THE CCIE DESK

Books by Simson Lubin · CCIE #36466

Practical tech books from a 2× CCIE

Plain-language guides to the CCNA, AI at work, Linux and security, written by a network engineer with 20+ years in banking, retail and government. Every command tested. Every exam question original.

Browse the 10 books About the author
87DAYS

until CCNA 200-301 v2.0 replaces v1.1 on 3 February 2027. Five domains, a new AI and network operations section, and two books written for it.

See the CCNA books →

Kindle and paperback

The books

Cover of CCNA 200-301 v2.0 Practice Questions

CCNA

CCNA 200-301 v2.0 Practice Questions

400 original exam-style questions in four full practice exams, every answer explained.

  • Four full 100-question exams
  • Every answer explained, right and wrong
  • Score by domain to find your weak spots

Kindle $6.99Paperback $18.99

Launching on Amazon this month

Cover of CCNA 200-301 v2.0: What's New

CCNA

CCNA 200-301 v2.0: What's New

The upgrade guide for v1.1 learners: every new and changed exam topic, plus 177 practice questions.

  • Every new and changed topic, explained
  • The new AI section, made practical
  • 177 practice questions with answers

Kindle $5.99Paperback $16.99

Launching on Amazon this month

Cover of AI Without the Hype

AI at Work

AI Without the Hype

The beginner-to-confident guide to ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Copilot for life, work and business.

  • Five C's for asking AI anything
  • How to catch AI's confident mistakes
  • 170 prompts and a 30-day plan

Kindle $6.99Paperback $19.99

Coming soon to Amazon

Cover of Put Claude to Work

AI at Work

Put Claude to Work

The practical Claude playbook for business owners and professionals.

  • Delegate real work with the BRIEF method
  • Projects, skills, connectors and agents
  • 100 business prompts and an AI policy

Kindle $6.99Paperback $17.99

Coming soon to Amazon

Cover of Put ChatGPT to Work

AI at Work

Put ChatGPT to Work

The practical ChatGPT playbook for small business owners.

  • Playbooks for sales, service and finance
  • Five settings that keep your data private
  • 120 business prompts and an AI policy

Kindle $6.99Paperback $17.99

Coming soon to Amazon

Cover of Microsoft 365 Copilot: The Practical Guide

AI at Work

Microsoft 365 Copilot: The Practical Guide

Get real work done in Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and deploy it securely.

  • Save time in every Microsoft 365 app
  • Find and fix oversharing first
  • Licensing, Purview and a 90-day plan

Kindle $7.99Paperback $21.99

Coming soon to Amazon

Cover of Excel + AI

AI at Work

Excel + AI

Copilot, ChatGPT and Claude in Excel: faster formulas, cleaner data, and how to catch a wrong number.

  • Prompts that stop AI guessing your ranges
  • 190 formulas, every one tested in Excel
  • How to catch a confident wrong number

Kindle $7.99Paperback $22.99

Coming soon to Amazon

Cover of Linux for Beginners

Linux

Linux for Beginners

The command line, Ubuntu, networking, SSH, security and shell scripting, with a hands-on lab in every chapter.

  • A hands-on lab in every chapter
  • Networking and SSH from a 2× CCIE
  • Mapped to Linux+ and LFCS

Kindle $5.99Paperback $19.99

Coming soon to Amazon

Cover of Linux Security for Defenders

Linux

Linux Security for Defenders

Hardening, monitoring and defending Linux servers: SSH, firewalls, intrusion detection and incident response.

  • SSH, firewalls, Fail2ban and AIDE
  • Detect intrusions with auditd and Suricata
  • Tested on Ubuntu 24.04 and 26.04

Kindle $6.99Paperback $19.99

Coming soon to Amazon

Cover of Ransomware: What Every Business Owner Must Do

Security

Ransomware: What Every Business Owner Must Do

Protect your company, ask your IT the right questions, and know what to do if you're hit.

  • The 10 controls that stop most attacks
  • 20 questions to ask your IT provider
  • A plan for the first 24 hours

Kindle $4.99Paperback $9.99

Coming soon to Amazon

Free with the books

Reader bonuses

Excel workbook

Excel + AI practice workbook

The same data as the book's exercises, plus a Checks sheet that turns green when your copy matches the expected totals.

thecciedesk.com/excel

From Excel + AI · available when the book launches

Lab files on GitHub

Linux lab scripts

Every script, configuration file and practice data set from the hands-on labs, ready to clone onto your own Ubuntu machine.

github.com/ccie36466/linux-for-beginners

From Linux for Beginners · available when the book launches

About the author

Simson Lubin

Simson is a two-time Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert with more than 20 years designing, securing and automating networks for banks, retailers and government. He is the founder and CEO of CCIE Corporation, a Cisco partner in Curaçao, and still runs production networks every week.

He writes the books he wished he'd had: short on theory you'll never use, long on the commands, checks and decisions that matter on a real job.

CCIE #3646620+ years in networkingCisco partner

Need a network engineer? Visit cciecorporation.com →