Go CCIE Go!! - A Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert

Agreed Pavel! I’d like to clarify that I personally felt it was a bit weak in select sections, such as BGP (light even for a “recap” resource, IMHO), but *certainly not* the book as a whole. It’s also important to note that the authors are not shy about referencing other material as critical for exam prep. For example, they reference either Doyle Vol I or Vol II at the conclusion of seemingly every chapter.

Book projects are no doubt a major life’s undertaking (I know more than a few authors and can certainly sympathize) and at the end of the day something like a Cert Guide has to be targeted to the exam content, without going too far in one direction or the other. Then there’s overall page count limitation, which I personally face with just about every proposal effort I ever get involved with, so again, I can sympathize. The omission of the complete best path selection process likely just reflects a shift in present day exam content (my recollection is that it was featured prominently in the second edition of the book), which actually isn’t all bad (as I said, I’m not really so much into exams that simply demand rote memorization and regurgitation).

BUT, since I was more or less recommending that the OP (and anyone else in a similar circumstance) purchase/update this book as part of preparing to re-sit the written, I felt the disclaimer to be in order. If it’s my opinion that the book should be on one’s shelf but also that it would have benefited from a more in-depth discussion of a few key areas (so far - I haven’t finished it yet), then I need to express that personal opinion fully and not partially.
Cheers,
Scott

(Also, just as an interesting side note is Odom’s “Acknowledgements” piece - he apparently was not quite so involved with this third edition as the previous, so some of the change in content and style can likely be attributed to some or perhaps many of the sections having been submitted/modified by coauthors this go-around)

From: Pavel Bykov [mailto:slidersv@gmail.com] Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 1:54 PM To: Scott M Vermillion Cc: Anthony Sequeira; Wiz Khan; ccielab@groupstudy.com Subject: Re: Starting my journey again after three years

Scott, there is a shorter version or PA consideration sequence on page 369 of the said book. Also Wendell mentions a lot of important concepts of initial BGP checks, like reachability of the next hop. Or Rules for advertising on page 376. Or RR Cluster_List logic on page 390.
I wouldn’t go as far to call the book “weak” just because of the omission you mentioned. It’s just maybe that Wendell kind of counts that you know Path Attribute logic already. Because certainly no one should count to learn BGP in a summarized book, or in the course of CCIE studies for that matter. BGP is certainly a topic on it’s own, and should be approached as such, with handful amount of practice.
Also, On the “Product Support” page (the new DOC_CD) the BGP Path Attribute sequence can be found in cca. 20 seconds.
I’m not saying that it’s right not to include complete version, because i’d certainly prefer it to be there. The book is packed full of information and was my only resource to pass CCIE Written and get a glimps of things to come in the LAB. As with most CCIE materials, it’s mostly a recap of technology, i.e. helping you remember all the stuff you should already know, pointing out weak areas along the way or explaining the stuff you might have had questions about.

On Mon, Nov 17, 2008 at 8:41 PM, Scott M Vermillion wrote:
Aint that a doozy?!
Actually, I’m all in favor of exam writers taking the time to probe comprehension and knowledge vs. an ability to memorize stuff. You can come up with a mnemonic for anything (Naughty Wombats, LOL) and pass an exam full of questions such as “name the RFC that defines xyz” and so forth. Having said that, to state that the BGP best path selection is outside the scope of the written Cert Guide strikes me as taking things a tad far. This book makes extensive use of the “Key Topic” flag. I interpret those to be identifying knowledge which is critical to passing the exam. They simply could have listed the selection process and then not flagged it as a key point (for the written, of course, if in fact it no longer is).
Oh well, the information is out there and it’s probably best to be finding it in the documentation (or your brain) vs. any book by the time you move on to lab prep. Just struck me as really odd when I read it…

—–Original Message—– From: Anthony Sequeira [mailto:asequeira@internetworkexpert.com] Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 11:22 AM To: Scott M Vermillion Cc: ‘Wiz Khan’; ccielab@groupstudy.com Subject: Re: Starting my journey again after three years
Oh my!
Anthony J. Sequeira, CCIE #15626, CCSI #23251 Senior CCIE Instructor
asequeira@internetworkexpert.com
Internetwork Expert, Inc. http://www.InternetworkExpert.com Toll Free: 877-224-8987 Outside US: 775-826-4344
On Nov 17, 2008, at 1:12 PM, Scott M Vermillion wrote:
> Wiz, > > The blueprint for the written changed quite a bit back in the summer > of ‘07; > definitely upgrade your Cisco Press “Certification Guide,” which has > since > been updated to reflect the new v3.x content. > > But I feel this book is week in some key areas (was shocked the > other day to > see that the BGP best path selection process was considered by the > authors > to be “lengthy” and “outside the scope of this book” - gasp!). > > Best, > > Scott > > —–Original Message—– > From: nobody@groupstudy.com [mailto:nobody@groupstudy.com] On Behalf > Of Wiz > Khan > Sent: Monday, November 17, 2008 8:19 AM > To: ccielab@groupstudy.com > Subject: Starting my journey again after three years > > Greetings, > > I took my first shot at CCIE RS lab exam almost three years ago and > did not > pass it. Since then I am working on L4-L7 stuff and kind of away from > traditional routing and switching world. Now I have decided to go > back and > study again. My written is obviously expired. So that will be my > first step > now. I am working in Networking for past 10 years. over the course > of this > time, I have purchased and studied many cisco press books. Now I > need to go > back to these books and start preparing for my written exam. Couple > of days > ago, when I took my cisco press books from my shelf (all were dusty) > and > started reading, I realize that I still know lots of stuff from > them, and it > felt like I will be wasting lots of time going thru these books, I > really > need some condensed form so I can quickly brush up my skills. Is any > one > aware of any such books? > > At my first lab attempt [almost three years ago] I bought IPexpert > work book > (version 7 I believe) and its proctor guide. The material was great, > unfortunately I did not even complete first 5 labs before sitting in > the > lab. I still have those books, I am wondering if those are still > relavent or > should I buy new work books? > > My current employer may be willing to pay for ccie bootcamp. I am > wondering > if there are any good ones (for written and lab) in New York city? > > > many thanks > Wiz > > > Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net > > _______________________________________________________________________ > Subscription information may be found at: > http://www.groupstudy.com/list/CCIELab.html > > > Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net > > _______________________________________________________________________ > Subscription information may be found at: > http://www.groupstudy.com/list/CCIELab.html
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