Yes It Does Cover HSRP!   June 17, 2004

Wondering which to buy for your 640-604, Cisco or Sybex?   May 22, 2003

The only bad point is, like the other reviewer pointed out, this book does not cover HSRP, which was still questioned as of May 2003. I would recommend that you buy the Cisco's book too and take a look at only that section to get a quick knowledge of HSRP, then you are good to go!


HSRP on the test   May 20, 2003
  1 out of 2 found this review helpful

Outstanding book. Provides everything you need to know to pass the test, except for HSRP. I realized that this was not in the book when I went to take the test. It was a good thing that there were only a few questions on HSRP. Maybe I guessed right, but I did pass the test and that is all that matters.


A good book? Very likely.   December 24, 2002
  2 out of 3 found this review helpful

I must confess, that I used this book only for:
1) The chapters discussing multicast concepts and configuration (Chapters 8 and 9), and
2) The testing engine and flash cards contained on the companion CD.
This is the reason why I chose to go with the average rating of the book on Amazon, which at the moment is 4 stars. I'm sure there is truth to reviewer(s) whose opinion affected the rating from five stars to four.

I opted for CCNP: Switching Certification Guide, a Cisco Press book, as the base for preparation. However, I found the discussion on multicast confusing and lacking adequate illustrations. This is where Todd Lammle's book came to rescue. Lammel's book has good diagrams to illustrate how source distribution tree, shared distribution tree, bidirectional shared tree, PIM DM mechanisms (flooding, pruning, grafting), and PIM SM pruning work. The understanding gained from this book helped me comprehend multicast as discussed in the Cert Guide.

The testing engine was just an added bonus. I particularly like the flash cards that I download on my Palm for when I'm stuck in a traffic jam, which btw happens a lot in a crowded city.


Easy to read but inadequate for learning   September 22, 2002
  2 out of 5 found this review helpful

After taking and passing the exam (luckily) today I can honestly say that this book did not prepare me well enough for the exam. Between 1/3 to 1/4 of the questions I was presented with I simply had to make an educated guess at because they were not covered in the book (For Example: I was asked questions about the user configurable options of PAgP and the configuration of the 3500 series of switch. In the Sybex book PAgP is given about 1/4 of a page that does not mention configuation and the 3500 series never appears in the book). On top of this there were several annoying typos and editing problems such as using the acronym CAM two chapters before it was defined as Content Addressable Memory.

It also appeared that Todd Lammle got bored or was working on a deadline because the last 3 chapters were in general harder to read and contained more errors than the first 8.

Overall this book is useful for those who are just beginning to learn about Cisco Switching and need a book that is readable to develop a basis on which they can build with other books such as those printed by Cisco Press. As a book that can prepare you for the exam or worse yet that can prepare you for actually working on the Cisco equipment this book is totally inadequate.