which BCMSN book?

Its time for me to beat up on the CCNP exams! I need to find out which book to buy, last week i went to the book store and scoped out the new (4th edition) CCNP BCMSN Self study guide (ISBN 1587052733). TOday i went in to buy that and saw they had a different book too. Its called the BCMSN Cert Guide (isbn 1587201712).

Reading through a bit of it i saw that the Self Study guide was claiming to have a bit more than needed for the exam itself, and went into networkign 'basics', the Cert Guide claimed to have everythign needed for the exams.

Which one of these should i buy? Keep in mind im not just looking to pass the test, i am a Network Administrator and need to KNOW everything i can. I do plan to continue on into CCIE eventually.

Also does sybex offer a CCNP book? I really liked their CCNA book and it was GREAT in combination with the cisco press i scored a 949 first try.

Thanks for your time

John

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Comments

jbkm

Almost forgot,

Do you think its a good idea to hit up the BCMSN test first? WHat order do you recommend? THanks

jbkm

I do more L2 switching than routing. However ive been playing with Foundry devices more often than cisco lately. And they are l2 and l3 switches.

mikej412

jbkm wrote:

I do plan to continue on into CCIE eventually.

Then you'd be better off getting both. Read the Self Study Guide to learn the material first, then use the Cert Guide as a 2nd look at the material and review for the exam.

After the CCNA level, Sybex isn't that useful (even if they had a book). I have the old "All-in-One" books for the old CCNP and CCSP and while being a "fun read," they lack a lot of material if you plan to do more than just take exams.