7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Review of BCMSN, April 13, 2004
The reason that I picked this book is because I was getting ready to re-certify as a CCNP and CCDP. My goal was to take the composite exam, as by taking (and passing) one exam, I would be re-certified in both certifications. I will say that I did take and pass the composite exam, but my score was not that much higher than the passing score. I read this book and Claire Gough's book, the CCNP BSCI Exam Certification Guide to prepare myself. Fortunately, I have a few Cisco Press books on both subjects. I found outside reading especially important when going through the BSCI material, but the presented BCMSN material was most adequate. The exams on the CDs were very similar to the real exam.
This book was fairly thorough when preparing me for the Switch material on the composite exam. I will caution future readers to make sure to go through the CD included with the book prior to taking the exam as there was content that appeared on the CD that wasn't covered in the book, yet it appeared on the real exam. Fortunately, there wasn't very much, but it could mean barely passing the exam or failing it.
David Hucaby's writing style was very easy for this reader to follow. At times, I found it difficult to absorb so many complex subjects without re-reading sections because sometimes Mr. Hucaby explains a LOT in very few paragraphs. The book seems small compared to Claire Gough's book on Routing, but it could have benefited the reader were Mr. Hucaby to write a few more paragraphs while explaining some of the more complex subjects. This reader feels that the subject matter is covered in the book for a student to learn, but the student might find the need to go to other resources to have things explained more fully than how Mr. Hucaby presents it. Fortunately, this reader only found this necessary on a couple of occasions.
I found some typographical errors, some syntax errors, and some mislabeling on the figures, but all in all, this book was an excellent self-study book for anyone taking the re-certification exam, and probably for anyone taking the BCMSN exam. The last chapter in the book goes through many scenarios, and it would behoove a future reader to go through each and every question in each and every scenario. It would also behoove the reader to go through the CD that accompanies the book. The CD exam questions were very similar to the real questions, not so much that the questions were the same, but that the content covered and the way it was presented was the same. The simulator provided on the CD was a great refresher for this reader especially as I found that the technology has changed quite a bit in the three years that I initially became a CCNP. As this time, I didn't have any of the switches for which I could practice upon (switches covered on the exam), I had to completely depend upon the book and the CD (and the simulators) in order to prepare for the exam. The simulator questions on the CD adequately prepared this reader for what was on the real exam. Mr. Hucaby does an adequate job of preparing a student for all the rest of the material found on the exam. Therefore, I give this book a 4 out of a possible rating of 5, 1 being the lowest, 5 being the highest. This book is easy to read and prepares a student adequately for the subject matter found on the real exam.
Would I buy another book by this author? The answer is "yes". He covers all the material, succinct (sometimes too succinct), knows his subject matter, and can explain it in plain English - a talent that can't be underrated.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"CCNP BCMSN: Exam Certification Guide", December 1, 2003
The complete title "CCNP BCMSN: Exam Certification Guide" (ISBN: 1-58720-077-5, David Hucaby, Cisco Press) by itself does not convey very much. However, by examining the exam topics (from www.cisco.com) for the "Building Cisco Multilayer Switched" exam (BCMSN 642-811), the reader will be able to see that the subtitle, along with the content of David Hacaby's book are very much connected.
Nothing more than a CCNA level of knowledge is required to digest the concepts and subjects covered in this book. Certainly, those persons who will find the book most useful will be those who are preparing for the "BCMSN 642-811" exam. However, anyone seeking to strengthen their knowledge of switching concepts will definitely benefit from reading this book.
The "CCNP BCMSN: Exam Certification Guide" text is comprised of 21 chapters, with the majority of the chapters focusing on topics that relate to building a campus network - switch configuration, VLANS, Trunks, Spanning Tree Protocol, etc. Four of the book's 21 chapters pertain to the Spanning Tree Protocol, which is a good indication of the importance of this protocol in the overall performance of switched networks.
Each chapter begins with a set of multiple-choice questions. Each chapter also concludes with a set of questions, but not in a multiple-choice format. Instead, most of the questions at each chapter's end require the user to provide an elaborative response -- compelling the reader to apply a little more recall to what was (hopefully) learned in the chapter. So, by concluding the chapter with questions in this format, the reader is challenged to acquire a deeper understanding of the chapter's content.
The book does not contain a surplus of examples but, those that do exist, provide more than adequate coverage for the topic previously discussed. The examples are easy to follow, and really serve to reinforce the concept that prefaced the example.
The illustrations and diagrams that appear in the book lend an immense amount of support to each chapter's contents by providing a visual aid that really connects to the particular concept being presented. The great majority of the diagrams relate to the position of switches in a network design, which most readers should find very supportive in understanding the campus network design.
Included with "CCNP BCMSN:Exam Certification Guide" is a companion CD. Although the CD contains the same questions from the chapters in the book, it does also contain an entirely different set of questions; some of these questions requiring (and allowing) for the configuration of a router and/or switch. To accomplish the router/switch configurations, the companion CD contains software that makes it possible to simulate the configurations for the particular question.
Not only does the router/switch simulation software develop some comfort in configuring a router or switch in a switched network but, the questions themselves do a great job in simulating a live exam - getting the reader ready for the "BCMSN 642-811" exam, if that is a goal. Those persons not having access to any network (router or switch) equipment will really benefit from the simulation software.
If a sample question on the companion CD is answered incorrectly, immediately the test taker is provided with not only the correct answer but, a reference to the subject that was being tested is also provided, along with the location in the text where the subject can be reviewed. However, whether the correct answer is displayed upon the selection of an incorrect answer is configurable with the exam software.
There are a total of 344 questions on the companion CD - 244 questions from the text itself (multiple choice type ), and 104 that are not from the text that are of the multiple choice, fill-in, drag & drop, and simulation variety.
CCNP BCMSN was very well laid out. The book delivers information to prepare the reader for the Cisco's 642-811 exam, and a little more. For the person that puts in the time to really digest the information in this book, it's hard to imagine an unsuccessful attempt at the exam - again, provided this is a goal of the reader. The book is essentially a "text" for the outline of the exam goals.
With this book's ability to assist the reader with the successful completion of the "BCMSN 642-811" exam, along with elevating the reader's knowledge about switched networks, the rating I would assign to the content of "CCNP BCMSN" is a 5 - with 5 being the highest on a scale of 1-5. The subtitle of the book "Exam Certification Guide" is not a misnomer. Even without the exam outline from Cisco, you can be assured that you are getting the necessary coverage for the "BCMSN 642-811" exam.
If future titles from David Hucaby are produced in the same fashion as this title, I will absolutely read and recommend them!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good, easy to understand, but a complementary book., August 25, 2006
I passed BCMSN exam today with the help of this book. This is a good guide for people who has a basic knowledge of switching technics, but for certification purposes, it is missing some topics, other topics are incomplete and let you with doubt.
For example, if you read the multicast chapter of the Sybex book, and compare, you will notice the missing of several important things in CiscoPress book. This applies for Multilayer Switching (MLS) too. In case of RPR (Router Processor Redundacy), it simply doesn't cover.
I also noticed that the questions of the CD-ROM is very easy. Don't waste your time training with this CD-ROM, just move to Testking or Crammater, so you will get ready.
Feel free to contact me in case of sugestions for the exam.
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