Customer Reviews

CCNP Cisco LAN Switch Configuration Exam Cram: Exam: 640-404

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Another excellent test-taking book! Although a little thick this book is the perfect companion for every CCNP candidate (including myself). The amount of information is right and very well fits the CLSC test. Sometimes it might seem that the author is going into too much detail for topics which are not that important but this impression will be totally wiped out by the test. Also, the book contains a lot of useful information which comes handy in your "real life" as network engineer. You just have to underline those perls of wisdom (yellow marker works good) and keep the book on your bookshelf.

If you have the knowledge of Catalyst family and need only a prep tool for the test this will be your only investment. If need deep insight on LAN switching, Catalyst family and network design this is not the right book for you! It barely scratches some of the "hot" and poorly understood topics like STP, VLANs and trunking but remember - this is an "exam cram" book.

Unfortunately Cisco is coming with a new test - CLSC 2.0 sometime this year and this book is not very adequate, but I hope that the author will come up with something at least as good as this one whenever the new test comes live.

In case you need deeper knowledge (not for the test) look at Cisco Press "Cisco LAN Switching" book and don't be scared by it's size (926 pages).

Good look on the exam!

Although the "Exam Cram" title might suggest a thinner book, this book is best computer book I have ever bought. I also bought Todd Lammle's CLSC study guide and Exam Notes but those books are not the caliber of Richard Deal's book on CLSC. First of all, Richard Deal's book is comprehensive, and second, it is written as a part study guide and part Exam Cram, so at the same time you are getting comprehensive information while getting knowledge that is relevant on the test. Also one of the most important features in Richard Deal's book is that not only he gives a test at the end of each chapter (and at the end of the book), but the answers are given with a detailed explantion to why or what not this is the answer, which is extremely beneficial on test day.

I am glad that I bought this book, because without it, I believed I would of failed the exam.

The only reason that I will not give this book 5 stars is because it goes into too much detail to be a member of the cram series. C'mon, a 715 page exam cram? This book should be remarketed to be a stand alone study guide, it provides everything you need to know to get through the exam, not just an overview as I expected. The cheat sheet in the front of the book is a great last minute read! Use it! I just wish I had read this book first, instead of last. I could have saved myself some study time. Good luck!

For everyone who said this book does not prepare you for the test, it is obvious you are looking for a 50page quick way to memorize the test and pass it only to forget everything you learned after you are done.. Well, forget it, the only way to do that is the get a copy of the test, and no book will give you that....

Anyway, I know had a little experience with Catalyst switches, and this book was the very best way to prepare for the test. The sample questions were dead on, and the real test only had variations of them. so if you understand the subject matter of the questions in the cram book, that fact that the wording and answer choices are different on the test should not make the test any harder than the one in the cram book..

I recommend this to anyone who wants to pass the CLSC exam...

This is an excellent book, aimed at those who: - wish to pass the CLSC test; - are willing and able to to read; - want to understand the material, and not just memorize the minimum amount of material to pass a test; - are actually INTERESTED in switching technology, and have an intellectual curiosity that goes beyond the scope of Cisco's test objectives.

I think this is a first-rate book, at a very reasonable price. My only complaints have to do with the sample test questions. Here I would have liked:

- more questions; - better proofreading, and fewer double negatives in the test questions; - more substantive questions. (I assume, however, that Mr. Deal is trying to mimic the specificity and literal-minded nature of the test.)

This is the best $ I ever spent on a computer book.

This book is advertised as "exam cram" but it is "too much information" for cramming. You will find yourself taking in too much information to properly prepare for the test. The point of exam cram books are to scale down the amount of informatiom into the core essentials of information to pass the test. I would however recommend this book for a reference guide.

I read three different books preparing for the CLSC test (Cisco Press, Sybex and this one) and while the Cisco book provided alot of detailed information, it tended to skip over the reasoning behind some of the defaults and left you wondering why? - this book was an excellent resource for filling in alot of those gaps, and I felt that the content was segmented alot better making for an easier, more logical, read.

I read this book twice and passed the exam. This book covers the objectives almost verbatim. The little cram sheet included in the book helped me answer at least half the questions on the test. The other books on the market don't comapre, especially for twice the price.

I personally didn't use this guide to teach me Lan Switching. I used it to re-inforce what I previously learned from "Cisco Lan Switching" author: Kennedy Clark. It definitely beat making up my own questions for review. The questions presented and summaries will test your knowledge of the subject. It also relieves those pre-test jitters (You know where you doubt every answer you select)this is your final run through the material. Once you've made it this far go take the exam, believe me you'll do okay.

I purchased this book in 1999, but only find time to read it recently, and thus unfortunately let go of a golden chance of passing CLSC 1.0 exam. This 700+ pages cram is a solid, systematic, and detail presentation of major switching topics - good enough that I carry it around as on-the-job reference, and also using it as an important part of my preparation for Swiching 2.0 exam, partly because (1) most BCMSN book for switching 2.0 exam is still not out (2) I couldn't see too many authors out there that can explain thing as well as Richard Deal's book. I have no complaint of the thick 700+ pages format - in fact I do hope that this book can expand in size and perhaps explain some tricky topics (tricky for guy like me who previously only work with the trickless ethernet hubs) like vtp, stp in a more graphic manner, with perhaps more examples. And perhaps add more examples on how big big switching network is built - like what I see in Kennedy Clarke's book.