CCNA Certification Kit: (Exam 640-802) (Book & CD Rom)

• CCNA Official Exam Certification Library (CCNA Exam 640-802) (Exam Certification Guide Series)
• CCNA - Cisco Certified Network Associate Study Guide: Exam 640-802
• MCSE Self-Paced Training Kit (Exams 70-290, 70-291, 70-293, 70-294): Microsoft® Windows Serverâ„¢ 2003 Core Requirements, Second Edition: Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Core Requirements
• MCSA/MCSE Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-290): Managing and Maintaining a Microsoft® Windows Serverâ„¢ 2003 Environment, Second Edition: Managing ... a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Environment
• Learning Visual Basic .NET

But first, let's get what's in this little bundle of joy listed for you. The CCNA Study Guide is a densely written but comprehensive tome; the writing can be intimidating at times, but Lammle is to be commended for trying to show the reader the reasons why certain networking topics work, as opposed to just giving you lists of items to memorise. The concepts become particularly daunting during the chapters involving TCP/IP subnetting and VLAN trunking--but meticulous rereading will reward you not only with an exam-passing knowledge, but a deep understanding that will serve you well in the corporate world. There are only two slight disappointments: one, the chapter on WAN networking is a trifle light compared to the fact-packed density of the rest of the book; and two, this book is not for absolute beginners, as it skips very quickly over essential concepts such as Ethernet networking and cabling types.

A large portion of the guide consists of simple exercises to be run on Cisco routers--which is normally a problem for the CCNA student. Most people don't have access to, and cannot afford, the roughly £15000 in equipment it takes to set up a sample lab. But that's where the CCNA Virtual Lab e-trainer comes in; it's a software package that emulates a network that consists of three Cisco routers, a Catalyst 1900 switch and a couple of WAN links.

For what it does at the price, it does it well. It's not a fully fledged simulation by any means, but it does emulate most of the basic commands well enough for you to pass--and the amount of learning you'll get from the "hands on" experience is exponentially better than any amount of book learning. Tinkering around with your own setup will help you remember the oft-cryptic Cisco commands and password levels better than anything else, and the exercises given to you in the study guide will suddenly become fully fledged workshops that expand your learning.

Now there are those who have criticised the Virtual Lab for many reasons: Not all of the basic commands are adequately supported, the interface is very clunky, there are known bugs and it's useless beyond anything but the CCNA level. But there is a saying in the industry that should be well-taken here: "Close enough for horseshoes and hand grenades." Yes, there are better Cisco simulator programs. Yes, there are cheaper ones. But no other offering has the range of features and depth that you'll find at this price, and most importantly, it's enough to pass. --William Steinmetz, Amazon.com