CCDP Self-Study: Designing Cisco Network Architectures (ARCH) [Hardcover]

CCDP Self-Study: Designing Cisco Network Architectures by Keith Hutton and Amir Ranjbar (Cisco Press, 2005) covers all the topics for the CCDP ARCH (642-871) in the right level of detail. Having taken the exam within the last year, I can tell that it meets the exam objectives and does an excellent job of providing a framework to help you learn the services and solutions covered in the exam.

The CCDP went through an appropriate overhaul in 2003. It is now tied much more to modern technologies and to design principles based on the AVVID architecture and the Enterprise Composite Network Model (ECNM). This book introduces all the functional areas of the ECNM in the first chapter and continues to refer to these areas and their constituent modules as it delves more deeply (in later chapters) into the services and solutions of AVVID.

Of all the Cisco certifications, I think the CCDP gives you the best overall picture of what's happening in enterprise networking today. You won't get near enough depth for the CCIE, but you get a decent exposure to all the major solutions (such as content, wireless, telephony, storage, and VPNs) and the underlying services (such as network management, security, multicast, high availability, QoS) that make up the architecture of Cisco's offerings.

This book covers all of these topics in the right level of detail for CCDP ARCH. In addition, it relates the corresponding products to these services and solutions, so that you have a good sense of how to fit all this together when you're in the field. The network diagrams and other illustrations are clear and detailed, and there are numerous tables summarizing the often-copious amounts of information. The questions and answers at the end of each chapter seemed to be at the appropriate level of detail and were in line with the level of difficulty of the exam question in ARCH.

I also liked the fact that at the end of each chapter the book provides a nice summary of the Cisco products relating to each service or solution. While typically beyond the scope of this exam, this will give you a deeper understanding of how to help your customers choose the right products to meet their needs. A running case study of a hypothetical company going through a network upgrade is also updated at the end of each chapter; a careful look at the ongoing saga of the OCSIC Bottling Company will not only improve your applied knowledge in general, but will also help you with the (I thought) tough case study testlet in the ARCH exam.

The difficulty that authors face in putting together a book like this lies in the dynamic nature of the technology and the potential of it to change for the exam. I noticed a few minor flaws along these lines in terms of discussing products or solutions (such as CD One and the nGenius RTM), which are end of life. For this reason, it's a good idea to complement your test preparation with a review on CCO of any solutions you think might fall into this category. I also recall there were some telephony concepts, such as dial patterns, covered on the exam but not discussed in the book. If you peruse the SRND guides on Cisco's website for topics such as storage, wireless, VPN, content, and telephony, while keeping the exam objectives (listed on Cisco's website) in the back of your mind, you should be able to make up for these minor omissions.

I would also recommend some final preparation with the CCDA/CCDP Flash Cards and Exam Preparation Pack. This book contains some excellent summary sheets that follow the same structure as this self-study guide.

Overall, I would give this book 5 stars, and I believe you can use it as both your main preparation tool for the CCDP ARCH exam and as a field reference for your consulting services.

In my opinion this book is most helpful preparation tool for Cisco CCDP ARCH exam. It covers all you need to pass that exam. Mr Ranjbar did good job and for me he recovered his good name after Self-study CCNP: CIT book.

Must have !

I used this book in preparation for the Cisco CCDP ARCH exam. It was a very helpful resource. The book focuses on concepts and methods, which is perfectly in-line with the exam content.

Overall the book is well written and I give kudos to the author for his ability to explain complex topics. The section on PIM sparse-mode was exceptional. Each chapter concludes with a real world example that helps illustrate the finer points.

Compared to the poor editing of the other Cisco books, this is definitely 5 stars. There are refreshingly few errors in this book.

Since you are likely buying this book to take the CCDP ARCH exam, I will also suggest complementing it with the BOSON CCDP practice questions. These two resources were the sum total of materials I used to pass the exam. There were only one or two questions that I don't recall the book covering.

Good luck!