGP Fundamentals and Internet Routing Architectures from Cisco Press.

Great suggestions man! I will definitely explore those books.

thatguy67

siggnation wrote: »

Great suggestions man! I will definitely explore those books.

Whoops, made a mistake. It's not called BGP Fundamentals, it's called BGP Design and Implementation.

OfWolfAndMan

I see you are using the Simplified books. I can say I highly recommend them, however there are some additional topics in the new exams you'll need to know, including DMVPN. I think those books should cover IPv6 in depth enough as well.

siggnation

OfWolfAndMan wrote: »

I see you are using the Simplified books. I can say I highly recommend them, however there are some additional topics in the new exams you'll need to know, including DMVPN. I think those books should cover IPv6 in depth enough as well.

Thanks for the input Wolf. I read some threads back about the Simplified series, and it was pretty much a favorite to everyone over the FLG and OCG. Perhaps when I arrive at the DMVPN section of the exam objectives I can find a book or another resource to shed light on that new topic.

siggnation

Wow, this ROUTE Simp. book is an absolute monster, a good 1,000 pages or more. Even if I wasn't recovering from an injured arm, this thing would still weigh me down. How did you manage Wolf? What should I expect from SWITCH and T-Shoot Simplified, 2,000 pages?

siggnation

So I noticed some CCNP, and possibly CCIE peeps, have said here that they wished they knew about the Routing TCP/IP Volume I. book as they studied through CCNP ROUTE etc. I went ahead and purchased it and don't know what to expect tomorrow. I hope it will fill in any gaps the Simplified series may leave. After all, I hear it's considered the "holy grail" beginning material for CCIE R/S.

Time will tell! And who knows, this new book may read as hieroglyphics to me!

d4nz1g

I used OCG only, and labbed A LOT.

The old test was kinda simple, don't know about the new one.

Good luck on that!

[Deleted User]

I am starting my CCNP journey as well after the Server+. I would start with Switch first because it is the "easiest" of the 3 exams (content wise). I am starting with CCNP switch first because of this reason.

siggnation

kMastaFlash wrote: »

I am starting my CCNP journey as well after the Server+. I would start with Switch first because it is the "easiest" of the 3 exams (content wise). I am starting with CCNP switch first because of this reason.

K--

I like your style! This became a consideration; however, I want to defeat the ROUTE beast first, so it will all be "downhill." Good luck man, we will both need it!

Hondabuff

This book is super handy to have and helped me out a ton. I used it for review once you are done reading the OCG.

http://www.amazon.com/Routing-Switching-Reference-642-902-642-813/dp/1587202840

siggnation

Hondabuff wrote: »

This book is super handy to have and helped me out a ton. I used it for review once you are done reading the OCG.

CCNP Routing and Switching Quick Reference (642-902, 642-813, 642-832): Brent Stewart: 9781587202841: Amazon.com: Books

That looks great man. A soft cover would be nice to have. I noticed the author released a newer version pertaining to the 300-115 exam, but only available in Kindle version, which might not be bad to have.

DKempeneers

Studying 300-101 with FLG.
I use CBT, Kevin Wallace & INE's videos too.
I defently need take more labs. Ideally 1h/d

ninjaturtle

siggnation wrote: »

So I noticed some CCNP, and possibly CCIE peeps, have said here that they wished they knew about the Routing TCP/IP Volume I. book as they studied through CCNP ROUTE etc. I went ahead and purchased it and don't know what to expect tomorrow. I hope it will fill in any gaps the Simplified series may leave. After all, I hear it's considered the "holy grail" beginning material for CCIE R/S.

Time will tell! And who knows, this new book may read as hieroglyphics to me!

I think that was a good move to purchase Routing TCP/IP Volume 1. I've been thinking about picking it up myself, and powering through it. Get a nice solid understanding without the pressure of the exam. The only reason why I haven't purchased it, is I have a laundry list of reading for the data center CCNP/CCIE discipline to power through.

I really wish I could take a couple months off work, and just read Cisco books all day. I just need my comfy chair, a cup of coffee(constantly brewing) and my Cisco books. Maybe a little rainymood.com in the background for added concentration. Who am I kidding!? That will never happen, but one can dream.

siggnation

ninjaturtle wrote: »

I think that was a good move to purchase Routing TCP/IP Volume 1. I've been thinking about picking it up myself, and powering through it. Get a nice solid understanding without the pressure of the exam. The only reason why I haven't purchased it, is I have a laundry list of reading for the data center CCNP/CCIE discipline to power through.

I really wish I could take a couple months off work, and just read Cisco books all day. I just need my comfy chair, a cup of coffee(constantly brewing) and my Cisco books. Maybe a little rainymood.com in the background for added concentration. Who am I kidding!? That will never happen, but one can dream.

Boy, was it ever a great purchase. The book is awesome, highly informative and concise, a must have. I took the liberty to purchase Volume II.

I searched high and low for Vol. II second edition and found a link on Amazon, but it looked suspicious so I held off that one and purchased the original edition with established reviews.

Ninja-- I hope you eventually get your time of Cisco bliss in. Luckily, I can study this stuff while working and have the weekend to do labs.

OfWolfAndMan

siggnation wrote: »

Boy, was it ever a great purchase. The book is awesome, highly informative and concise, a must have. I took the liberty to purchase Volume II.

I searched high and low for Vol. II second edition and found a link on Amazon, but it looked suspicious so I held off that one and purchased the original edition with established reviews.

Ninja-- I hope you eventually get your time of Cisco bliss in. Luckily, I can study this stuff while working and have the weekend to do labs.

I will say both of these books are excellent on routing in general. However, they're also a little obsolete in places (RIPv1, legacy Multicast protocols, etc). If you want a more current book, especially if you plan on going beyond this certification, check out this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Routing-Cisco-IOS-Understanding-Implementing/dp/1587144239/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1430698948&sr=8-1&keywords=ip+routing

Not only does it introduce you to more current topics like named EIGRP mode and MP-BGP, but also a vast array of modern additions to each of the protocols. I will tell you right now when you start running the legacy EIGRP and OSPF metrics on 10 Gig and 40 Gig infrastructures, you're in for a world of hurt. This book will address that as well. Also, I know it's not on the CCNP exam, but the Multicast stuff is current as well (The only thing they don't mention is the Multicast protocol that completely destroys PIM in the near future).

And as for the large book, I had to use my backpack

fredrikjj

I searched high and low for Vol. II second edition and found a link on Amazon, but it looked suspicious so I held off that one and purchased the original edition with established reviews.

I have asked Cisco Press and that's actually a real book that comes out later this year (http://www.ciscopress.com/store/routing-tcp-ip-volume-ii-ccie-professional-development-9781587054709). I wouldn't worry about additional books at this point though because something like the OCG (the only book that's out for the new exam so far, right?) is hard enough. For example, there really isn't a huge difference between the OSPF information in a CCNP book and Routing TCP/IP vol 1. It's possible that it has more refence type material like packet formats and such, but that's not really super relevant.

Spend more time in the lab instead and take advantage of the fact that things like GNS3, VIRL, IOU, lets you do almost everything that you could do with an actual router. Look at the OSPF database, look at debug output, etc. Do exercises like building an ospf network and then predicting what the database will look like and what every LSA will contain.

OfWolfAndMan

fredrikjj wrote: »

I have asked Cisco Press and that's actually a real book that comes out later this year (Routing TCP/IP, Volume II: CCIE Professional Development, 2nd Edition). I wouldn't worry about additional books at this point though because something like the OCG (the only book that's out for the new exam so far, right?) is hard enough. For example, there really isn't a huge difference between the OSPF information in a CCNP book and Routing TCP/IP vol 1. It's possible that it has more refence type material like packet formats and such, but that's not really super relevant.

Spend more time in the lab instead and take advantage of the fact that things like GNS3, VIRL, IOU, lets you do almost everything that you could do with an actual router. Look at the OSPF database, look at debug output, etc. Do exercises like building an ospf network and then predicting what the database will look like and what every LSA will contain.

WHOA! Great news to hear about that! Thanks fredrik! I'll definitely be pre-ordering that one.

Hondabuff

I really enjoyed the GNS3 books. Books Archives - GNS3vault They are simple and to the point. Great change of gears from the OCG and the Simplified book. The Route Simplified book I cuss at every time I see it on my desk.

siggnation

Superb feedback guys, thanks! Fred-- I will absolutely grab that edition at a future date. Since I've labbed the basics over and over, I think I will acquaint myself to more debugging and checking the database. I'll admit upon looking at show output of "show ip ospf database" that I still need a few minutes to process what has populated.

Skynet9

May i ask do you have experience in the field? if so, how much?

ninjaturtle

Hondabuff wrote: »

I really enjoyed the GNS3 books. Books Archives - GNS3vault They are simple and to the point. Great change of gears from the OCG and the Simplified book. The Route Simplified book I cuss at every time I see it on my desk.

+1

Oh heck yes!! I have all the CCNP books and those were priceless. Straight to the point, and very easy to understand. I'm thinking about getting his ASA book.

siggnation

ninjaturtle wrote: »

+1

Oh heck yes!! I have all the CCNP books and those were priceless. Straight to the point, and very easy to understand. I'm thinking about getting his ASA book.

Those look pretty good and I may snatch one up via Amazon. I have been leering at my Route Simplified book lately too! TCP/TP Vol I and II to the rescue.

joelsfood

Routing TCP/IP Volume 1 IS the Bible. I have it on my shelf here and I don't even do route switch (or not much), as I'm more of a datacenter guy. The information in that book, even as old as it is, still directly applies to every single CCIE track in one way or anotehr, even if it is just helping you understand how a CCIE thinks

gorebrush

You guys get it a lot easier, there's bags and bags of material out there for CCNP nowadays. Not so much when I completed mine... (2010)

Best of luck on your CCNP endeavour, btw!

siggnation

Welcome guys!

Joel-- it's really an intriguing book, and Vol. II arrived today, so I'll glance at that later.

gore--

Thanks! I agree, we're spoiled now.

ninjaturtle

joelsfood wrote: »

Routing TCP/IP Volume 1 IS the Bible. I have it on my shelf here and I don't even do route switch (or not much), as I'm more of a datacenter guy. The information in that book, even as old as it is, still directly applies to every single CCIE track in one way or anotehr, even if it is just helping you understand how a CCIE thinks

No no noooo don't say that please, now I have to buy it. This freakin Amazon cart is never empty! It's been on the back of my mind. I'm totally focused on the data center track, but I feel I need it for solid understanding. Not to mention, help me down the line in the interview when they drill me.

Always good to get feedback from you guys.

Cheers!!

Trashman

Thanks for starting this thread, siggnation.
It inspired me to start off with How to Master CCNP ROUTE instead off FLG.

Kicking off ROUTE first here as well.

Good luck man!

siggnation

Trashman wrote: »

Thanks for starting this thread, siggnation.
It inspired me to start off with How to Master CCNP ROUTE instead off FLG.

Kicking off ROUTE first here as well.

Good luck man!

You're welcome and thank you!

Glad I could help in any direct or indirect way. I will update this thread periodically as I encounter different concepts during my ROUTE studies. Feel free to post any questions in here.

Cheers.

shyguyIT

Is the How to Master CCNP Route book updated to the current version of the test? I was looking at the hardcover but in the description it says it was published in 2013.