A nice article has been published on the IP experts blog about the list of books which are mandatory to be read before you appear for your CCIE R&S written exam. Nice list of books, below is a little excerpt from the article. For the complete article head to the IPexpert Blog
From the start of your CCIE the first book to read is a general book to create a mental frame work to put your theory in. When studying, always begin by reading something that covers all the topics - don't delve into a particular topic in detail first. This is because your brain formulates information from data based on context - so you'll gather more information from reading the same book if you have a context to put it in.
So, book one is your overall theory book:
CCIE Routing and Switching Exam Certification Guide, 3rd Edition By Wendell Odom, Rus Healy, Naren Mehta.
This book, once finished, will give you a good overview of the topics that you'll need to learn for your CCIE. Read it as the first book, then re-read it (as required) before your written exam.
Book two is your routing book:
Routing TCP/IP, Volume 1, 2nd Edition By Jeff Doyle, Jennifer Carroll.
This book is like the bible for the R&S CCIE student (but without the internal contradictions). It's a tough read but superbly written with an elegant logical sequence. It will teach you all you need to know about the operation of your IGP routing protocols for IPv4 and IPv6. It's also my favorite textbook of all time.
Book three is your switching book:
CCNP BCMSN Official Exam Certification Guide, 4th Edition By Dave Hucaby.
This book isn't on the Cisco CCIE reading list, which astounds me. The Cisco list prefers "Cisco LAN Switching" but that is almost 10 years old and the information (whilst well written and detailed) is too old to be a useful reference due to massive technology improvements. This book is the latest exam certification guide for BCMSN (the CCNP switching course). Feel free to skip any topics that aren't relevant to your lab, but ensure you read all the switching material as well as material on high availability protocols and multicast (it'll serve as a good primer for the sixth book).
Book four and five are your BGP books:
Internet Routing Architectures, 2nd Edition by Sam Halabi
and
Routing TCP/IP, Volume II By Jeff Doyle, Jennifer DeHaven Carroll.
Sam's book is an excellent book covering BGP in many situations. It is dated a little bit, but BGP hasn't changed much in that time. Routing TCP/IP Vol 2 has a good BGP section too, so between them you should be able to learn most if not all of the theory you need to understand the protocol.
Book six is your multicast book:
Developing IP Multicast Networks, Volume I By Beau Williamson.
It's unfortunate that Beau has never had the time to update this masterpiece, but read it anyway as it explains multicast better than any other book to date. Supplement it with the information from books three and five if you need to get a bit of extra information.
Book seven is your QOS book:
Cisco QOS Exam Certification Guide (IP Telephony Self-Study), 2nd Edition By Wendell Odom, Michael J. Cavanaugh.
This book (again not on the list from Cisco) is the best written QOS book that you'll find. What it doesn't cover (or that Wendell didn't add to in book one) you should gather from the Cisco website 3550 and 3560 Configuration Guide QOS sections.
So that's seven books cover-to-cover to have *expert* level knowledge. Seem fair? The only major areas I haven't covered are WAN technologies and IPv6, but they are better covered later in your studies due to their less theoretical and more practical nature (what you need to know for the written is in book one).
Hope that helps aspirants beginning with their CCIE R&S studies!
From the start of your CCIE the first book to read is a general book to create a mental frame work to put your theory in. When studying, always begin by reading something that covers all the topics - don't delve into a particular topic in detail first. This is because your brain formulates information from data based on context - so you'll gather more information from reading the same book if you have a context to put it in.
So, book one is your overall theory book:
CCIE Routing and Switching Exam Certification Guide, 3rd Edition By Wendell Odom, Rus Healy, Naren Mehta.
This book, once finished, will give you a good overview of the topics that you'll need to learn for your CCIE. Read it as the first book, then re-read it (as required) before your written exam.
Book two is your routing book:
Routing TCP/IP, Volume 1, 2nd Edition By Jeff Doyle, Jennifer Carroll.
This book is like the bible for the R&S CCIE student (but without the internal contradictions). It's a tough read but superbly written with an elegant logical sequence. It will teach you all you need to know about the operation of your IGP routing protocols for IPv4 and IPv6. It's also my favorite textbook of all time.
Book three is your switching book:
CCNP BCMSN Official Exam Certification Guide, 4th Edition By Dave Hucaby.
This book isn't on the Cisco CCIE reading list, which astounds me. The Cisco list prefers "Cisco LAN Switching" but that is almost 10 years old and the information (whilst well written and detailed) is too old to be a useful reference due to massive technology improvements. This book is the latest exam certification guide for BCMSN (the CCNP switching course). Feel free to skip any topics that aren't relevant to your lab, but ensure you read all the switching material as well as material on high availability protocols and multicast (it'll serve as a good primer for the sixth book).
Book four and five are your BGP books:
Internet Routing Architectures, 2nd Edition by Sam Halabi
and
Routing TCP/IP, Volume II By Jeff Doyle, Jennifer DeHaven Carroll.
Sam's book is an excellent book covering BGP in many situations. It is dated a little bit, but BGP hasn't changed much in that time. Routing TCP/IP Vol 2 has a good BGP section too, so between them you should be able to learn most if not all of the theory you need to understand the protocol.
Book six is your multicast book:
Developing IP Multicast Networks, Volume I By Beau Williamson.
It's unfortunate that Beau has never had the time to update this masterpiece, but read it anyway as it explains multicast better than any other book to date. Supplement it with the information from books three and five if you need to get a bit of extra information.
Book seven is your QOS book:
Cisco QOS Exam Certification Guide (IP Telephony Self-Study), 2nd Edition By Wendell Odom, Michael J. Cavanaugh.
This book (again not on the list from Cisco) is the best written QOS book that you'll find. What it doesn't cover (or that Wendell didn't add to in book one) you should gather from the Cisco website 3550 and 3560 Configuration Guide QOS sections.
So that's seven books cover-to-cover to have *expert* level knowledge. Seem fair? The only major areas I haven't covered are WAN technologies and IPv6, but they are better covered later in your studies due to their less theoretical and more practical nature (what you need to know for the written is in book one).
Hope that helps aspirants beginning with their CCIE R&S studies!
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