CCSP Self-Study: Cisco Secure PIX Firewall Advanced (CSPFA) (2nd Edition) (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Cisco Systems Inc. (Author)

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Product Description

Cisco authorized self-study book for CCSP 642-521 foundation learning

• Gain proficiency with new features of PIX Firewall version 6.3, including OSPF, 802.1Q VLANs, NAT-T, and more
• Learn the ins and outs of the PIX product family and its complete feature set
• Use the PIX Device Manager (PDM) 3.0 to configure and manage the PIX Firewall
• Use advanced techniques to control traffic on your network using ACLs (access control lists), content filtering, and object groups
• Improve security using PIX Firewall attack guards, intrusion detection, and shunning features
• Learn about techniques and security considerations for configuring OSPF on PIX Firewall version 6.3
• Configure scalable site-to-site and client remote access VPNs using the PIX Firewall version 6.3
• Configure high-availability solutions using stateful and LAN-based failover techniques
• Use logical interfaces and 802.1Q trunks to scale your PIX Firewall implementation
• Configure the PIX Firewall Services Module (FWSM)

The use of firewalls-devices residing at the network perimeter to protect against intrusion-is an essential building block to even the most basic security program. Cisco Systems has continued the support and development of the PIX OS to provide networks top-notch security while maintaining compatibility with the latest standards and protocols. Now offered in many models, the PIX Firewall is perfectly suited to meet the requirements of small offices (501 model), medium to large businesses (506E, 515E, and 525 models), and large enterprise and service provider customers (525 and 535 models and the Firewall Services Module). CCSP Self-Study: Cisco Secure PIX Firewall Advanced (CSPFA), Second Edition, offers in-depth configuration and deployment information for this popular and versatile firewall solution.

CCSP Self-Study: Cisco Secure PIX Firewall Advanced (CSPFA), Second Edition, teaches you the skills needed to configure and operate the PIX Firewall product family. Chapter overviews bring you quickly up to speed and help you get to work right away. Lab exercises and scenario-based solutions allow you to adapt configurations to your network for rapid implementation, helping you make the most of your PIX Firewall. Chapter-ending review questions test your knowledge. PIX Device Manager (PDM) configuration procedures are presented to complement extensive coverage of traditional CLI commands.

Whether you are looking for a reference guide on working with the various PIX Firewall models or seeking a study tool for the CSPFA 642-521 exam, CCSP Self-Study: Cisco Secure PIX Firewall Advanced (CSPFA), Second Edition, supports your effective use of the PIX Firewall.

CCSP Self-Study: Cisco Secure PIX Firewall Advanced (CSPFA), Second Edition, is part of a recommended learning path from Cisco Systems that can include simulation and hands-on training from authorized Cisco Learning Partners and self-study products from Cisco Press.Books in this series provide officially developed training solutions to help networking professionals understand technology implementations and prepare for the Cisco Career Certifications examinations.

About the Author

Behzad Behtash is an IT consultant with more than nine years of experience in networking and security. He holds a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and resides in Oakland, California. Behzad holds the CCNP, CCDP, and MCSE certifications.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 888 pages
• Publisher: Cisco Press; 2 edition (January 24, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587051494
• ISBN-13: 978-1587051494
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.7 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #927,932 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars CCSP SELF-STUDY: Cisco Secure PIX Firewall Advanced, March 10, 2004

By A Customer

Overall, this is a very good intermediate level text on Cisco firewalls. It is not for the beginning networker. Having an understanding of topics such as VLANS, access lists, NAT, PAT, and routing protocols is a prerequisite, if one wants to utilize the text to its fullest potential. With this understanding, this book becomes a powerful reference on setting up a Cisco PIX firewall. It walks one through the necessary steps of configuring a firewall in various different networking environments. The scenarios provided in the text can be adapted for most small to medium-sized networks. As one continues reading, the level and depth of material gets progressively more difficult. This increased difficulty may appeal to the advanced networker. Topics in this category include VPNs, attack guards, and enterprise management will not make sense to the novice, but add value and depth to the text.

Simply put, this book is a good reference and study aide on the topic of PIX firewalls. It is worth reading, if you are interested in learning basic topics or even some advanced ones. What you get from this book totally depends on the amount of time and work you put into reading and/or studying the text. This book will remain on my shelf as a valuable reference as I could not find much to fault.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Labs don't work!, November 11, 2005

By	Tech Trainer / Net Admin (Sterling, VA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

I purchased this book to prepare Cisco's 642-521 certification exam on the PIX firewall. There is alot of useful information and the book is pretty thorough. However, I got a couple of PIX's and tried to go through all the labs which follow the chapters. Not everything is covered. Chapter 10 on Routing has no labs at all. Almost no lab works as written. Mostly there are small errors like using a hostname which has not been mapped to an IP address. Some are pretty extreme. For example, the labs in Chapter 16 try to connect servers on remote lans without setting up either routing or NAT. The also do nothing to allow the IPsec traffic through the firewall. There is an access list created for NAT in step 2 but it is never applied to anything. Missing from the solution are the statements:

nat (inside) 0 access-list nonat
sysopt connection permit-ipsec
route outside 10.0.2.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.2.1

It works once you add these commands, but they are also missing from the errata on the ciscopress web site. That includes several pages of corrections to the text without any corrections to the labs.

If the labs had worked, I would have given it five stars, but since they don't, it only gets three. This seems to be a common problem with Cisco Press. The extreme worst case is CCNP Practical Studies: Routing. That is a whole book of just routing labs but again, hardly any work as written.

4 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Reference, February 17, 2004

By	M. Khan "murkho" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I grabbed the book as I got in to a project where I needed to configure Failover PIX system. Given no prior experience with PIX, this book was very handy. However, I still had to consult Cisco website for useful and up-to-date information for PPTP, MPPE, etc.