CCNP level Books

So all I have left is the Tshoot exam but what I was wondering if anyone knows of any good design books. Not the CCDA/DP path books but some
solid non cert books that could possibly lead into CCIE level knowledge.
Really trying to push foward so I can get away from this job where my employer always gives the "lets not reinvent the wheel" statement. Heck,
I am not even allowed to implement basic security options on switches such as BPDUguard for the end user side. Meh, gonna stop ranting, what I get for working for the government I suppose, hehe.

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Bl8ckr0uter

Chipsch wrote: »

So all I have left is the Tshoot exam but what I was wondering if anyone knows of any good design books. Not the CCDA/DP path books but some
solid non cert books that could possibly lead into CCIE level knowledge.
Really trying to push foward so I can get away from this job where my employer always gives the "lets not reinvent the wheel" statement. Heck,
I am not even allowed to implement basic security options on switches such as BPDUguard for the end user side. Meh, gonna stop ranting, what I get for working for the government I suppose, hehe.

In prep for the CCNP I have been going through Network Warrior and Routing TCP/IP Vol I. Those are good books. Also Routing TCP/IP Vol II seems to be held in high regard. Check out the CCIE reading list and starting picking some stuff out.

Book List - CCIE - Cisco Systems

ciscog33k

I think that for BSCI, the cert guide isn't quite enough, if only because it poorly explains a couple concepts. I read routing tcp/ip vol 1 & 2, but I wouldn't be surprised if the authorized self-study guide made up for the deficiencies of the cert guide. In particular, it's very weak in explaining OSPF network types and their use over frame-relay. It's not a bad idea to read doyle anyway though. He goes in to things like packet structures for routing protocols that are much more info than you need for the CCNP, but he also provides very clear and concise explanations of things, and he gives good examples with full explanations.

BCMSN is covered fine by the cert guide imo. Depending on how well you study what's in the book, you may or may not pass the exam because some wireless stuff is omitted from the book. I don't know whether the authorized self-study guide covers the missing stuff, but Chris Bryant's study guide did.

ISCW is covered well enough by the cert guide in terms of content. Make sure you spend a fair amount of time in SDM v2.3 because it comes up a lot on the exam. There are some really stupid questions on the ISCW exam reminiscent of crappy computers 101 classes that don't test comprehension at all, but whether you memorized the name of sub-options in some menu in microsoft word... I found the exam very very easy, but some of the questions pissed me off as a matter of principle.

ONT... Use the exam cert guide from the QOS course written by Wendell Odom. It's far superior to the ONT cert guide, but you'll want the ONT guide too, because there's a couple chapters not covered in the QOS guide.

If you want CCIE-level knowledge, definitely get both volumes of Doyle Routing TCP/IP. Get the Odom QOS book. It's a cert guide but it's very comprehensive and extremely well-written, and I believe it's what most CCIE candidates use for studying for the CCIE.

Also, even if you decide to do TSHOOT instead of ISCW+ONT, I highly recommend at least reading the IPSEC sections of ISCW and all of QOS. I think cisco screwed up with the new NP. Not having QOS and IPSEC on there is just stupid imo.

edit: doh... you already completed bsci and bcmsn...

Ryan82

Great post ciscog33k, thanks.

I certainly agree on all fronts and particularly with the recommendation to review the ipsec material from ISCW and the QoS from ONT. In fact, that is my main motivation for completing the current CCNP track. I feel that these are important topics for any real network engineer to understand whether or not they are tested on in your studies.