Customer Reviews

MCSE: Windows 2000 Network Infrastructure Administration Study Guide (2nd edition)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Being an NT MCSE+I and MCDBA and having passed this exam on the first try, I can safely say that you have a challenge on your hands. If you are an aspiring MCSE, note that you do not get major TCP/IP training in this manual. Previously, TCP/IP was an exam by itself and to cover all of it as a minor topic for this exam is a huge undertaking. I suggest covering TCP/IP on your own with a separate manual after the exam. Refer to a separate source (even the older NT manuals are still relevant for TCP/IP) such as the Resource Kit for 2000.

You really need to know RIS, RRAS, DHCP, WINS, and DNS extremely well. Concentrate on the newer features of 2000 over NT as a general rule.

I prefer to have too much information rather than too little. It makes for a good reference book later on and adds value to your purchase. This manual goes into too much depth on Certificate Services and VPN setups for the exam. Otherwise, this book has everything in it. I used Transcenders and the questions I missed had the answers in this book. It has a wide subject matter and as a result the exam will be hard due to the amount you need to cover, and not really the difficulty of any single topic. The book has Sybex's usual excellent tools such as prep exams and simulation demos for most chapters. This will greatly assist your studies.

For all of your efforts, you will KNOW Windows 2000 Server by the time you are finished. The other books do not really give you the networking knowledge you need to really harness the new 2000 features. Give yourself a little extra time and you should come through well. Good luck.

I'm a teacher at a technical training center and we have the opportunity to try several training products. Sybex typically delivers the best all-around package, but of course we also encourage our students to use additional training resources such as the Transcender practice tests.
In the case of the Sybex Network Infrastructure book, the first edition was hampered by overly-simplistic practice questions. The second edition is much improved in this regard. Overall, the book provides excellent coverage of both the exam and the skills you will be required to perform in the real-world. In particular, DDNS, DHCP, WINS, routing, RAS, and NAT are fundamental network infrastructure topics that this book nails.
Like some other reviewers stated, the voice-work on the included videos leaves much to be desired, but this really doesn't detract from the book itself.

I would recommend this book, but only with grave reservations -- don't use it as your only study material. I have been using Sybex's excellent study guides for years (all the way through my NT MCSE certification and now on Windows 2000), and this 70-216 study guide is definitely inferior. The material presented is handled well, but numerous omissions make it unreliable. The chapter tests are particularly atrocious. Questions are badly worded; several tests contain duplicate questions; there are numerous questions on material that is not covered at all in the book (e.g., WINS proxy, DNS round robin, DHCP database migration). I've come to expect far better from Sybex; this has been a major disappointment.

I used Sybex for a lot of my MCPs, but this one is truly horrid.
The style is fun and admittedly the author made an attempt to amuse you while you're reading. This would be a good thing (although unnecessary and uncalled for) if it was accompanied by reliable and well written technical material, which isn't the case.
The book is structured in a rather confusing way - you get most of the stuff explained roughly in the first couple of chapters, and then explained in detail afterwards. This is just a stupid approach as it is confusing: if you talk to me about NAT, do it all in one go, and the same for everything else!!
After reading the book I took a transcender... wow, the questions there are really tough, and most of them require knowledge that this book doesn't provide at all.
The main problem though is in the questions and answers. The questions are often written quite poorly and in a very misleading way. Also, the answers sometime state the opposite of the theory (e.g. according to an "answer" you don't need WINS during a WinNT-Win2k migration in a mixed network!) ... of course, there was another "answer" for an identical scenario where it was stated, correctly, that you do need WINS.
Was this book EVER proofread by a tech? I seriously doubt it.
I waisted 2 weeks. Now I bought the MS Press book, and everything makes sense.
The authors did a very bad job. Sybex was thoroughly disappointing for allowing the publication of the book. Do not buy it.

This book is so poorly layed out that I had a hard time following it. The first half of the book seems to be an introduction to DHCP, DNS,and WINS. Basic fluff that a reader most likely knows. There is not even an exercise to fill the void.

The second half of the book starts over with DHCP, DNS, and yes...WINS. You would think the exercises would be a relief, but they are very poorly written. The amount of useless detail and fluff, combined with the authors constant attempt at humor made the book very difficult to use.

The pertinent material is so far off what the exam calls for, I find it difficult to tell my students what to look for.

As an MCSE, MCDBA and MCT that has taken and passed this exam, I would not recomend this material.

Used in conjunction with Exam Cram & Transcenders. Between those 3 sources I got enough ground covered to pass the exam.

I think this would be an extremely difficult test to write a book for as it covers so much ground. I did find a few typos (in practice exam) and inconsistencies in the DNS chapter that were quite troubling though.

I think the author did a good job taking an exceedingly dry topic and making it kind of fun to read. I have been happy with Sybex shtuff overall.

Using this book and the Virtul Lab they sell I was able to pass the exam. I also briefly looked through a friends' Transcender. This, though, was the toughest MCSE exam for me. Know DHCP, WINS, and DNS well. While it's true that the author gets a bit verbose at times, I, like several reviewers below, like the fact that such depth was given to the topics. The exam is hard and you need to work hard to pass it. Don't expect it to be a breeze. Anyhow, the book did the trick for me.

Please don't think you can pass this exam with this book alone. I used Sybex for my CCNA and passed with a 967, but they dropped the ball on this one. I knew every word of this book, cover to cover, and was shocked by the exam. You need situational knowledge to pass this test and Sybex doesn't deliver. The book is oddly arranged, going over broad details of services in the 1st 4 chapters and then re-visiting each one of them in the later chapters. This book also fails to cover subjects like IIS and SMNP. Finally, the exam practice tests are horrible and nothing like the actual test, (this is what was mainly revised in the 2nd addition). It might be a good reference book, but certainly not what your looking for to pass the test.

The introduction declares this book isn't for you if you just want to pass the exam. This book is for people wishing to acquire a solid foundation in Windows 2000 network infrastructure. I thought to myself, great, just what I'm looking for! Unfortunately, I found it failed on both accounts. This book is not on the technical level readers will need to have a comprehensive understanding of this material. And if you're just looking for a test prep, find something else. You'll find yourself extremely under prepared.

I've used many Sybex publications to prepare for certification exams and I usually find them helpful. This one was a disappointment.

The book is full of information but doesn't really prepare you for the exam. It may be a good thorough introductory piece but it doesn't cover the in-depth theory needed to pass the test. The test questions are the equivalent of a vocabulary test in Elementary school. They did absolutely nothing to assist with the exam.

If self-study is your preferred method of study, this would be a good start but don't rely on it for the exam!