This book was purchased to help with a 'brush up' on the material some years after I graduated the CISCO Academy CCNA course at a local technical college. It served its purpose well.
Everything is online at the Cisco Academy. Your instructor will get you a login and password for the course. If you are taking a course from a college or other school, you will be using the online Cisco Academy for the course and tests. You will find that there is no need for the book and that the online material is the book and it is up to date. Don't buy this book unless/until you are absolutely sure you have to. Just because the course description at your college says that it is a required book, does not mean you need to spend the money for it. It is required, but it is available already online when you take the course. If you are not getting it online, you are at the wrong school in the first place and you need to consider a different school.
I'm a first year Computer Networking student and my 1st CCNA class required this book. I bought this book thinking that it would be better than the free online version offered through the Cisco's Academy website. It's basically the same exact thing. I'm keeping this book for my personal library, I never know when I might need to do research. Cisco's is tough for me and I thought this book would help me, but it really hasn't.
I gave this purchase 4 out of 5 stars for only one reason. There is a companion cd that comes with the book if you buy it as a book instead of as an e-book. Otherwise I am satisfied with my purchase.
This was a great alternative to purchasing a $90 book on a tight budget. I would do it again.
Like I said though, be careful about buying e-books over actual books, you might miss out on important companion materials. Still all in all, I feel that I made a good purchase, plus my backpack is easily 6-7 pounds lighter.
Trust me, that makes a difference walking up 3 flights of stairs...
Dye, McDonald and Rufi explain well the basics of how the Internet works. The book is directed at a reader aiming to be a networking system administrator. So it goes beyond the level of understanding needed by the average user, who, for example, does not usually have to contend explicitly with a server daemon in a client server model.
Likewise, users just use email, right? But you need to comprehend the distinction between a Mail Transfer Agent and a Mail Delivery Agent. Now the text does say that matters like virus and spam filtering occur in the MDA. But more generally, be aware that the MTA can also run these. And in fact probably should, to prevent propagation of malware to other processes or machines.
Fittingly, an entire chapter is devoted to the transport layer of TCP/IP. This layer is what often gives a pragmatic reliability to much Internet traffic, with its built in methods like congestion control by adjusting the flow rate and possibly also the packet [window] sizes.
However, remember that the book is put out by Cisco. The next chapter takes us to the network layer. It is here that you encounter routing algorithms, gateways and firewalls. Essentially, Cisco makes its dime at the network layer, as does every other hardware network provider. So for the novice network sysadmin, this chapter is totally mandatory. You must comprehend and fully internalise its contents.
The authors later treat IPv4 in its own chapter. Tellingly, IPv6 gets no such treatment. It gets barely 2 pages! Around 1995, when IPv6 was being formulated, it was expected that by 2010 we'd all be on it. Instead here we are in 2012 with the reality that IPv4 is still prevalent. The authors go so far as to suggest "IPv6 might [sic] eventually [sic] replace IPv4 as the dominant Internet protocol". Gee. What it tells you is that job prospect wise, study v4 while keeping an eye on v6 in the background.
This is the newest version, and I find it tightly coordinates with the Networking 101 course I am taking at the local community college. This will be a first step towards certification. I have scanned the book, and read the first two chapters in great detail. It may be that prior reviews are out of date or that there are errors later in the book, but as a nit-picking former law review editor, I found only two words wrong, and then only because they were not in bold face. The college provides packet tracer. By taking the chapter exams and doing the packet tracer examples in the textbook I feel well prepared for the next class and its quiz. This is one of the best textbooks I have used, good layout, proper English, and precise as to the "Cisco plan."
I bought this book for a Cisco Academy class. It is a textbook, so it goes deeper into technical aspects of CCNA level networking than the well known CCNA/CCENT exam preparation books, such as Odom's or Lammle's.
This is the first of 4 books published by Cisco for the Cisco Academy curriculum, and is the most current version. The other 3 that follow, (logicall), are, Routing Protocols, Switching and Wireless, and Accessing the Wan, all developed for the Academy Exploration classes. I highly recommend these books as THE FOUNDATION for your CCNA studies, whether you are enrolled in a Cisco Academy program or not. These 4 books comprise the "Exploration Series", not to be confused with the "Discovery Series" of Academy curriculum books. They are similar and both prepare you for the CCNA, but this is the series you want. You can find out more about the differences and why they have two versions of the same basic curriculum at Cisco's website.
I found these books all very well written, and its nice to have good sturdy hardbacks for you library. Much reference is made to Ciscos Packet Tracer, which Academy students have access to, but you don't need packet tracer to benefit from these books. Also there are really good end of chapter quizzes with detailed answers that really reinforce the chapter material.
I am taking the 1st CCNA Cisco course and this was a required book. My book store sold out of this book within the first day of selling it, and in my city, no other book store offered this book. I looked around, and ordering from Barnes & Noble, which doesn't readily have to book in store, would take over a week! I ordered the book here, and got it the next day!! I am very satisfied with my order. The book even came with a CD, which isnt mentioned in the description. I thought I was going to have to look around for the CD, what a pleasant surprise! This is an excellent book, very well written, and very well organized. I can always find exactly what I am looking for. I recommend this book! I also recommend the CISCO CCNA COMMAND GUIDE, for $30 it's well worth it.
Who ever says this book is good, it is not true. Because all the people in my class hate this book. I'm a straight-A college student, and this book is just terrible. I can't undestand almost nothing. The author tried to explain things, but he ends up explaining nothing. It's hard to undestand anything, especially when you get to chapter 3 (layers). The info is all over the place. I feel like I'm doing research instead of studying a subject. Never in my life had to Google so many stuff from a book. For example, you go and read one or two paragraphs, and after you are done, you're left in blank-- with bunch of questions and stuff that is not explained. Then later on the text you find little explanation about previous paragraphs (which make you go back and start all over). The little explanation you find two or three paragraphs latter comes scattered all over the place, but now with different wording which totally losses you, and the rest of the needed explanation comes NEVER! Half of my class are totally lost becuase of this useless book. Some kids drop off class... and I'm next. The most amazing thing is that I'm an IT person--I'm tech savvy. I've worked in the tech and IT field for like 8 years. So, If i can't get it, imagine the newbies. I'm sooo fustrated with the whole thing that i may drop this class and take a regular networking classes at my university.
Product Details :
Hardcover: 560 pages
Publisher: Cisco Press; 1 edition (January 9, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1587133482
ISBN-13: 978-1587133480
Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 1.2 x 9.4 inches
More Details about Network Fundamentals: CCNA Exploration Companion Guide 1st edition
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