Customer Reviews

CCDA Cisco Certified Design Associate Study Guide (Exam 640-441) (Book/CD-ROM package)

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In the certification process everyone has to start at the beginning. For the CCDP certification CCDA is the starting point and this book will help get you on your way. Once again McGraw Hill publishers are leading the way down the path to the Cisco Certification.

For exam 640-441, CCDA, you'll find this book laid out in a manner that will take each exam objective and give you the information necessary to pass the exam. In over 750 pages of text the book makes sure that information presented is accurate and up to date.

Starting with basic networking, routed and routing protocols, network devices and customer service, you might think you are leaning the CCNA track. However the book goes further including router design, troubleshooting and the CISCO ios making it a complete and well-rounded study reference.

Discussing topics like RIP, IGRP, EIGRP and OSPF are but a few of the protocols listed in the book. A good explanation of TCP/IP is also included. The book gives you study techniques and "From the Field" which is real life situations to make it easier to understand certain concepts.

Other things included are Exam Watch, which will help you understand the exam before you go live. The two minute drills are excellent, summarizing what you have just read and finally the self test are but one of the ways you can test your knowledge.

The book also comes with a cd-rom with practice test that can be taken at any time to gauge your learning process. I recommend that you have some router experience before trying the CCDA track and then using this book you should have little trouble passing the exam.

As a new CCDA, I find it easy to recommend this particular study guide. I read some others, and found them all useful- although this one really helped cement some concepts and terminology for me (particularly nice section regarding WANs and DDR).

This is an awful good book that really helped me in my quest for CCDA. I failed my furst try at the exam, picked up this study guide, and used it to success! The exam is CASE STUDY, CASE STUDY, CASE STUDY... This text helped with many concepts that are vital to pass the exam.

There is a wealth of information in this book, but it is all over the place; organisation of chapters according to certification objectives leads to much repetition. Rather than waste your time trying to sort it out, my advice is to use some other text instead. Furthermore, there are not many practice questions based on design scenarios in the CD-ROM, and a few are simply silly e.g. "Ethernet was invented by whom?". I must say that I am really impressed by those reviewers new to networking who used this book and passed on their first try.

If you really must use this book, it will be good to brush up your knowledge of networking protocols and Cisco equipment elsewhere.

This is an excellent book to pass the CCDA exam. It lays out the concepts very well, and makes it very easy to understand. The examples are very interesting and useful. But CCDA cannot be passed with just one good book. DCN by Cisco Press is a valuable companion, and a necessity. There were some points conflicting with the Cisco DCN book. If I were to improve on this book, I would add some very challenging case studies.

And I am a proud CCDA because of the help I got from the two books.

...this test [is out of date] but you can buy this book really cheap and it will help you when you take the new test. You should read more than just this book. I...passed on my first attempt. You will need to do lots of reading and you must FULLY understand the material to have a chance at this one. Lots of case studies and this is what makes it a tough test. Good luck

Overall, the aurthor wrote the book with heart--really wanting the readers to understand. However, as reviewers before me stated, it could be more organized. I found myself reading the same subject several times in different chapters. I also think it could be more concise/compressed, thus easily removing several hundred pages if author really wanted to. I had to carry that heavy book with me for three weeks while reading it to and from work. Believe me, it gets heavy after carrying an 800-page book for a while during commmute.

The book itself probably won't help much with the case studies presented on the exam. As a matter of fact, I don't think any book will help with the Cisco's case studies. For the non-case study questions, I think the book will help readers to pass the exam. The "2-minute" drill at the end of each chapter is great in reading over several times the day before taking the exam. I don't think the Q&As at the end of each chapter reflect much of what was on the exam.

I read this book as well as the Sybex book and passed the exam the very first time. I passed with a score of 834; passing was 755. Unlike the most of the other Cisco exams, this exam has remained the same. (It has not changed as some would have you think.) I am not working in the field (yet), and I have very little networking experience, but I passed by taking good notes and reading carefully. The exam is very difficult, but by using this book and one other source, you should have no problems.

Today (March 5,2003) was the last chance that one had to take this test but you can buy this book really [inexpensively] and it will help you when you take the new test. You should read more than just this book. I took it two days ago and passed on my first attempt. You need to do a lot of reading and you must FULLY understand the material to have a chance at this one. Lots of case studies and this is what makes it a tough test. Good luck

Osborne did it again, im planing to get as many certifications as i can, so i buy a lot of books, osborne is a great company with a caring staff that tries to make every book as good as it can be, for these exam every thing is explain, just read it and practice the question, its enough to be prepare.