Cisco(r) CCIE(tm) Lab Practice Kit First Edition first Printing

I haven't been to the lab yet (17 day... not that I'm counting!) so I don' know how close it is to THE LAB. But it certainly makes you think about WHY you're configuring the routers in a certain manner. Some labs require 8 routers (and an ISDN simulator) so it may be an issue for some. HIGHLY recommended. I *LOVE* the fact that the author provides tear-out copies of the lab (no more flipping the book back & forth)

I passed the lab in March of 2003. I could only suggest the book to those just starting their studies. For those just about ready to go to the lab, let's say with 3 months to go before lab date, this won't be of much help. Practice labs need to be HARDER than the CCIE Lab.If you are going to spend your time going for the CCIE, you MAY (I repeat MAY) want to start with this one, but review it to make sure they have changed the technologies! As of the last writing which I own, it's outdated.Out of all of the time I spent on the CCIE preperation, I used this about 1% of my total study time. I guess that sums it up.

I still recommed this book for anyone trying for the CCIE Lab, however be warned that there are alot of mistakes in the configuation examples, and there is nothing about them on the errata site. If you are preparing for the CCIE Lab you should be able to recognize the errors without too much effort and on the good side it helps you with your trouble shooting skills. This book has helped me tremendously in preparing for the lab.

This book is definitely better quality than their last book. The value of the book is extremely good, but the complexity is still not even close to the labs from ccbootcamp.

Please be careful if you're buying this book to work along with. The amount of equipment needed to setup these scenarios is staggering.

There are a lot of errors in this book so far, and I'm only up to page 60. But, I've learned a lot, and I'm very happy with my decision to purchase this book. Use this book as a stepping stone towards the ccbootcamp labs, which are probably better-reviewed and more complex than the ones in this book.

PLEASE SAVE YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY!Yes, this book address the 2-day lab. But, I bought any way, figuring any lab work was beneficial. WRONG! I am half way through this book and I am finding it riddled with typos, mistakes, and poor editting. The labs are rather basic, if you can make it through the errors. Perhaps the authors should read Doyle's TCP/IP for a refresher on redistributing classful and classless routing protocols! I am forcing my way through, only because I hate to waste the money! DO NOT BUY!!!

As an online training provider (LearntoRoute.net), we recommend this book to our customers. Its detailed scenarios provide the essential practice needed to master the CCIE exam topics. In addition, the authors give you valuable non-technical information about the exam, itself. For instance, they break down the sections of the exam, and give you the required points for each section.The book is divided into case studies. Each case study offers the reader a new challenge, revolving around a particular technology. For example, the first case study focuses primarily on BGP, and is very extensive. Other topics include: ISDN, OSPF, EIGRP, IGRP, RIP, IS-IS, ISDN, Frame-Relay, VPN, DLSw, IPSec, VOIP, and ATM LANE.For each case study, the reader is given a hardware list, a physical diagram, and a set of requirements. From these, he/she will rely on their knowledge and experience to produce the required outcome. However, the authors provide solutions (configuration examples) to all of the scenarios, in case you get stumped.Another great feature of this book are the “tear-sheets” from the back of the book. There is a second copy of the labs, printed on perforated sheets, designed to be torn from the book. This is a very useful feature if you are working with someone else, as it allows the pages to spread out, and lay flat on a table.This is not a book for beginners. Although it provides a fair amount of explanation, the information is not “spoon-fed” to you. As the name suggests, it is a practice kit for the CCIE Lab exam. You will be required to do actual work in order to be successful with this book. Before attempting the labs in this book, you should already have a strong working knowledge of networking, and the Cisco IOS.Overall, this is a very useful book – essential to CCIE preparation, and ..., a bargain! Highly recommended!