How to read through Odoms book

mn_

Hello peers, I just wanted some tips on how to read through and understand the information in this 900 page book version 100-01 CCENT...i just feel intimidated by the thickness of it...any input is welcome. thanks for ur time guys

WilyOne

Just take one page at a time.

NetworkVeteran

Take notes.

smcclenaghan

I had previous experience in 2/3 of the material. Not a lot, but enough to keep interested.

That said. I read each chapter twice (sort of). First I read it without taking notes. I just tried to get the gist. Then I made a second pass while making index cards of all the objectives and anything which just seemed really relevant. After the second pass, I did the questions and usually got them right by that point. (There were a few tricky ones - esp the one about autonegotiation and duplex/speed settings which has been posted about a lot in this and other forums).

After I knew a chapter that well, I used the commands in my lab. (I bought three switches and three routers off ebay for something like $300 - it might have been a little more). I kept a separate notebook just for commands.

I flipped through the index cards and began removing the ones I knew by heart. I also took practice tests (from the CD).

I tried Lammle's CCNA book but it wasn't for me.

Last thing, get used to hearing these two phrases in Odom's books:
'in other words" and "X does a wide variety of things. In particular, X does Y and Z."

Oh, second to last thing. If you have a PDF of the ICND1 or ICND2 books through unofficial sources, prepare for many (intentional) errors, particularly with the review questions. I have the hardcover books but used the PDFs on my Ipad and found many inconsistencies even though the versions matches.

Good luck.

JustFred

Regarding the PDF versions, if you did buy the books then it comes with a 70% or more discount voucher you can use to purchase the PDF versions of the book directly from Ciscopress. They are quite handy if you enjoy reading on tablets or laptop while on the road.

bbarrick

I just finished the book. I had a notebook and I wrote down every Key Topic in every Chapter. Reading straight through didn't really give me time to understand it, but copying those down helped quite a bit.

The_Expert

What a timely question... I just ordered this book.

Thanks for the tips! I like the idea of reading the chapter twice and then taking good notes + practicing on a real switch. This process seems to invovle all the senses.

smcclenaghan

JustFred wrote: »

Regarding the PDF versions, if you did buy the books then it comes with a 70% or more discount voucher you can use to purchase the PDF versions of the book directly from Ciscopress. They are quite handy if you enjoy reading on tablets or laptop while on the road.

Yeah, I did notice that later, but frankly couldn't justify spending extra money to buy books I already paid for. Plus, they didn't appear to be PDF when I looked, but instead something through Safari books (which was completely unusable to me during the trial). No way in the world I was going to pay for that. If a legitimate PDF book is for sale (at a reasonable discount), I might be interested.

The p2p PDF versions out there are pretty sinister though. They are 99% correct with a handful of intentional errors thrown in. Examples are changing "yes" to "no" in the table regarding whether RIP supports autosummarization, omitting the inside/outside keyword from the access-list command examples, intentionally misnumbering question numbers and removing or adding "not" in some sentences.

sratakhin

Just read it before you go to sleep. You'll probably fall asleep quicker

gadav478

Take notes and read when you know you will gain something from it. No sense in reading for the sake of reading and missing concepts. Read thoroughly.

Roguetadhg

One just doesn't read Odom's book.

It's far simplier to read it paragraph by paragraph. Scribble on the page, take the little bit of time to break down what's being thrown at you.

At a glance; My books look pretty horrible, but going back through them is far quicker in the future.

alxx

any networking book - +1 on taking notes and summarising in your own words plus doing end of chapter questions

high light the important bits , then take notes

Jimehboo

I just started reading Odom's book and was wondering the same thing.

I'm not use to Odom's style and I was mass reading and my mind started to feel like mush... lol.

So I decided to try something different and break it up some. Now each day I do one thing in my list and cycle though.

1) Read a chapter slowly
2) Watch a CBT Nugget and take notes (or two on the weekends)
3) Do lab work while reviewing my notes & do the "do I know this" questions

I'm not super strict, sometimes I'll do videos for two days, vice verse... I'm finding it helps to mix things up.

I also try not to read this book when I'm tired. The other day I started reading and half way through the chapter I feel asleep. 30 mins later I woke up and finished the chapter haha. Stick with it.


This is a good thread. Thanks all for the tips.

WilyOne

What I don't like about the Cisco Press books is you have to jump between books to cover a topic fully. I understand the reason for the split, for those taking the ICND1/ICND2 exams separately, but it's annoying.

Roguetadhg

You never fully 'cover' a topic within CCENT or CCNA. Heck, even within CCNP... I'll say it this way: CCIE holders say they are amazed at what they still don't know.

Covering everything isn't an option. Especially not for CCENT/CCNA.

WilyOne

Fair enough, but clearly I was speaking within the context of what is needed for the CCNA exam, and the way the Odom books split coverage between chapters in the ICND1 and ICND2 books. Most topics have you jumping between both books.