Customer Reviews

MCSE Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-293): Planning and Maintaining a Microsoft® Windows Server(TM) 2003 Network Infrastructure, Second Edition

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

 

 

Generally, MS-Press Self Paced Second Edition books are good. Especially they did a great job on 290 and 291. This book, however, is an exception. This book does not cover many exam areas at all, and I am not talking nuances. There is no mentioning in this book about PKI certificate archival (new feature in Server 2003 family, well tested on 293 exam), or the GC placement, and several other areas. Those subjects that are covered in the book, are not covered in depths, in fact, they look like poor summaries and will not prep you for the exam in any way, nor will they prepare you for real life situations. Author jumps around same topics and is not able to clearly explain most of them. Practices are not worth installing a fresh copy of Server. There are no good "Exam Tips", like in other MS-Press books. I doubt that Craig actually took this exam.
I understand that no exam preparation book alone is enough to prepare for the exam, but those that I read so far, did a pretty good job on it. I was able to ACE several Microsoft exams using Self Paced guides and Testout videos.
This book tried to trick me into thinking that 293 exam was peace-of-cake. It is not! Do not be fooled. Exam is probably as hard as 291. It may seem easier after taking 291, but without that preparation 293 would be close to impossible to pass for the first time. Yes, it is in some ways similar to 291, but it covers whole bunch of different topics, and focuses on a different agenda. This book will not help you pass the exam. Book is a joke.

I currently have my MCSA with relatively little experience(comparatively speaking). Therefore, I knew I needed to be thorough with my reading for this particular test. A lot of what's in here is stuff I've never dealt with hands on(ie Clusters, NLB, RRAS, and CA). That said, I figured the most comprehensive route would be LearnKey training videos coupled with a cover to cover reading of this book. I've heard the second edition of these books are much better. While this book does do a very good job covering all the exam topics, it's fatal flaw is that it mentions nearely nothing about dealing with legacy systems within a AD Infrastructure. I was horrified to discover about 10-15% of the questions(and even a simulation) that require you to maintain support for NT4 and Windows 98 clients while simultaneously requiring you to meet the requirements for security or GPO assignments. The book only mentions these OS's in passing really, and says nothing regarding how you handle these scenarios. Needless to say, I was very unprepared for these questions despite a good solid month and a half of comprehensive preparation. However, I did pass with a 775, and if you can find something else to make up for this lapse in coverage(be it experience or another book), you can ace the exam with a thorough reading of this book. Just don't skip the practice questions at the end! They may be tedious and not be anything like the actual exam questions, but they actually do a very good job focusing you on the things you should know for the exam.

This was the first MS Press book I went through. I like how Microsoft gives you instructions on how to prepare your server for the labs to follow. The problem is that the labs, and more importantly the other material in the book, do not go into near enough detail in covering what you need to know for the actual exam. When I took my first practice test, there was so much information that wasn't covered in the book. I'm glad I borrowed this from the library instead of paying money for it. In my opinion, the Syngress book for the 70-293 is much more detailed. If you are not taking the exam and want a high-level overview of how to plan and maintain a Windows Server 2003 network, then this might be a good book to start with. However, if you are preparing for the exam and want a book that covers all of the exam topics in detail, look elsewhere.

As I complete this book, this book was focus on planning the network infrastructure and security feature. But you need to read additional book in order to cover most of security feature in windows 2003 such as the book of Windows Security and Windows 2003 PKI and Certificate infrastructure.

I feel this book has less practice thant the previous exam (70-291).

I passed my test using it, but I am a "lab nut" so I tend to do all the labs and then some. I currently hold MCSA in Server 2003 as well and do have experience in it so maybe that's why it just seemed easier for me. My test did cover NLB and clusters quite heavily and this information imparted to me in this book paid off as I was ready. It could go more into GPO's and how to do all the little "ins and outs" of them, I had a couple GPO sims that I kind of winged my way through only because I had done some playing around on our home network in trying to get it all down. So yeah, you'll have your MS bashers on one hand and your MS praisers on the other, so read all the reviews; go look at it in person and see if you think it'll work for you before buying thru Amazon (like I do.... :-) ). Formulate your own opinion and don't neglect the end of chapter questions and scenarios and labs during the chapters.

Hey all,

I've used MS Press books for all but one fo the exams I studied for.
I passed this exam OK, but found the material in this book of little or no relevance.
I am not trying to personally attack the authors by any means as the book was well enough written, unfortunatley it just had little to do with the exam objectives.
I would suggest looking elsewhere if you are looking to pass 70-293 up front.

I will agree with one of the previous reviewers: while I thought the Microsoft press books for 70-290 and 70-291 were very well done, I felt that this book has taken a step downward. I don't feel that the author does a good job of conveying his points. For instance, his section on subnetting is awful. I learned very little about subnetting, and had to go to other sources on the internet for better information. As I learned subnetting on my own and then came back to the study questions in this book, I was still getting some question wrong. As it turns out, sometimes the author follows the 2^N - 2 subnet rule, and sometimes he doesn't. It has no rhyme or reason. This is just one example of many similar cases that I've found.

You can read this book and it will be beneficial, but be prepared to look for more resources on specific subjects that this author doesn't convey well.

This book was essential for me as a reference for an MCSE boot camp. It is now part of my reference library. Will answer many questions that pop up during the study process.

Well it got 3 stars since I passed and it helped, BUT
1. the book is lacking in the material and needs to be augmented with extra material.
2. There are a lot of small mistakes in it that make you doubt yourself.
for example wether subnets are calculated as 2^n-2 or 2^n.
3. Get the CCNA PDF for help in understanding subnetting as the book is bad.
4. Use wiki\cisco website for understanding routing
5. Download windows server 2003 security guide as the book is lacking here too.
6. read the IETF's to get papin and chapping your lips :- ).
7. A lot of questions in the test regarded clustering for some reason.
and there is no clustering book around. and the book gives you no idea
about how to understand quorums. so for this just pray to allah\jesus\jehova or install servers and play (What I did).
8. You must download VMware workstation and clone like 8 Servers
and practive everything. from CA to DNS to relaying and vpn ing.
9. download Vmware's manual and understand how to create SUBNETS and NETWORKS using the interfaces (Add interfaces ) and VMNETXX.

Have fun.
Finally got rid of the MCSE2k3
Saar.