New books from Cisco Microsoft CompTIA RFID cert Cisco Binary Game

New books from Cisco Microsoft CompTIA RFID cert Cisco Binary Game
Today, we have a round-up of networking book releases and certification news that should be of interest to you.

First, James Macfarlane has released an entry-level book on routing. A networking course instructor, Macfarlane said he wrote the book entitled, "Networking Routing Basics: Understanding IP Routing in Cisco Systems", because he found little that gave enough of a thorough treatment to the topic.
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The book was researched and written over three years and begins with a review of core networking. It discusses how routing works and explains static and dynamic routing. Among the routing protocols covered include the legacy RIP and IGRP protocols and the current EIGRP and OSPF protocols for large networks. It also briefly discusses Border Gateway Protocol.

Also new this month are three books from Cisco Press:

* "CCNA Official Exam Certification Library, Second Edition", featuring a series of short instructional videos that demonstrate how to accomplish various CCNA-level configuration tasks on Cisco routers and switches.

* "Storage Networking Protocol Fundamentals", which introduces network administrators to the requirements of storage protocols and compares and contrasts the basic functionality of Ethernet IP and Fibre Channel.

* "Advanced Host Intrusion Prevention with CSA", which explains the features and functions of Cisco Security Agent.

Microsoft MCTS Training Press has also recently released three books that could be of interest to networking pros preparing for Microsoft certification exams:

* "MCSE Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-294): Planning, Implementing, and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Active Directory Infrastructure"

* "MCSA/MCSE Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-291): Implementing, Managing, and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Network Infrastructure, Second Edition"

* "MCSE Self-Paced Training Kit (Exams 70-290, 70-291, 70-293, 70-294): Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Core Requirements, Second Edition"

In certification news, CompTIA A+ Training has launched the worldwide availability of its RFID+ certification. Among the skills the certification exam will test are installation, configuration and maintenance of RFID hardware and device software, site surveys and site analysis, and tag selection, placement and tsting. The certification is intended for professionals with a minimum of six to 24 months of experience in RFID or related data collection technologies.

CompTIA says it launched the certification to address what businesses see as an insufficient "pool of talent" in RFID technology from which to hire. According to a CompTIA A+ Certification survey of 500 North American organizations, just over half said they either completed RFID implementations or plan to do so in the next 12 months. The most aggressive adoption of RFID is planned in the automotive industry, followed by consumer goods and the transportation and logistics sector. A quick search for RFID jobs on the Indeed job search aggregator (which you can access from NetworkWorld.com) netted almost 900 jobs in the country.

Finally, who says exams aren't full of fun and games? Cisco has added the Binary Game to its Cisco Certified Network Associate Prep Center. According to Cisco, the game teaches strategies related to the binary system, a foundation knowledge used by CCNAs to install, configure and operate networks. While playing the binary game, rows of 1s and 0s appear from the bottom of the screen. The player clicks the 1s and 0s to create binary numbers, and earns points when answering correctly, the company says. The challenge starts when rows begin to appear faster and faster. As players achieve higher sores and advanced levels, they begin to recognize patterns and develop conversion strategies, Cisco explains.