Customer Reviews

Novell's CNEŽ Update to NetWareŽ 5 Study Guide

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Just finished another winner from Mr. Clarke. If you're a 4.x CNE, use this book for test 529. Add to that Novell's docs and either CNEQUIZER or the EXAM CRAM book (plus NetWare 5 practice) and you're good to go. I give it only 4 stars because of some irritating typos. You can get the concepts from Novell's docs, but Clarke shows you how to implement features in the real world.

This book is very poorly written for the type of audience it is intended for - existing CNE's. If you're looking for a book filled with important technical information, this is NOT the one. In addition to all the "fluff" there are numerous mistakes throughout the book - in both the text and labs. It's obvious that the author did not check to see if the labs would work properly. Don't bother with this one - it's not worth the time or the money.

I actually loved Clarke's CNE Study Guide for NetWare 3. Helped me earn my first CNE with high scores. Further down the road, his IntranetWare Study Guide was also excellent, but by the time I started using that book I was skipping the cute stories and just delving into the hard facts which were abundant. Both of these books still hold a prominent spot on my reference shelf (and have been used more than occasionally). Then came this book. Does it hold the information you need to pass the exam? I think so. If you can work your way past the mistakes as previously mentioned. Using IP when you mean IPX is more than a typo, that is a mistake. Repeat that same mistake several times in the book and it becomes a serious problem.

The cute stories are getting very, very old. By the time a person is working on their second (or greater) CNE, they can handle the hard facts and the techno-jargon. I would much rather have more comparing/contrasting between NetWare 5 and previous versions, and less fluff. My other major gripe is the book and exam seem to just barely skim the surface on such critical items as SLP, Compatibility mode, etc; while devoting far too much time to the Netscape server and Java(let me stress, the book covers enough to prepare you for the exam, but little more). I simply don't see this book being handy as a day to day reference.

In summary: Clarke lost one star for mistakes; one for fluff; and he gets no bonus stars for post-exam usefulness. Final score: 3 stars.

Facts: Pre-exam experience includes: ZENWorks; some NetWare 5; the DHCP portion of DNS/DHCP. No experience with NetWare 5's: Java, Netscape server, DNS, or NSS. I had recently attended a seminar on NDPS, but had no experience with it.

C. Meyer (MCNE, MCSE, CNE3/IW/5)

This book is so full of fluff, it is almost useless. Any existing CNE wanting to upgrade their certification to NW 5 would do well to stay away from this. The data is presented in such a way as to make it difficult to glean what is important and what is not. A waste of money for the serious certification-hound. Shame on Novell for even letting this slop out the door.

Didn't like all the "Let's save the World" 300+ pages of unneed stuff. I wanted info, which was in this book, but took along time to find it. The book did include info on MMPRV and MWPRV (pg 47), but made a bigger deal about "saving the world" and E.S.P. (2 pages) then some important facts. Is this a tech book or a book on?

Wouldn't suggest using this book as your only resource, and it's too long for a study guide.

I used this book, EXAM CRAM and Self Test Software (Big Red testing software), one week of study, installing and playing with all the software (Server, CMD, DHCP/DNS, Fasttrack, NDPS, NSS, ZENWorks) passed the exam on my first try.

Book was too long and drawn out for a certification study guide. Author's writing style was irritating after just one read. However, I purchased same author's newly published Clark Notes for Update to Netware 5 and found this guide extremely well written. Studied the book and passed exam with a score of 720 out of 800. Clark Notes helped tremendously.

This book has 742 pages, which could have easily been whittled down to 300 pages if the author left out all the fluff. If you want to be amused and entertained, buy the book. If you simply want the facts on NetWare 5, look to another source. This book has far too much superfluous information.

I came (according to CNE testing staff) one question short of passing, having read the author's book. There was no mention of MMPRV/NWPRV for the new NSS file system.

Again the version of NetWare Client 2.2 was omitted. Either of those two facts could have kept $95 to burn my pockets.

Oh yeah, I finally passed the next day with the CNE5 Update "Exam Cram" book, which I skimmed. Several of their sample test questions showed up where I least expected them (including MMPRV and 2.2).

You chances of passing the certification test are about 60%, if you rely on this book. But, for Information Highway skyway with villains (none of whom appeared on the real test) this book has no equal.

Is there an agreement between the author and Novell to withold pertinent information? Or has George Washington and Luke Skywalker inched ot the real certification data.

This is the worst certification book I have ever read. The author is totally out of touch with his audience. It is written like a beginners book, yet it is supposed to help prepare current CNEs to upgrade to NetWare 5. There is nothing positive about this book. Printing it was a disgraceful waste of trees.

I passed the test - but only because I have a NW 5 server available to me for testing and playing. You won't get it done just reading this book.

Lots of fluff, page after page about saving the world through networking. There is an entire section - ostensibly describing the tree they will use throughout the rest of the book - that is used to explain the mission of this whole organization that Mr. Clarke has fabricated.

If you commit to reading past the fluff, reading it again, and then trying everything out as you go (to find the several errors in the text) you will pass.

Good luck,