Cisco CCIE All-in-One Study Guide (All-In-One Certification) [Hardcover]

What this book is, is a fairly intense, step-by-step walk through the tiniest portions of networking. Most books that you'll find will tell you that "Ethernet works by broadcasting frames across a cable, and every computer checks the frame to see if it's theirs, and if it is they pick it up"; the CCIE AIO not only goes through the exact byte-sequence with which Ethernet broadcasts onto the cable, but gives flowcharts that tell you, in excruciating detail, how it checks the write, how the computer knows when a frame is ended, whether it's theirs, and how it checks to see if it's too small. A wealth of detail will flood you, the reader.

Which is a problem with the guide: It strives to be comprehensive, and it is. If you are the sort of person who learns best by thoroughly immersing yourself in the underpinnings of a system, then this is your dream--the chapter on TCP/IP architecture in particular is extremely thorough and worthwhile. In terms of actually getting as close to a bit-level understanding of how a computer processes the various protocols and routing commands, this book is probably unparalleled.

People have said that the Guide is poorly written--but actually, the writing is actually a strong point, with clear sentences walking you with ease through some fairly niggling topics. What it lacks is organisation: Even within the chapter, it sometimes leaps spontaneously from topic to topic, requiring a bit of criss-crossing on your part. One wishes for a strictly chronological walkthrough from start to finish on how the computer thinks, and it's not always there. There isn't that much on troubleshooting, either, but the book seems to assume that once you understand how everything works it will naturally follow that you know how it can break down ... which is not unreasonable, truthfully.

The questions are plentiful--over a thousand--but tend to err on the simple side for the CCIE, with an emphasis on definitions, setting parameters, and True/False questions and not troubleshooting problems (though they do exist). Unfortunately, the answers section is almost completely useless--if you chose the wrong answer, there is generally not any form of explanation of why something is right. You just get a blunt "B and C are the correct answers," without much else. (To be fair, however, there are some well-explained answers, about one out of every seven or so, but they're the exception rather than the norm.)

Essentially, this is not so much a total study guide, but a very detailed look at a topic that CCIE candidates should know inside and out. In that sense, this is an invaluable guide marred by a few technical flaws and some poor organisation. And most importantly, the title's a bit of hyperbole, which causes some letdown. But if you understand that this book will get you a long ways towards getting the certification without quite being the all-in-one stop it promises, you'll get your money's worth. --William Steinmetz, amazon.com