5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
A Very Poor Study Guide - Do not purchase for exam prep., May 3, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: CCNP Remote Access Study Guide, Exam 640-505 (Hardcover)
Before I explain my evaluation of this text I would like to state that I have used the Sybex study guides, for the most part also authored in part or in total by Todd Lammle, to successfully complete the MCSE, CCNA, and the CCNP Router & Switching exams. I have consistently found the texts to be extremely helpful and in many cases they were the only references I used in preparation for the tests.
Unfortunately, as a study guide for a test something went horribly wrong with this text. The quality control is atrocious and this is, by a huge margin, the absolute worst Sybex study guide I have viewed to data. A study guide for a test is essentially an educational text so the technical quality of a book like this must meet a high standard to maintain credibility. If a study guide for a technical field does not maintain technical credibility, correctness, and accuracy it becomes useless as a study aid.
This text does not maintain a sufficiently high level of technical correctness, technical accuracy, or credibility. Explanations in several technical areas are imprecise and confusing. Even worse is the large number of typos, incorrect command syntax usage, and conflicting statements. To support my claims I've appended a partial listing of errors found in Ch 7 (see below). There were additional errors in this chapter; however, I did not begin maintaining a list for publication until I became frustrated with the text near the end of the chapter. After reading seven chapters I know longer feel that this study guide is usable or trustworthy enough to continue to use in preparation for the CCNP Remote Access test.
A. Text states "X.25 can support any legal configuration of SVCs and PVCs over the same circuit" (309) but never explained what the legal configurations are and how they are derived.
B. Example of the x25 map command usage (314-315)
1. Command statement on pg. 314 uses incorrect IP Address when compared to Fig 7.9 on pg. 315.
2. A 2d example of the command's usage is displayed at the bottom of pg. 315 in which a 2d router's IP and x.121 addresses are mapped; however, the hostname used for both examples are the same. Because the technique and reasoning behind the mapping command is never explained this hostname duplication leads to the incorrect implication that the x25 map command must be used to map all routers that SVCs might be created with to include the host router the programming is being done on. This is incorrect.
C. Normal example usage of commands includes italics and bracketed options to make the usage and syntax of the command under discussion clear. Ex:
X25 map protocol address x.121-address [option] (314)
Beginning on page 316 this technique is dropped, I doubt this was done intentionally, and the syntactical examples of the commands are demonstrated entirely in bold case. Ex:
x25 pvc circuit protocol address [protocol2 address2] x.121-address [options] (318)
This is not an entirely incomprehensible technique; however, it is much less helpful, descriptive, and is totally inconsistent with all preceding examples throughout the text.
D. Text refers to communication across an "X.256 link". It should refer to an "X.25 link". (316)
E. Review Questions
1. Question # 9
a. According to the text, pg. 299, the PTI field of a PLP packet header is used to identify "1 of the 17 individual packet types" and "whether the packet is for DTE or DCE interfaces".
b. Answer key indicates that the PTI filed does not indicate if the packet is headed for a DTE or DCE.
2. Question # 13
a. According to the text, pg. 299, the PLP packet header includes an LCI (Logical Channel Identifier).
b. Answer key indicates that the PLP packet header does not include an LCI.
3. Question # 16
a. According to the text, pg. 324, "To view X.25 mapping problems, use the show running-config command" which implies this technique should be used when troubleshooting x.25 mapping. No other techniques for troubleshooting this area are explained in the text in the chapter.
b. Answer key indicates that the commands "show running-config" and "debug x25 events" should be used to troubleshoot an X.25 map.
PJZ
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Could be better, October 31, 2000
This review is from: CCNP Remote Access Study Guide, Exam 640-505 (Hardcover)
You can evaluate smth only comparing it to smth else. In this case CiscoPress book has much better layout and visualization of the subject. If I give 4 stars to Cisco book, then this one I can give only 3 stars.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
3 outta 5 ain't bad....but it ain't great, April 3, 2001
This review is from: CCNP Remote Access Study Guide, Exam 640-505 (Hardcover)
Honestly, this book seems to be a product of a hurried effort. I give much praise to Todd Lammle for being one of the best writers Sybex Publishers has, but this is rife with typos/inaccuracies which can easily trip a reader up. Repetition of subject matter can be annoying, but because of the numerous errors, it's almost critical - for correction! As for the exam, I passed it without too much hassle using this book ALMOST exclusively - which IS testament to the overall quality of the information in the text. However, I found fully 1/4+ of the subject matter on the test was UNRELATED to the question banks on the included CD, and that shakes me, Todd.
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