Customer Reviews

Microsoft Exchange Server for Windows 2000: Planning, Design and Implementation (HP Technologies)

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

 

 

Tony Redmond has proved yet again that he it the worlds leading authority on Exchange. As with his previous two books he has gone into indepth detail of the kind that you just don't find in your average run of the mill MCSE how to guides.

What makes this book such interesting reading is that he has written from real world experience of planning and deploying Exchange 2000 in one of the worlds largest Exchange deployments (Compaq) and from the years he has spent testing Exchange 2000 internally at Compaq.

The technical detail is superb, but written in a no nonsense interesting style that many authors of computer books could learn from. If you want to really learn Exchange 2000 as opposed to just passing an MCP exam this is the book for you

In the Exchange community Mr. Redmond has developed a well-earned reputation as the leading source of expert information concerning the installation and upkeep of Exchange servers. This book will do nothing to damage this reputation. Even the kitchen sink is included in this monster tome.

That said, previous negative comments about this book deserve some acknowledgement. The book is almost too full of information. This is great for the experienced Exchange administrator, but can be a bit daunting for any novice. This was not the case with Tony's previous Exchange books.

As an experienced Exchange administrator, the previous `complaint' is not a problem. However, whoever did the proof reading/copy editing on this book should be fired. To call the typos and editorial problems numerous is an understatement, most laughably an entire bullet pointed paragraph on page 86 preceded with the all-caps comment of `TAKETHISONEOUT'. I can only assume that this paragraph is to be ignored. The quality of the proofing of this book is deplorable.

If you are planning to run Exchange 2000 this book is indispensable. It is not quite perfect.

Tony Redmond pulls together good material to understand the workings of Exchange 2000. His experience with disk assemblies, and optimizing the database are the best you will find. I recommend the book as a study reference as well as a source for optimizing your Exchange databases.

The author of this book is supposedly a renowned expert on Exchange server, but the author's abilities with Exchange did not carry through to the book. It is obvious that he has a lot of experience with Exchange, but he or his editors do a very poor job of organization information in to a readable format. I found numerous typographical errors and technical errors in the book and I found screen shots in the book that simply do not exist in the real product. I can only assume that the author wrote this book while the product was in the beta cycle and it is not based on the real version. This seems to be a very disappointing publishing industry trend these days.

If the publisher decides to release a second edition, I highly recommend that the book be completely reviewed and reorganized to better convey the information in it. There is some good information here littered in amoungest the trivia and the incorrect information, but it is hard to find. Also, the book binding is glued/assembled very badly; mine fell apart after only a week's use.

Well, Tony has come up trumps again. As a consultant within a company that's been designing, implementing and supporting Exchange since version 4, we've always had Tony's current book on our desks.

One of the biggest challenges with the whole Windows/Exchange 2000 process is knowing where to start with the mountain of new information, and applying that new information into the planning process. Make no mistake about it, this book is for those who need to plan, design and implement Exchange 2000. And in reading Tony's book, you'll be in an excellent position to deliver a reliable and scalable Exchange 2000 messaging/collaboration solution.

Neil Hobson

I guess it is hard to produce a book at the start of a product's development cycle, so anything written in 2000 has to be looked at with some skeptism in 2003 as so much has changed between now and then. However, while the technology has moved on, the advice here is pretty solid. It just needs to be updated with everything that has happened since 2000 (like the Exchange service packs). I assume that the publisher will employ a new copy editor to pick up the typos, but there does seem to be a second edition around because I couldn't find some of the problems reported in other reviews in my copy. It'll be interesting to see what Redmond makes of Exchange 2003 when it hits the streets.

I had heard good things about this book and I had high expectations when I purchased it. The biggest advantage to this book is that it has lots of "inside" information about Exchange. Much of the "inside" information is of little value other than for trivia. The book is rife with incorrect information, typos, wordiness and contradictions. There were screen captures that did not exist in the released product, so I can only assume given the release date of the book that it is based mostly on the beta product. If you want good technical data or best practices, you may be lucky and find it in this book. But due to the errors I found during my first few hours reading it, I will question the legitimacy of anything I may read in this book. Mr. Redmond should focus more on technical accuracy, solid recommendations, and less on Exchange trivia.

Tony Redmond seems to have written this book without using this product in anger. There is very little here that you wouldn't have figured out after an hour with a lab setup. I'm also dissapointed to see that he is still trotting out the same old generic advice.

I fell asleep reading this book. Good infos but need to dig for them. Alot of background info that I don't need to know. If you're going to buy this book, be prepared to skim through useless background info to get to the useful tips.

A must for anyone who is implementing or migrating a large scale exchange environment. The book is well structured is practical and features all the salient points....