Subscriber Reviews

Average Rating:  Based on 15 Ratings

"Nice Contribution" - by Anonymous on 01-FEB-2013
Reviewer Rating:
Useful as all cisco books.
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"Usefull" - by infohashim on 13-OCT-2012
Reviewer Rating:
Usefull
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"Model book for other authors to learn" - by JC on 26-JUN-2010
Reviewer Rating:
I already have got my number 3 years ago. I went back to college for a year and came back at work again. This is a good reference book and at the same time it stands out among other exam prep books. You know what I mean.

I have to say, first, that the accuracy of this book is fantastic. Had any other team of editors taken on the daunting task of creating this book, the book would have 20 times more errors. Still, here are the errors I like to report:

a) Example 14-5. Adaptive CB Shaping Configuration
    "shape average 96000 9600 ms" is not right ,
    "shape average 96000 9600" should be the correct
    version.

b) Example 14-4. Shaping Based on Percent
    "shape average percent 50 125" is not right,
    "shape average percent 50 125 ms" should be the
    correct version. Editors exchanged this command
    with a)'s situation.

c) Beneath Figure 17-15, "When R1 and R2 receive the PIM-SM Join message from R2 requesting" should be replaced with "When R1 and R2 receive the PIM-SM Join message from R3 requesting"

I like to contribute to the concepts of a few topics:

A) "Software queue"- with shaper, is an engineering conflict of Cisco. When shaping is enabled, the software queuing, after the shaping is imposed on the packets, will reshuffle the shape of the traffic, making it out of desired profile. Why? The software queue does not guarantee the time frame bound to release traffic bits from the queue. Hardware queue can guarantee that. "Software" refers to non-real time code. "Hardware" refers to time-bound, real time code.

     So the shaper should be followed immediately by hardware queue to maximize the benefit of shaping. But, today's "software queue" gets in between shaper and hardware queue. What kind of traffic shape would you imagine after a voip packet is rescheduled to cut into the line of a web picture's data? Of course it will become a bumpy burst of bits and bytes on the wire.

     This concepts is evident when GRE tunnel interface queuing code was written around before 2003. The "software queue" was dumped from tunnel interface code if you enable shaping. The queue of the shaper is the now the software queue.  "Software queue", as a specific term, with quotation, refers to the queue behind the shaper. The good software queue, without quotation, is in front of the shaper. But this good queue does not have a fit name today across the industry due to the engineering conflicts in Cisco. So, now we refer to this good queue as "the queue for the shaper".  Obscure, isn't it? The bad queue gets the sound name, "Software queue!"

     This is not right. But what can we do now? Trying to cover up will only add more confusion to others and eventually hinder our power to move forward.

     For learning purpose, first ignore the quoted "software queue". Read traffic shaping before you learn any Cisco queuing. A software engineer will spot this disturbing engineering error of having a software queue behind the shaper the first second he reads about shaping from a Cisco book. We just have to face it and acknowledge the engineering error so that we can move on.

B) ATM with telco circuit emulation is suspended. What is the motive behind that? Funding or politics? Good politics or bad politics? Funding goes away and into MPLS? Thinking about this topic will help a learner learn about MPLS, so, I think books should talk about it.
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"Good Study Guide, Lacks Polish" - by Dennis on 04-MAY-2010
Reviewer Rating:
As most engineers who are chasing their CCIE dreams, I have been working in the field for several years now and have had to do a *LOT* of technical documentation and writing. This book offers a wealth of knowledge to someone who has at least 5 years experience with Cisco equipment and has roughly CCNP level knowledge. While writing an CCIE exam guide for a total beginner is out of the question (the book is already 1,000 pages long), it does lack a bit of detail on some technologies that many people may not have had exposure to, such as WCCPv2 and event manager applets. The only major complaint about the book, and why it didn't receive the 5th star, is that it lacks some of the 'polish' that goes into less ambitious volumes. Diagrams are often vague, and sometimes have errors such as interfaces being duplicated or elements are mislabelled. Syntax, when shown, is not clearly explained and it is not immediately apparent the where commands are entered (global config? exec?). Otherwise it is a great book and lists plenty of references for further reading.
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"CCIE Routing and Switching" - by Randall B on 29-JAN-2010
Reviewer Rating:
Great book.  I am using this book as a quick guide on topics covered by written exam.  Whenever I cross a topic that I haven't mastered, I do further research.

One kind note:  p 171
SCP on routers that I am familiar with, use TCP port 22 vice 443.

Recommend all to include text in their study arsenal.
Regards
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