CCSP Cisco Secure VPN Exam Certification Guide (CCSP Self-Study)

Rating:
Summary: Good book, some improvements necessary
Review: I found this book usefull and well written. It did contain a number of minor typos and mistakes but they were easy to spot. The last three chapters on the Cisco Hardware Client etc. seemed to have been written in a hurry and could have been improved. The CD that accompanies the book's test engine was ok, a number of the answers were wrong, and caused me almost always to not get the score required to pass the test exam. For the exam I recommend reading the articles on cisco.com on 1)Configuring the VPN client for auto initiation and 2)LAN-to-LAN with NAT that was not covered in the book. It will also help to know the web interface backwards, almost all the questions on the exam ask the path to get to a certain screen i.e. Configuration|System|Groups.

Rating:
Summary: ...not enough to pass exam
Review: I read this book cover to cover 4 times, and thought I had the exam in the bag. However, there were many questions and concepts presented on the 642-511 exam, that are not even mentioned in this study guide. One would think getting Cisco certified materials, would ensure the proper tools to achieve positive results... decent information in the book, but the practice CD is full of errors and inconsistancies that conflict with the books content. Don't count on this book to pass the exam.....

Rating:
Summary: Too Many Errors
Review: I would have expected more coming from Cisco Press. This book is riddled with errors. What's worse yet is that the Boson practice test uses this book for reference; thereby making the Boson error prone as well. This practice software is bad too. I am very very disappointed with this material. I could have done a better job myself. If you are studying for the CCSP PIX exam, you're better off just using the material on Cisco's website. You can find everything you need there. Good luck!!

Rating:
Summary: ...not enough to pass exam
Review: Like other Cisco Press materials, this book does not cover the subject material in entirety if you are looking to pass the associated exam. I found this book lacking some in content, however this is remedied by going to Cisco's site for more information. I found the examples and illustrations to be very helpful, especially since there is a lot of GUI work with the concentrator software. This book coupled with resources on Cisco's site should adequately prepare the reader for the exam. The accompanying study CD with this book needs some serious attention, as it has numerous errors and I felt the content was only fair. Coverage of the 3002 hardware client is missing, yet heavily emphasized on the CSVPN 642-511 exam.
If you have a good working knowledge of the current Cisco VPN product line and technology, you should do fine with just this book as your guide. However if this is the only material you are studying from and do not have experience with the concentrators or client software, make certain you take in as much info off from Cisco's site as you can.
Overall I would rate this Cisco Press publication a 3+ out of 5, due to the fact there is a lot of material that isn't covered, and the accompanying CD seems to have a high number of inconsistencies. Compared to the PIX Firewall Advanced book, also from Cisco Press, this book is definitely inferior. I found that book to be much better organized and detailed compared to the Cisco Secure VPN book. I felt the authors knew the material however maybe could have added more information to include the latest VPN devices and client software; especially in the detail necessary to pass Cisco's tough exams.

Rating:
Summary: CCSP Cisco Secure VPN Exam Certification Guide
Review: Like other Cisco Press materials, this book does not cover the subject material in entirety if you are looking to pass the associated exam. I found this book lacking some in content, however this is remedied by going to Cisco's site for more information. I found the examples and illustrations to be very helpful, especially since there is a lot of GUI work with the concentrator software. This book coupled with resources on Cisco's site should adequately prepare the reader for the exam. The accompanying study CD with this book needs some serious attention, as it has numerous errors and I felt the content was only fair. Coverage of the 3002 hardware client is missing, yet heavily emphasized on the CSVPN 642-511 exam.
If you have a good working knowledge of the current Cisco VPN product line and technology, you should do fine with just this book as your guide. However if this is the only material you are studying from and do not have experience with the concentrators or client software, make certain you take in as much info off from Cisco's site as you can.
Overall I would rate this Cisco Press publication a 3+ out of 5, due to the fact there is a lot of material that isn't covered, and the accompanying CD seems to have a high number of inconsistencies. Compared to the PIX Firewall Advanced book, also from Cisco Press, this book is definitely inferior. I found that book to be much better organized and detailed compared to the Cisco Secure VPN book. I felt the authors knew the material however maybe could have added more information to include the latest VPN devices and client software; especially in the detail necessary to pass Cisco's tough exams.

Rating:
Summary: Good But not enough.
Review: many mistakes and looks as if made in a hurry. Updates need to be made as far as vpn clients and remote access for vpn 3002 HWC. I found several mistakes on the CD and could potentialy steer you wrong. I would wait for revisions to be made before purchasing this book. Remember there is not alot out there right now as far as the new exams from cisco go and right now this is about it. I also would have liked to see a concentrator simulator but it doesnt supply one. maybe some day.

Rating:
Summary: Sole dependency on this book ensures gauranteed failure.
Review: Sorry, i have to be harsh. I studied this book inside out and on my first attempt at the exam i find out that this book dosent help in half questions asked in the exam. Had to take the exam again after getting hold of official course material. What is more surprising is that this is from cisco press and still is not on the mark. Mistakes , contradictory statements, shallow introduction to concepts.. overall, this book was written in a hurry. Only the screen shots of the vpn concentrators are helpful. I am not qualified enough to judge the authors, but i can surely say that they have not done their homework right on preparing this book.why 2 stars? because the basic concept are enumerated well and the screen shots are helpful.

Rating:
Summary: Not enough
Review: This book contains a fair amount of information required to pass the exam however there is material covered on the exam, not included in the text. The exam has a ton of questions on the 3002 h/w client and the chapters on this stuff was not clear and some info was left out. For the amount of time they spent explaining the client firewall stuff, there was few questions on the exam. Overall, I found this book a poor representation of what you'll see on the exam. They say in the book that the chapter questions are harder than what you'll see on the exam. This is not the case.

Rating:
Summary: Reasonably written.
Review: This book contains a fair amount of information required to pass the exam however there is material covered on the exam, not included in the text. The exam has a ton of questions on the 3002 h/w client and the chapters on this stuff was not clear and some info was left out. For the amount of time they spent explaining the client firewall stuff, there was few questions on the exam. Overall, I found this book a poor representation of what you'll see on the exam. They say in the book that the chapter questions are harder than what you'll see on the exam. This is not the case.

Rating:
Summary: Not enough
Review: This book is a good basic trainer of IPSEC and contains the concentrator information but its not enough to pass the exam. I believe it lacks newer versions of the client and 3002 for remote access. Buyer beware.