Customer Reviews

CCIE Security Exam Certification Guide (CCIE Self-Study)

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

I'm a R&S CCIE, but have been working on security for the last 6 years. As I have to go thru my recert, decided to go with the security written exam.

I had read the reviews for this book before buying it - including the one from bam - but decided to give it a try - heck, is from CiscoPress, who gave us the Routing TCP/IP vol I and II - how bad can this one be?

Easy: it isn't bad. It is WORSE. Period. No excuses. I read the book in about 8 hours, and I have to admit that after reading 1/2 of it, I felt sorry for whoever is preparing the written CCIE exam and actually uses this books. There's hardly one page (no kidding) without an error. Not talking about syntax errors - talking about conceptual errors, half digested ideas.

I want my money back - this books actually deserves -1 stars. I had to skip thru the whole IPSec section - I was afraid I was actually going to remember any of it, and totally wreck what I knew.

Stay away from this book.

CCIE Security Exam Certification Guide (CCIE Self-Study) (2nd Edition) (Ccie Self-Study)
by Henry Benjamin ISBN 1587201356
This book is mapped to the New CCIE Security Written Exam 350-018. I'll answer the question most frequently asked "Can this book be the only book for passing the CCIE Security Written Exam" NO this is the short answer the long answer follows...
The book contains a 'Do I know this Already' Quiz before every chapter begins and this helps a lot in gauging the amount of work need for that chapter. The questions and Labs following the chapter have a humbling effect just in case we feel we know a lot. The links provide a great place for further studies in the weaker areas and help in conserving time while studying as otherwise navigating through the Cisco website quickly and not straying off the subject is not an art which I have mastered so far. I saved myself a lot of time reading from this book and from the links (some of them have been moved).
The NOTE boxes provide a great deal of information very quickly and are very helpful for revision.
The e-book helps me always have the book on my laptop as some times I don't feel like carrying the bulky book with me and continue my preparation whenever I have extra time.
Even though no single book can claim to cover everything which can and will be asked on the CCIE Security Written Exam Henry Benjamin makes a sincere effort and I congratulate him on this.
I found a number of typos and errors but none of which affect the content. I assume that a CCIE Security candidate would have enough knowledge to discern a few obvious mistakes in the text. But then one does not accept such mistakes form a Cisco Press Book.
This book is meant for the CCIE Security Written Exam but contains a lengthy LAB which according to me robs me of the precious pages (112 to be precise) which could have included more information about the Security Written Exam.
I find the coverage of Telephony Best Practices and Wireless Best Practices inadequate, six pages in all. But the link provided in the Note to Wireless Best Practices is awesome.
The 500 questions provided on the CD helps in identifying the weak areas and improving confidence towards the end.
The author is a triple CCIE and a key member of the CCIE global team and has written questions for the written exam. I feel buying this book is a good investment towards our quest for the coveted CCIE Security Certification. When you plan on pursuing this certification I would suggest that one should start with this book and then fill up the gaps with other books and the CISCO website.
I give this book 4 stars on a scale of 5, 5 being the highest. I strongly recommend this book.
Niloufer Tamboly, CISSP

I bought this sometime ago and found it strange that this was targetting someone attempting CCIE certification as I do not beleive that it is in depth enough.
The more important aspects of CCIE security would surely be IPSec [24 pages only ] and the 2 pages on VPDN was very disappointing.
The whole book I found rather bland and contains quite a few errors [considering they had 5 CCIES involved,one is proctor and another is a triple CCIE ...]
The explanation of the ISAKMP interaction with things like Hashing, DH, Keys etc was rather unclear and perhaps confusing at times.

It's that not dreadful but I personally wouldn't waste the best part of £50 on it.

Read the RFC's and the Cisco CD - you'll get on just fine

The book is aimed at the right cccie candidte and even has sample labs written by exisiting and ex-proctors, those that believe there is a better guide are kidding themselves, it was reviewed internally by the ccie security program amanger as written in the preface and helped me pass the exam with one read, there are many other reviews that highlight the great qualities of this book, do not be confused, this is what you need to take the written and guides you with the lab which as far as I can see is more difficult than the real lab, MUST HAVE book,

This book is truly a qaulity product becasue it nails what you need to know as concisley as possible without all the details you find in other books, Cisco's web site is vague on what a ccie candidate need to kow but this author clarifies this and even has some great tips on passing the lab as well, this book is quality all over it and helped m achived the first hurdle and the second hurdle is not far from my grasp becasue there is an increible lab as well, no book can help you prepapre 100 % but this book goes very close, I would rate this book with 6 stars if I could,

First some background: I recently recerted my CCIE R&S by passing the security written exam. I used this book, Maalik's, and the Cisco website. I own and like a wallfull of other Cisco books. I work daily with the security technologies making up the subject matter.

This book was unfortunately not very useful. I must say I passed _in spite_ of it. The numerous severe errors make it impossible to really rely on.

I started with pretty high hopes, given it was a fresh 2nd edition, naively thinking the bugs would be worked out... Not so. It's full of really bad factual errors, generally unclear and muddled. Lots of fluff, maybe trying to mask the fact this book was seemingly rushed into print, and the tech editing rather useless.

The questions on the CD are contradictory, the answers not matching (i.e. extra choices appearing or not available in the " correct" answers), and verified right answers scored as wrong. I was actually pretty upset at Cisco Press for having let this one slip into the stores.

Save your money... Get Saadat Malik's instead, and possibly also Convery's books. If you want a decent quiz, get Boson's full exam. It's accurate, a bit harder than the real thing, and the answers are very thorough.

This book is a thin overview lacking in its usefullness to prepare adequately for the written exam. I'm very disappointed in this text and do not recommend it. Look for SCEP or information on CA's in this text. Half the book seems to be what-you-already know questions... Look for another book/resource.

This book covers most info needed for the security qualification Exam, but not detailed and in deepth enough. I just past my test, I am glad that I bought the other book: Network Security Principles and Practices, which provides much more detailed infotmation and less errors.

Some errors in this books were so anoying that I can't believe Cisco Press published it and endorse it as official preparation guide. One example, it constantly refer to IP protocol number ( 47 for GRE, 50 for ESP, 51 for AH) as IP port number, even a CCNA souldn't make that mistake.

I passed my CCIE Security written this morning. My primary study material was this book. Henry Benjamin's book lets you know what to expect on the exam, and for the most part, he's right on the money. I used this book as my primary source, and as secondary sources, Giles' All-in-One R/S study guide and IOS and PIX command references. You will have to know security protocol behavior a bit deeper than is presented here to ace that portion of the exam.

This is the best companion guide around for ccie lab and written examinations, I was impressed with frankness and detyails you need to know to pass, make sure you download the latest patch for the cd rom which includes a bonus book,...it really helped me fill in the gaps and not study loads of volumes of books to finally pass the written test, well written and edited by 4 other ccies (3 that work for the ccie team themselves one former) so it must be good,