First 2 chapters of CCNA Security cert guide is boring!

Is it just me, or does everyone hate the first few chapters of every cisco press book?

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_maurice wrote: »

Is it just me, or does everyone hate the first few chapters of every cisco press book?

You have to have a good foundation to fully understand the fun stuff. Doing the fun stuff without foundational knowledge will lead to hellish troubleshooting scenarios down the road. Soak it up now so you don't have to clean it up later.

hypnotoad

When I read Odom's Flinstones analogy in ICND1 Chapter 1, I thought "there is no way this book is going to help me at all". Glad I gave it a second chance.

dwtherock

Ah...yes. of course it's boring. They were the longest chapters in the book. When you start talking about vlan hopping, man-in-the middle attacks and dhcp spoofing it gets more fun.

Wait til you learn about VPN tunnels.....no wait....cryptography...then you will blow a brain gasket

luke_bibby

I just read the first two chapters over the last couple of days on the train to work and boy oh boy I think I might stick to BSCI study :S

mattrgee

Yeah they are pretty dull, in fact I really struggled with that whole book. After reading both of Odom's CCNA books the CCNA Security book was a really kick in the nuts. Dull dull dull.

It does get better though, but to be honest I was left pretty uninspired once I had finished it, in fact I'm yet to take the exam although I have been pretty busy with some vitualisation stuff for work.

There is an Exam Cram text for CCNA Security available from Amazon, I just read one for VMware and the book was very high quality and to the point. I will probably buy it prior to taking the exam as a way of refreshing the material.

ilcram19-2

i used to when i stared doing certifications now after 24 books read i go pretty quick dont even notice them

Slowhand

It's a thinning-mechanism. If this stuff was 100% action-packed fun, everybody would be a network engineer.

nel

I think it also depends on the author. Odom was great imo and even the borin stuff was made bearable for me. Some other cisco press stuff ive read hasnt been matched to those same high standards sadly.

Just keep the end goal in mind!

mattrgee

Very true, Odom's books were of a particularly high standard. Unfortunately, the CCNA Security book is the complete opposite. There are a number of sections in the book where paragraphs are simply repeated. First they will be in bullet form, then immediately repeated in a table! The same text! We're talking 2-3 pages of text, word for word repeated. Maybe the author was being paid by the word!!! Very frustrating.

I hate nothing more than low quality books. Grrrrrrr.

captobvious

_maurice wrote: »

Is it just me, or does everyone hate the first few chapters of every cisco press book?

I second that! I just got my Security book today and struggled through the first few chapters. Those were real

, sure hope it picks up or I'll run out of caffeinated drinks soon.