642-691 BGP+MPLS exam study

[Renne Stuart]

I am going to be studying for the 642-691 BGP+MPLS exam next year and am not sure what publications to buy to use as study material. All the Cisco Press books seem to be a few years old so am not sure if they will have the information needed to pass the exam. I have recently passed the cisco QOS exam and willl also be looking at taking the Route exam and have managed to find a book from 2010 for this. Also are there any cbt nuggets that I can get hold of for the BGP and MPLS to help me study ?

Any help or guidance will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Renne

[Reza Sharifi]

Hi Renne,

In addition to the books you already know about, there are some good practice tests in below link that you can take and evaluate yourself.

There are also some good documents in the "popular document" section you can read.  Also, if you have 2 or 3 routes to practice with, you can learn a whole a lot and prepare yourself for the exam.

BTW, you have to register to take the practice tests, but if you have a CCO account that would work too.

https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/community/certifications/ccip/bgp_mpls?tab=take-your-exam

Good Luck

Reza

[mtsb]

Hi,

I recently cleared BGP+MPLS exam. I used following books and videos.

BGP:

1. Jeff Doyle ( I think Vol.2) first 3 chapters. Few of my friends recommended BGP Student guide as well but I didnt go thro that book as JD gave me enough strength to crack the exam.

2. CBT Nuggets CCIE video series.

Strategy: If you are the first time learner of BGP, First watch the video and then read the book. This will give you some better understanding is what I feel. Have GNS3 aside and try each and every topology mentioned in the book and sail along with Jeff. I am sure you will have a very good grip on BGP this way.

3. Watch videos of train signal. Chrish Bryant gives much more indepth details of the protocol and explain every field in show command.

MPLS:

Sybex MPLS CCIP Book for initial study and move on to MPLS Fundamentals by Luc. Not all chapters might be useful but you can easily pick up chapters for exam and keep reading.

Videos: I had some experience working on MPLS areas so I didnt bother much on which videos to watch but I feel train signal and CBT Nuggets do have some videos on this one which will be good as like other series from them.

HTH,

Madhu

[sudjacob]

The best way to study for this exam read the following book.

1. MPLS fundamentals by Luc Degein

2. BGP  Internet Routing Arcitecture- by Sam Haleibi

There are other 2 books which talks about entire MPLS-VPN by Ivan Papeljenik which talks about entire service provider network.

[Renne Stuart]

Thanks for all the info on which books to buy, sounds like there are few I will need ! Does anyone have a copy of the CBT nuggets I can download   ?

[Ivan Krimmel]

Hi,

I'm not sure if it is a right place to write that, but personally I would recommend to read the Juniper study guides(which are free) for JNCIS-M as well, Cisco Press books are good and in particular Luc's book is great, but there is always another point of view and style to write/explain the material.

Another great book worth to mention here is 'BGP Advanced design and Implementation" by Randy Zhang and Micah Bartell.

Cheers.