It's not often I tout other people's books on here. Mostly because they are either ones you will obviously buy as they are on the official reading list, or they are just plain shite. That said, I saw someone asking if this book could be shared (i.e. so they don't have to pay for it), but I looked at the title (Practical Deployment of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE): Real-World Examples of AAA Deployments), found it on Amazon, looked at the blurb, and decided to buy it. So far, it's been a good investment.
If I wrote a book in ISE, this is the book I would like to have written.
Firstly, it feels nice to hold, its printed on smooth shiny paper, and it not too big. It's only 290 pages, but you do also get 12 blank pages at the end of the book. I guess this is something to do with the cover design (I understand this from designing my own book covers), alternatively it could be space to make notes, draw pictures of cats, or write out a shopping list. The possibilities are endless!
Anyway, why is this a good book? The official ISE book (Cisco ISE for BYOD and Secure Unified Access
) is a big weighty tome, of all the Cisco Security books on my desk, it's probably the biggest. I have started to read it, but did not get that far. So I tried watching the INE videos, which I thought would make getting back into the book a bit easier, but the sheer size of it puts me off.And then we have this book, in all it's shiny smooth glory.
It's nicely written, it feels like the authors are in the sme room as you, talking to you as an individual. It is a friendly book, written in plain english.
There are a couple of niggles, some of the pictures can be a little small (adding certificates), others can be overly large (generating certificates on the CA), but these are purely formatting, not a reflection on the writing.
It's quite clear that the writers, Andy Richter and Jeremy Wood, know their stuff. The book is filled with little tips to help you getting up and running, including all the little pitfalls along the way.
If you are like me, and ISE is all new to you, then this book is a great way to get into it, gradually, without being overwhelmed.
ISE takes up a fair old chunk of the CCIE Security exam, so it's an important technology to grasp, this book is an excellent way of helping you through labbing it up at home, and getting to grips with it quickly.
It is a good investment, and if you are looking for a smooth introduction into ISE, then you should definitely grab it:
Practical Deployment of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE): Real-World Examples of AAA Deployments