Customer Reviews

Apple Training Series: Mac OS X Server Essentials

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This book is not perfect, but the harshly negative reviews it's gotten so far are pretty much baseless. This is a book about Mac OS X Server. It is not a book about BIND or Apache or VPNs or any of the countless other services it is possible to run *on* Mac OS X Server. If you want to learn about the specifics of Apple's management utilities or are preparing for the Apple Technical Coordinator certification exams, then this is a fine book. If you know absolutely nothing about networking or server administration and want a book that's going to turn you into a sysadmin overnight, then you should definitely look elsewhere.

I guess that this book was written to be an add-on to the Apple Training course MAc OS X Server Essentials v10.4 Student Guide and Student Workbook, the texts which go along with the 4 day server course Apple offers in various cities around the country. I remember the instructor mentioning the book, but she did not have one with her to show and recommend. I would think that the book would receive greater use if mentioned by Apple on its site. Its trainers should show how the book extends the course in its training. I finally got to see a copy of the book, and liked its fuller explanations of what Apple might have just touched on in its guide. I rate the book well, especially on the author's additions to server features.

Most people normally thing of the Mac as being a personal workstation with several advantages over those other kinds of machines. But, of course, the Mac is a fully functional general purpose computer and Mac OS X is really Linux based so that all of the normal Linux functions work.

This book is specifically on using the Mac as a server. It presumes that you have some knowledge on using Mac OS X on a desktop machine, and specifically Mac OS X version 10.4. Mac OS X Server is built on top of Mac OS X. This book concentrates on the differences between the desktop and standard operating systems. ==The basic server functions covered include:

Gateway Services
Authenticating and Authorizing Accounts
Using Open Directory
Print Service
File Service.

The book has a brief introduction to the Enterprise level services that are included in Mac OS X Server. These include iChat, QuickTime Streaming Server, Mail Services, Web Services, XGrid, XSan. Each of these functions are worth having a book about them in their own right. And a complete description of all of them is considered outside the scope of this book.

This book is part of the official Apple training series. It is used in the Apple Training and Certification Program. A CD is included which includes an Apple training video on Kerberos as well as lesson and reference files.

Peachpit's "Apple Training Series" is generally an outstanding product line. However, there are two distinct branches to the line: knowledge and certification. This book isn't designed as much to teach you about OS X Server (Tiger edition) as it is to prepare you for a certification exam. Nothing wrong with that, it just not terribly practical for real world operations. While I haven't taken the certifcation exam, I suspect this book prepares you well for the exam since it's the "offical" curriculum of the Apple Training and Cetification program.

Similiar to other test prep books, there are goals and reviews. In particular, the book breaks down the learning into chapters with time estimates, which is helpful in preparing your learning process. The included CD has sample files to go along with the detailed and expanded exercises. The book takes you through the basics of setting up a server start to finish along with giving an overview of the rich feature set found in OS X Server.

Unfortunately, simliar to other test prep books, the book doesn't arm you with the skills necessary to properly maintain and configure a Tiger server in the real world. There is no troubleshooting guide nor much practical advice on do's and don'ts of server setup. After reading this book, I'm relatively confident I could pass the exam, but I do not feel confident I could configure or maintain a Tiger server. Nonetheless, this book is a good first step in learning OS X server. You need no prior knowledge to start using this book and to at least get a test server set up.

Overall this is a good book for beginners and/or persons trying to get certified on OS X server. The book level from Peachpit says "Intermediate/Advanced". I disagree; this is strictly for new users. If you will be maintaining a OS X server, look elsewhere for a support guide. Anyone who's setup a OS X server will be annoyed by this book.

Pros: Clear examples and easy to follow guide for beginners
Cons: No troubleshooting nor practical guidance after initial setup

Two out of five dogcows

If you are a server administrator, or you want to set up an Apple server, my suggest is: do not buy this book and save the money.
For beginners it might be an option (not even too helpful in that), but if you have to set up a web server or a mail server on a Mac OS X server Tiger, this book will not help you in anyway with its 2 paragraph dedicated to the subjects.
For Web & Mail, basically it tells you that you have web and mail services on your server... and thank you I knew that before buying this book!!!
Big disappointment. I am surprised that Apple could sponsor something like this, it's ridiculous. gunny was right, it is very "basic"...

This is a great book for teaching those interested in getting their ACTC (Apple Certified Technical Coordinator) certification. It is not an exhaustive reference for Mac OS X Server (like Bartosh's Essential Mac OS X Panther System Administration). It's not meant to be. But if someone is wanting to get their ACTC, this book, along with the Support Essentials book (and a bit of experience with OS X and OS X Server), you've got it. I applaud Apple and Peachpit for releasing well-written books that are a cost-effective means to get OS X certifications.

I was hoping it would a nice indepth run down that was a bit more than the PDF's you can download for free. In some cases the PDF's were more helpful! It was missing out on a lot of info, concentrated more on the Server Admin utility and Workgroup util. If you are looking for a more indepth info (command line info, common file names locations), I'd look elsewhere. Sorry Apple!

Unfortunately, while I love any book Schone Regan, a fellow ACN writes, this is for the prior server system and not the book I thought I was ordering. For those looking for training in last gen. server, it will be fine.

We bought a copy of OS X Server to set up a network file system, mail server, and print server. Unfortunately this book has proven completely useless in helping on those tasks. The only purpose of this book is to prepare you to pass an examination certifying that you understand OS X Server administration. Frankly, anyone who only has that certification will not really be prepared for the challenges of system administration.

I was hoping for a volume that would help me to identify the kinds of services that we need to offer in a mixed-client-OS system, something that would help design the network, install and configure the client machines, troubleshoot and debug in case of problems, and so on.

What I got was a book that says: "Insert the DVD in the DVD drive. Reboot the system from the DVD. Enter these values into the first panel that you see...." On and on and on, it's purely a monkey-see, monkey-do approach.

There's only one reason to buy this book: to pass an exam. Otherwise, look at the online guides to server administration that Apple provides on their website. They suffer from many deficiencies, but they are still far superior to this effort.

Apple Training Series: Mac OS X Server Essentials (2nd Edition) (Apple Training)

This book was a complete waste of money. I was looking for assistance with 2 things, neither of which were covered in any detail.

The first and biggest failing was with Mail Services; the entire discussion encompassed a small paragraph which basically states that mail services are available. No discussion of how to configure mail accounts, no discussion on how to get started with mail services. What I was looking for was a walk-through of setting up a new account that was easier to follow than Apple's PDF, which is so sketchy and poorly-written that it took me hours upon hours to figure out how to configure mail accounts.

I've read some excellent books whose goal was to demystify complex processes like server setup, but this is not one of them. Pass this book by.