Starter Books?

So over the past several months I have complied a list of books I want to get based on what people have said they have read, recommended resources from vendors, etc. This is the list I have compiled so far:

Your CCIE Lab Success Strategy: The Non-Technical Guidebook
by Mr. Dean Bahizad, Mr. Vivek Tiwari (Paperback)

Developing IP Multicast Networks, Volume I
by Beau Williamson (Hardcover)

MPLS for Cisco Networks (Cisco CCIE Routing and Switching v5.0 Book 2)
by Stuart Fordham (Kindle Edition)

BGP for Cisco Networks: A CCIE v5 guide to the Border Gateway Protocol (Cisco CCIE Routing and Switching v5.0) (Volume 1)
by Mr Stuart D Fordham (Paperback)

VPNs and NAT for Cisco Networks: A CCIE v5 guide to Tunnels, DMVPN, VPNs and NAT (Cisco CCIE Routing and Switching v5.0) (Volume 3)
by Mr Stuart D Fordham (Paperback)

MPLS Fundamentals
by Luc De Ghein (Paperback)

Routing TCP/IP, Volume 1 (2nd Edition)
by Jeff Doyle, Jennifer Carroll (Hardcover)

Routing TCP/IP, Volume II: CCIE Professional Development (2nd Edition)
by Jeff Doyle, Jennifer Carroll (Hardcover))

IPv6 Fundamentals: A Straightforward Approach to Understanding IPv6
by Rick Graziani (Paperback))

Cisco QOS Exam Certification Guide (IP Telephony Self-Study) (2nd Edition)
by Wendell Odom, Michael J. Cavanaugh (Hardcover)

End-to-End QoS Network Design: Quality of Service for Rich-Media & Cloud Networks (2nd Edition) (Networking Technology)
by Tim Szigeti, Christina Hattingh, Robert Barton

Troubleshooting IP Routing Protocols (CCIE Professional Development Series) (paperback)
by Zaheer Aziz CCIE, Johnson Liu, Abe Martey CCIE

Interconnections: Bridges, Routers, Switches, and Internetworking Protocols (2nd Edition)
by Radia Perlman (Hardcover)

Internetworking with TCP/IP Volume One (6th Edition)
by Douglas E. Comer (Hardcover)

CCIE Routing and Switching v5.0 Official Cert Guide, Volume 1 (5th Edition)
by Narbik Kocharians, Peter Paluch (Hardcover)

CCIE Routing and Switching v5.0 Official Cert Guide, Volume 2 (5th Edition)
by Narbik Kocharians, Terry Vinson (Hardcover)

TCP / Ip Illustrated, Volume 1 - The Protocols
by Fall (Paperback)

TCP/IP Illustrated: The Implementation, Vol. 2
by Gary R. Wright, W. Richard Stevens (Hardcover)

TCP/IP Illustrated, Vol. 3: TCP for Transactions, HTTP, NNTP, and the UNIX Domain Protocols
by W. Richard Stevens (Hardcover)

My plan is not to delve deep into R/S studies just yet. I have a far end goal to achieve at least written by 2020, but for now I want to get on track doing some deeper level learning. I am a slow reader as I have tons of distractions in my personal life so I don't plan on going cram style for something like this any time soon (I still have my NP to finish anyway).

So with that said what I am really looking for are good books to start with initially. I have my eyes set on less exam tailored books that won't lose as much level of their relevance with a new exam release (which I expect to happen when I am officially getting ready for IE prep). So I am looking to avoid the exam guide books for now.

I think a good place to focus on initial reading will be the following:

Internetworking with TCP/IP Volume One (6th Edition)
by Douglas E. Comer (Hardcover)

^^ This one I am really interested in hearing people's opinions and boy is it expensive!!! It has good reviews and I received a personal recommendation from one of the SMEs at my company to get it too, so its on the horizons.

Routing TCP/IP, Volume 1 (2nd Edition)
by Jeff Doyle, Jennifer Carroll (Hardcover)

Routing TCP/IP, Volume II: CCIE Professional Development (2nd Edition)
by Jeff Doyle, Jennifer Carroll (Hardcover))

^^ These two I think are a no brainer, I heard miles of great talks about these books so these are on the 1st to get list for sure.

BGP for Cisco Networks: A CCIE v5 guide to the Border Gateway Protocol (Cisco CCIE Routing and Switching v5.0) (Volume 1)
by Mr Stuart D Fordham (Paperback)

VPNs and NAT for Cisco Networks: A CCIE v5 guide to Tunnels, DMVPN, VPNs and NAT (Cisco CCIE Routing and Switching v5.0) (Volume 3)
by Mr Stuart D Fordham (Paperback)

^^ These two spark my interests initially because they are cheap and I am weak in these areas so they might be a good resource to get just because of the price point but also because of the subject matter.

TCP / Ip Illustrated, Volume 1 - The Protocols
by Fall (Paperback)

^^ -- I also enjoy the price point of these one as well which I've heard is good supplemental resource.

IPv6 Fundamentals: A Straightforward Approach to Understanding IPv6
by Rick Graziani (Paperback))

^^ IPv6 is also a weak topic of mine I need some a good time investment to make to understand better.

For now i'd say those 7 are quite an investment of time and money.

Thoughts? Also if there are some other books not on my list you think are good reads for IE prep or to set out to accomplish my short term goal of getting some initial studies in feel free to chime in.

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Comments

Iristheangel

The date for release on this book is a bit of a placeholder. The Ciscopress lady on FB said they were targeting for April: CCIE Routing and Switching v5.1 Foundations: Bridging the gap between CCNP and CCIE

koz24

I can't wait for the Narbik book. TBh I would start with that book. You will most likely be getting NP right when it comes out too.

Danielh22185

Iristheangel wrote: »

The date for release on this book is a bit of a placeholder. The Ciscopress lady on FB said they were targeting for April: CCIE Routing and Switching v5.1 Foundations: Bridging the gap between CCNP and CCIE

Nice I've heard about that one coming out soon and I definitely plan on getting it, seems up my ally for my current study focuses.

creamy_stew

Why don't you take a year or two to do the CCNP:RS? That way you have a way forward with plenty of checkpoints and you'll get a cert as well.

As for the books you've listed. The ones I know are excellent, so you've clearly done your research. I would just suggest you do the CCNP:RS + any CCNA's that apply to your everyday job first.

creamy_stew

Iristheangel wrote: »

The date for release on this book is a bit of a placeholder. The Ciscopress lady on FB said they were targeting for April: CCIE Routing and Switching v5.1 Foundations: Bridging the gap between CCNP and CCIE

I don't want to pee on Narbiks delicious armenian pizza, but if this is based on his old "The Gap" workbook, I just want to encourage people to wait for the TOC to be available before you pre-order.

The old one was basically focused on making sure you had outstanding command of the CCNP:rs. Plus a little bit of QoS, perhaps.

I was expecting it to go through:
*BGP (at the now defunct CCIP level)
*MPLS
*Multicast
*QoS

That, to me, would have been the gap.

Iristheangel

This is a brand new book he wrote from scratch. A couple people and I are doing the technical editing for it.

creamy_stew

Iristheangel wrote: »

This is a brand new book he wrote from scratch. A couple people and I are doing the technical editing for it.

Yikes!

Well, anyway, I didn't mean to say Narbiks "Gap" wasn't good. In fact it seemed excellent. It's just that I thought of it as more of a challenge-lab guide to CCNP than a bridge between CCNP and CCIE.

Iristheangel

I never looked at his Gap stuff. I just finally got my hand on his CCIE R&S workbooks. Should be fun!

Danielh22185

creamy_stew wrote: »

Why don't you take a year or two to do the CCNP:RS? That way you have a way forward with plenty of checkpoints and you'll get a cert as well.

As for the books you've listed. The ones I know are excellent, so you've clearly done your research. I would just suggest you do the CCNP:RS + any CCNA's that apply to your everyday job first.

I am getting close to being done with NP this is why I am researching into IE stuff. Getting an NA on other stuff is going to be a waste of time for me. R/S is a large amount of my focus day-to-day functions. + Most of the IE stuff touches on such a wide spectrum of other elements of networking its best for me to take my studies into IE next.

Danielh22185

So I think I've got my first few lined up: (I would have liked to get more but one of them is a price hog).

Your CCIE Lab Success Strategy: The Non-Technical Guidebook by Mr. Dean Bahizad
^^ Just getting this one for the fun of the read to see what I am getting myself into

Internetworking with TCP/IP Volume One (6th Edition) by Douglas E. Comer
^^ The price hog but a good one I don't think I can pass up

TCP / Ip Illustrated, Volume 1 - The Protocols by Fall
^^ Supplementary TCP/IP related reading and the price point was nice. Also heard is a great one.

VPNs and NAT for Cisco Networks: A CCIE v5 guide to Tunnels, DMVPN, VPNs and NAT (Cisco CCIE Routing and Switching v5.0) (Volume 3) by Mr Stuart D Fordham
^^ Cheap one but should help as I am a bit weak in this area and tend to deal with this stuff from time-to-time at work so I want to become a better troubleshooting resource.

koz24

creamy_stew wrote: »

Yikes!

Well, anyway, I didn't mean to say Narbiks "Gap" wasn't good. In fact it seemed excellent. It's just that I thought of it as more of a challenge-lab guide to CCNP than a bridge between CCNP and CCIE.

Even if that's all it is, it will still be useful for CCNPs. More labs the better

Iris, would you be able to answer if the "Gap" book is on par or harder than 101 Labs for CCNP by the Simplified guys? That would at least give us an idea of where the book is in relation to the CCNP->CCIE gap. I thought 101 Labs for CCNP over-prepared me for the CCNP exams.

Iristheangel

@Koz24 - I don't know yet. He's going to have us edit the book shortly so I'll let you know when I take a look

I used the 101 Labs for CCNP book so I have a good gauge of where that book is. I know he wrote this one from scratch which is why it was delayed for awhile. He was busting his butt getting it done.

Danielh22185

I just got my books in the other day. First impressions so far without any reading yet...

I REALLY hope Internetworking with TCP/IP Volume One (6th Edition) is worth it. I was blown away about how physically small the book is. I expected the book to be a monster in size after paying $120+.

Iristheangel

BTW, Jeff Doyle is coming out with TCP/IP Vol 2 2nd edition in June: http://www.amazon.com/Routing-TCP-IP-Professional-Development/dp/1587054701/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1455025360&sr=8-2&keywords=tcp+ip+volume+2

I wouldn't recommend buying the first Vol 2 and just got for 2nd edition or have a Safari books subscription

lostindaylight

Danielh22185 wrote: »

I just got my books in the other day. First impressions so far without any reading yet...

I REALLY hope Internetworking with TCP/IP Volume One (6th Edition) is worth it. I was blown away about how physically small the book is. I expected the book to be a monster in size after paying $120+.

Daniel,

It's a terrific book. Great purchase.

-lid

Danielh22185

Iristheangel wrote: »

BTW, Jeff Doyle is coming out with TCP/IP Vol 2 2nd edition in June: http://www.amazon.com/Routing-TCP-IP-Professional-Development/dp/1587054701/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1455025360&sr=8-2&keywords=tcp+ip+volume+2

I wouldn't recommend buying the first Vol 2 and just got for 2nd edition or have a Safari books subscription

Ya I have Routing TCP/IP vol1/2 next on my radar.