Customer Reviews

Building Scalable Cisco Internetworks (BSCI) (Authorized Self-Study Guide) (3rd Edition)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this book because it is (so far) the only one available from Cisco Press. I thought I'd be able to get a head start on passing the exam. It's not worth it. Wait for the official guide due out in a few weeks.

The author of this book is very fond of the acronyms, which is maddening to someone trying to learn IS-IS. Terms are not always clearly defined before being used in context, which also gets very frustrating. The correct answers that you need to learn for the test are often clouded with real world technicalities. These technicalities are usually minute enough you'd never actually run across it in practice, and they confused my studying more than once. This book also doesn't have enough detail to get you through the new test and will need to be supplemented by other studying. Without any kind of practice test, you are far better off waiting for the official book. I wish I had.

To study for Cisco exams, I typically purchase a Cisco Press Exam Certification Guide vs. a Study Guide such as this book. The Exam Certification Guides tend to focus strictly on the exam vs. being a print version of the class, so they may be a bit more streamlined, have diagrams and tables to study, and include practice questions on a CD. However, when I needed to recertify my CCNP/CCDP in second quarter 2007, I chose to take the BSCI exam and the Exam Certification Guide was not yet shipping for exam 642-901. The only book available was this Teare/Paquet Study Guide (3rd edition). So I bought it and used it as the only study material for my BSCI exam. I passed, although it took me more than one attempt. I think the fact that I didn't pass on the first try is a reflection of the difficulty of the test vs. anything lacking in this book.

The material is well written and, as far as routing books go, an easy read. Lots of helpful sample router displays, including debugs so you can see how a process works. Being a third edition, most of the bugs have been worked out. I found very few typos.

The summaries at the end of each chapter are way too terse. They are typically less than a page in length and basically list the main topics of that chapter. When going back to review a chapter, you need to go through the chapter page by page rather than depending on the summary. Probably no big deal if you aren't using the book as an exam study guide. But for the exam, use a highlighter as you read so you can mark things to review/cram later. There are helpful "Key Points" listed from time to time in the chapters.

The review questions at the end of each chapter are pretty good. The format of the questions seems to change part way through the book - I'm guessing different authors wrote questions for different chapters.

There are also configuration exercises for each chapter. If you have access to a lab, you can use these exercises to configure and test the chapter material. If you don't have live equipment, you can still peruse the material to reinforce your learning. Router displays are included in the text.

The book has no CD, which means no portable electronic version of the book and no quiz software. You do have 45 day online access to an Internet version of the book, but it can't be downloaded to your hard drive. Since I spent my lunch hours studying away from my desk, and therefore away from Internet access, I ended up lugging an 800 page book in my laptop bag, carrying both the book and my laptop eight blocks a day between my parking lot and desk. After a month of this, I am two inches shorter.

But overall, I recommend this book for general reference and/or BSCI 642-901 exam study. For exam study, it might be nice to supplement the book with some testing software from another source when that becomes available.

It is not accurate for Cisco Press to deem this a self study guide as the labs provided (11 routers and a switch) are well beyond the means (or space) available for most people pursuing a self study option. It is also easier to gain a better understanding of IGP's from Routing TCP/IP Volume 1, which I has to do to supplement my studies. In hindsight I feel I should have waited for the BSCI Exam Guide to be published.

This book has a lot of detail and is very accurate. It allowed me to pass the BSCI test on my second try. I did not pass on the first try because I only used the Exam Certification Guide (which is a lousy book, full of mistakes, and not nearly enough information to pass the test). After failing the test the first time, I read this book and found many of the exam questions and diagrams actually in the book. I was able to pass the test the next week.
I also liked the labs at the end of the chapters. While I did not have enough routers to duplicate their setup, just seeing the complete set of commands put together in one place to accomplish a task was very helpful.
This is a must read to pass the BSCI exam (642-901).

When it comes to training, I have experienced two distinct types. Instruction from a "Gunny" (Gunnery Sergeant USMC) will be effective and will help one to avoid making the trip home in a body bag. Instruction from a non-military academy trained Lieutenant will be professionally delivered and will cover a lot of theory that was acquired in a class or classes somewhere. The authors have done a great job of presenting theory and thus this book could be classified as a reference manual. However, one new to this material is apt to miss one or more of this book's "twists in the road" and end up destroying a tree. Buy this book for reference, but also invest in one that has a more hands on feel to it.

This book was confusing. I have passed the BCMSN a few months back and a lot of that credit goes to a well written book. However I will be surprised if I pass the BSCI after reading this. The authors do not clearly explain things or even explain them in a logical order. In order to understand something I often times have to flip back and forth in the book.
The one good thing is the abundance of labs. She put a lot at the end of each chapter and that counts for a lot. However, it would have been nice to have the books formatted the same way Wendell Odom does.

Having recently passed the BSCI I can promise you that this book must be on your reading list. Please see my review of the Official Exam Certification Guide on my other book recommendations.

The author does a GREAT job explaining topics and I felt a better grasp of the subject matter after reading. Make sure you know the end of chapter question cold. Above all else make sure you can make things work in a lab environment!

There are two main advantages that this book has over others: first, it is very accessible for beginners and second, it has actual network building exercises. This really helps to get your study going. I tried the Certification Guide first but just couldn't get into the material, I mean the information was there but it just wasn't clicking with me. Then I read in the Certification Guide's preface that Self-Study Guide is a prerequisite for it, so I got it and I'm glad that I did.

This book has a lot of relevant information worded in a way that it is easy to understand and retain. For instance, it describes hybrid protocol as "one that sends info about changes (like link state) but only to neighbors (like distance vector)". Brilliant. Some materials I've read don't even bother to describe what a hybrid proto is, only that is a mix (duh) of the link state and distance vector. As a beginner, to me it is really important to have the material explained in a simple and an easy to remember way.

Second, exercises. Other books sometimes have them but they are always like an afterthought and usually not interesting enough to keep your attention. Sometimes, as it is with independent vendors, you are supposed to follow the network that the guy is building but it is so incoherent - in one chapter he does one thing, then in the next chapter he has a different topology, etc. This book however consistently builds its topology starting from chapter 2 and really applies the configs learned in chapters. Some have complained that the network that is being built in this book requires over 11 of 2800 routers (very expensive), well I'm happy to inform you that 1721s can be had for $60 each, they are small (one Fa and two serial slots each, that's all you need for this book), and they have the 12.4 advanced IP services IOS. Just add cabling and serial cards, they also can be had cheaply. I wish I had discovered 1721s before I bought a bunch of ancient overpriced crap 2600s for my CCNA studies. So if you don't have the Packet Tracer just get a bunch of 1721s, it is an investment well worth it.

Am halfway through the book and I find it so amazing. The book is so practical and straight to the point. I feel I do not need to spend time in a classroom enviroment. this book is my classroom and am very confident of passing my BSCI exam first time.

.....Chao

i just wish to balance out these reviews a little. i agree with a previous reviewer that said this book is poorly written. sometimes when i read material from this book that i am already comfortable with, i'm left with a blank stare and a "whaaaaaat?" in my head. i will be avoiding these authors in the future. also, note that this exam will be retiring in early 2010, i believe.