Can anyone recommend a good book or books to prepare for the CCNA exam. Advise on what hardware to purchase would also be appreciated. I have a small Windows 2000 LAN.
i like the CCNA books from Todd L very much. I think they are from ciscopress. everything explained very well and some of his examples and question came back in the exam.
hardware, some 1900 or 2900 switches and a router.
The Cisco press books for CCNA are from Wendell Odom, the Sybex ones are from Todd L.
I personally prefer the Cisco Press books, they are much more in depth, and follow the Cisco Academy text very closely. You will need to have a good router sim, that will let you configure Rip and IGRP, also password recovery.
I like this one:
You're right Paulsure...the books from Todd L are indeed from Sybex..but i still like them though
They haven't missed out anything in those books and subnetting is explained very well, as its very important for CCNA exam and also in the real world
I've been using the Steve McQuerry edition of the Cisco Press CCNA self-study, as well as "CCNA Flash Cards and Exam Practice Pack" by Eric Rivard and Jim Doherty. The flash cards are very helpful, there's a nice brief reference section in the back, and it comes with a CD that has a decent practice exam on it. I've also been using the "Learn by Doing" books available for free at
The books from sybex misses 2 subjects containing Nat and Rip V2, they talk about it briefly.
On the exam for example you get a question how to configure Nat with commands, they aren't in the Sybex books but are in the Cisco book.
Doiing my Exam this Saterday, my collegue did the exam last week and found this out. (didn't pass the exam)
uservejon,
If you have time - sign up for classes at a Cisco Network Academy. I have taught in a Cisco Network Academy at a Community College for 6 years and have had a lot of network admins take the class to get the structured training as well as hands on with Cisco equipment.
As for books I use Cisco Press and Sybex for 2 different views, I also like CBT Nuggetts - computer based videos.
As for equipment Cisco Press/Boson has a GREAT router/switch sim but you should try to get some time on some "real" Cisco routers and switches.
You can get some low cost Cisco 2501 routers on Ebay - normally 3 routers and 2 switches will give you all the hardware you need for the CCNA exam.
Nothing beats hands on with Cisco equipment !!!!!!
I really like the Cisco Press Books by ODOM. However, I think including a limited edition simulator that can't be used for all of the labs is a major dissapointment.
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