Customer Reviews

Mastering Microsoft Internet Information Server 4

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This book takes you into what the www is, how it came about; what TCP/IP is; and on and on.... There was no detailed information on installing, cofiguring, and maintaing IIS 4.0, which I would have expected from a book on mastering the subject. I am a system administrator who, having wasted his time with this book, is now shopping for a real ISS 4.0 book.

I bought this book hoping to learn something about IIS4, which at that time had just become available. Out of about 900 pages, at most 150 actually talk about IIS4 and its administration, but at a depth of coverage not exceeding that of the on-line help available for IIS4.

The three most relevant chapters are in Part II, where chapter 7 covers active server pages in a very introductory way, and in Part III where chapters 14 (Advanced Web Site Administration) and 15 (Using Index Server) provide an overview over actual IIS4 administration using Microsoft Management Console. It is also clear that the author was working with a beta version of IIS4 as some of the features and their implementation were different in the final product.

Based on the title I expected a much more in-depth coverage of IIS administration, with emphasis not just on the HOW TO, but also on the WHY, including information not available via the IIS on-line documentation. Instead, three quarters of the book contain general and, in their context, useful information on setting up a web site with IIS4 being more or less an incidental component.

I bought this book expecting it to help me pass the Microsoft IIS 4.0 exam. It didn't. If you want a *very* general book on how to design effective web sites, this is the one. Otherwise, look elseware or get the MOC.

There is little of this book that has any real substance to it for IIS 4.0. If you want to learn snippets about authoring and development and the "history of the internet" then this is your book. If you are looking for a serious IIS 4.0 (MCSE exam quality) then keep looking.