Remote Access for Cisco Networks

Rating:
Summary: Great book, just like their previous book
Review: As I recall, both authors were listed as co-authors with Terry Slattery on a previous book titled "Adv. Ip Routing With Cisco Networks" which received great reviews. All work for Chesapeake (great qualifications).

The book contains lots of helpful examples, configs, etc.. Big help on typically tough topics.

On a side note, Bill Burton is also an instructor for the BCRAN class and from some of his students comments, he also did a great job teaching the class, so he definitely knows what he is writing about.

Rating:
Summary: Remote Access for Cisco Networks - Bill Burton
Review: I had the good fortune to take Bill Burton's BCRAN class at Chesapeake not long ago. He is an excellent and enthusiastic teacher and that is reflected in his book. It is written in a witty, conversational style, which makes it easy to follow. There are lots of sample configurations for the most common remote access configuration scenarios. He "holds your hand" as you are walked through these, including the 'show' and 'debug' commands you need when things aren't going well.

He notes in the Introduction, that the book is intended more as a practical reference to use in real-life than as an exhaustive BCRAN test preparation guide, which I think is a pretty accurate assessment. I've read some parts in depth, and skimmed most of the rest of the book. I expect it to be a useful and accessible guide in configuring all flavors of remote access. I bought the book because of my classroom experience, and was not disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Great for the CCNP Remote Access Exam and as a reference
Review: I used Mr. Burton's book to study for the Remote Access Exam. The material is very relevant to real world issue I deal within our network day to day. His chapters match close enough to the exam topics to cover what you need and his examples are excellent.
I had first picked up the Cisco Press Book: Building Cisco Remote Access Networks edited by Catherine Paquet. I have endured some boring, painful reading in my time ( I've got a Civil Engineering degree to prove it) but this came close to being the all time worst (ok, groundwater modeling was worse). I was so delighted to read Mr. Burton's material after that and would recommend, at a minimum you pick this book up in addition to the Cisco Press. At least you can get some great working sample configurations out of the book which I consider lacking in the Cisco Press title.
The errors and spelling mistakes were minor. This book is well worth the money. Oh, I passed the Remote Access Exam also.
- Ed Horley, CCNP, CCDA

Rating:
Summary: Great for the CCNP Remote Access Exam and as a reference
Review: I used Mr. Burton's book to study for the Remote Access Exam. The material is very relevant to real world issue I deal within our network day to day. His chapters match close enough to the exam topics to cover what you need and his examples are excellent.
I had first picked up the Cisco Press Book: Building Cisco Remote Access Networks edited by Catherine Paquet. I have endured some boring, painful reading in my time ( I've got a Civil Engineering degree to prove it) but this came close to being the all time worst (ok, groundwater modeling was worse). I was so delighted to read Mr. Burton's material after that and would recommend, at a minimum you pick this book up in addition to the Cisco Press. At least you can get some great working sample configurations out of the book which I consider lacking in the Cisco Press title.
The errors and spelling mistakes were minor. This book is well worth the money. Oh, I passed the Remote Access Exam also.
- Ed Horley, CCNP, CCDA

Rating:
Summary: WOW!!! much better then the course material
Review: I was given this book to read along with the course material for the CCNP v2 BCRAN exam. This book has much more information in it then the course material. Bill Burton does a great job in explaine some very difficult subjects. Good job. Highly recommended as both a study aide as well as a reference aid.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: Incomparable with Cisco press CCNP books on this same topic. I've rated both of those - "Building Cisco Remote Access Networks" and "CCNP Remote Access" with only 2 stars.

This book, unlike Cisco Press books, is very coherent, very clear and goes to the right level of depth to give you proper understanding of the material. What is more important it will give you understanding of how to apply the information on the job.

One tip however, all remote access books I looked at miss one important piece - they do not explain the complete set of interrelationships between serial interfaces, asynchronous interfaces, lines, controllers, vtys, ttys, etc. Therefore you need to read the introduction section from "Cisco IOS 12.0 Dial Solutions". It is a horrible read and you will have to fight through it. Read it five times, if you have to. But, it will give you the mental map and the foundation needed to understand any book on this topic.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: Incomparable with Cisco press CCNP books on this same topic. I've rated both of those - "Building Cisco Remote Access Networks" and "CCNP Remote Access" with only 2 stars.

This book, unlike Cisco Press books, is very coherent, very clear and goes to the right level of depth to give you proper understanding of the material. What is more important it will give you understanding of how to apply the information on the job.

One tip however, all remote access books I looked at miss one important piece - they do not explain the complete set of interrelationships between serial interfaces, asynchronous interfaces, lines, controllers, vtys, ttys, etc. Therefore you need to read the introduction section from "Cisco IOS 12.0 Dial Solutions". It is a horrible read and you will have to fight through it. Read it five times, if you have to. But, it will give you the mental map and the foundation needed to understand any book on this topic.

Rating:
Summary: Great Technical Book
Review: This book is excellent as a reference and learning the technolgies if you have the equipment in a lab. Very well documented. It walks you through step by step (with out getting very detailed and boring) in configuring and basic troubleshooting. I used the ciscopress BCRAN for the test and this book to actually learn, install, and troubleshoot the stuff.