CCNA notes, also known as CCNA summary notes or exam cram notes are an essential part of preparing for the CCNA.  One of the best known is the Exam Cram CCNA notes book.  Employers these days value troubleshooting skills and hands-on configuration skills to be extremely important when they are deciding which network engineer to hire.  I believe that one of the reasons that Cisco introduced simulation questions into the CCNA is because of this market requirement.

Even with this new focus on practical skills, the fact remains that if you want to pass the CCNA and become an effective networks engineer, you need to remember all the important networking terms.  Factual knowledge such as the OSI model, and the default administrative distances of each of the routing protocols are something that you need to be certain of before taking the exam or trying to apply for an networking job.  In this regard, CCNA notes are very useful as a memory aid which can help you prepare for the CCNA exam.  Here are 3 points to look out for when choosing CCNA notes:

1. CCNA Notes Exam version – This is the most important thing to take note of.  Cisco changes the CCNA syllabus regularly perhaps every 1-2 years.  It is important that all your certification CCNA books and notes are up-to-date with the current version of the exam.  This is particularly important as CCNA notes are usually the slowest to get updated when it comes to CCNA study material.  Do check carefully to see if the exam revision stated on the CCNA notes is that of the current exam.  You can check the current exam version at the Cisco.Com.
2. Portability – Portability is something you need to take note of when choosing good CCNA notes.  For the usual CCNA candidate, you would have already attended the CCNA class or read throughly the important CCNA books and just need some study material to jog your memory and improve your recall of the key facts.  At this point in your CCNA revision, you certainly do not want to be carrying thick and heavy books.  Small-sized CCNA notes can be brought anywhere to study and you’ll be able to constantly revise the difficult to remember networking facts wherever you are
3. Qualification of Authors – Although there really isn’t a need to get CCNA notes written by certified CCIEs, it is important that the notes are written by qualified professionals.  Technical material needs to be written in a technically coherent manner in order to be useful for the CCNA exam.  In my opinion, only certified individuals or Cisco trainers will know the best way to present this material.  Do check who is writing the book before you buy.

I recommend the CCNA Exam Cram (Exam 640-802) (3rd Edition) CCNA notes for CCNA exam summary revision.  It comes from the well known Exam Cram series of books and the current 3rd edition is up-to-date for the 640-802 CCNA exam.  It comes in a very portable size and is written by CCNA experts.  I used a previous edition of the book to obtain my CCNA previously and I highly recommend the exam cram series of books for clear and concise CCNA notes.

Cheers,
Francis (SavvyNetCert.Com)

P.S. The CCNA Exam Cram (Exam 640-802) (3rd Edition) CCNA notes is available from Amazon.Com with a 34% discount and FREE shipping.

Technorati Tags: ccna book, ccna books, ccna note, ccna notes

Note: This is a continuation from the first post on CCNA books in this series.  Please read that first if you have not done so yet.

CCNA Preparation Library (7th Edition) (Self-Study Guide) – Cisco Press

This is the CCNA Preparation Library from Cisco Press, one of the official Cisco study guides.  This includes 2 books, 1 for ICND1 and ICND2.  The books are from the Cisco Press “self-study” series of books, which mean that they are comprehensive and do not usually assume any prior knowledge.  These are not to be confused with the “exam certification” series of books which are also very complete, however based on my experience they are more suited for review and re-certification purposes.  The books are from Cisco Press, which mean that they are official authorized study material from Cisco, and you can be sure that they will not deviate from the official CCNA objectives.  They also teach the same material as the Sybex book, but in a different way.

Please note that this book does not come with any accompanying PDF or test engine.

Features

• Official exam study material from Cisco
• Comprehensive exam coverage
• Hardcover books
• Comes with free 45 day access to Safari Books (online book reference library)

Get CCNA Preparation Library (7th Edition) (Self-Study Guide) from Amazon now!

Which to Get?

So, which book should you get for your CCNA studies?  In short, if you can, buy both of them.  The Sybex and Cisco Press books teach the material in a different manner.  Since everybody learns in a different way, it would be wise to get both.  The Lammle book, as you know comes highly recommended.  One note for consideration is past the CCNA exam (into the CCNP and CCIE exams), there are few books written specifically for the certification that are not published by Cisco Press.  So if you are intending to go further, why not start learning the Cisco style now?

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P.S. I created a handy chart comparing the various CCNA books. Click on the link to compare and buy now.

Francis (@savvynetcert – Twitter)

Technorati Tags: ccna book, ccna books, ccna study books, sybex ccna study guide

There are basically 2 broad categories of CCNA Books, those used for a quick review before the exam, and those designed for the relatively new person to the computer networking field of study.  In this post, I’ll be reviewing the 2nd kind (more comprehensive CCNA Exam Preparation books).  These very complete guides will provide an in-depth look at every one of the CCNA objectives.  They usually go into far more detail than is required for passing the exam.  However, this will build a strong foundation for future Cisco studies as well as allow you to be more effective in the job of the CCNA networks engineer.  There are basically 2 excellent exam preparation guides that I recommend strongly here.

CCNA: Cisco Certified Network Associate Study Guide: Exam 640-802 (Paperback) – Todd Lammle (Sybex)

This CCNA book by Todd Lammle is one of the most well known CCNA books today.  You might have heard this CCNA book being referred to as the Sybex CCNA book.  Todd Lammle is a well known author and this book is already in its 6th edition.  I’ve used this CCNA guide in the past to get my CCNA certification and the CCNA material and objectives are brought forward in a easy-to-understand manner.  In addition, the book comes in a softcover edition and thus is relatively cheaper than the equivalent Cisco Press book (which I will review below).  In addition, this comes with 4 practice exams, electronic flashcards and a PDF version of this CCNA book.  I always prefer to get books with an accompanying PDF version as this allows me to study for the exam during the long commute to and from work.

Features:

• Easy to understand
• Cheaper (soft cover book)
• Comes with PDF of the book
• Comes with practice exams
• Comes with electronic flash cards

Get CCNA: Cisco Certified Network Associate Study Guide: Exam 640-802 from Amazon.com.

This article is continued in the next post.  Please subscribe to my RSS feed to ensure you get the latest updates.  You can also follow my twitter stream to get notified when I have a new post.

Cheers,
Francis (@savvynetcert – Twitter)

P.S. I created a handy chart to compare the various CCNA books.  Click on the link to compare and buy now.

[Updated 24 Jul 2009 : Link to 2nd part of post]

Technorati Tags: ccna book, ccna books, ccna study books, sybex ccna study guide