Customer Reviews

The Real World Network Troubleshooting Manual: Tools, Techniques, and Scenarios (Administrator's Advantage Series)

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2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I just received this book from Amazon and was somewhat surprised by its contents.

For the first: this book spends quite a few of its pages to discuss scenarios not *directly* related to network troubleshooting.

For the second, many of the scenarios describe a problem that is specific to a particular vendor. I would have preferred content that was usable for networking issues regardless of vendor.

For the third, the problem scenarios or the solution descriptions may not bring anything new to your personal solution arsenal (unless you have very little experience in this field).

For the fourth, the book comes with a CD containing tools from SysInternals (such as Autoruns, Filemon, etc). Besides the fact that these tools can be freely downloaded from SysInternals web site, maybe more annoying is that the book provides no scenarios or advise on using these tools to troubleshoot problems. On the other hand, as an example, chapter 4 uses over 7 pages to list the Windows Recovery Console commands; the list seems to contain the same information that can be obtained using the HELP command inside the Recovery Console.

Some examples of the scenarios:

Chapter 3 (pages 45-91) deals with workstation troubleshooting. Example scenario:
- Problem Scenario "12" on page 88 (User is unable to install NAV Corporate Edition on a workstation): This scenario discusses the problem as occurring on a Windows 2000 with SP4. The solution: re-apply SP 4.

Chapter 4 (pages 93-158) deals with Windows Server troubleshooting; tools described in this chapter are the Windows Performance Monitor and Recovery Console.
Example scenarios:
- Problem Scenario "1" on page 134 (Data faction server does not boot): Discusses how a particular case of a server not booting was resolved. Solution: replace the power supply switch.

- Problem Scenario "3" on page 142 (Inaccessible boot device error stop 0000007B): Discusses how to troubleshoot a server displaying a blue screen with the "Inaccessible boot device ..." message at start. The described temporary solution: run ChkDsk. A more permanent solution: replace the hard drive.

Chapter 5 discusses SQL Server (pages 159-182) troubleshooting. Example scenario:
- Problem Scenario "2" on page 176 (Poor performance on SQL Server): Discusses what to do when SQL Server takes unusually long to return query results. In this case a large amount of data had been uploaded to the SQL Server just before the problems started. The solution: to run the command "Update Statistics <table_name>"

Actually I am curious as to why the book was named "The Real-world Network Troubleshooting Manual: Tools, Techniques, and Scenarios"? Marketing reasons? A better name would have been something like "The Real-world Generic Troubleshooting Reference with Basic Tools, Techniques, and Scenarios".

I couldn't agree more with Jarmo.

I would rename this book: "Things that may happen to you while running Microsoft Windows and certain applications on a networked environment"

Subtitle: "(not a Networking book)"

This is one of the very few computer troubleshooting books I have read that actually delivers on its promise as a real-world manual. The very first chapter set this book apart from most others by the excellent writing style and clear explanations. This first section covers the basics from how to approach the problem to the steps to take to isolate it and the methodology for approaching a workable solution. These are the specific methods and techniques that so many computer consulting companies use and wish they could find employees who know how to follow it. Although it is a Windows centric book this part on troubleshooting methodology applies to all operating systems and software.

After the overview of how to troubleshoot a problem, the book goes into specific scenarios with both examples and cookbooks on how to resolve the problem. Areas that get their own chapter include network printing, workstation troubleshooting, server troubleshooting, SQL Server troubleshooting, Exchange Server troubleshooting, wide area networks and IP Routing, wireless networking, firewall troubleshooting, and virtual private networking troubleshooting.

This book provides specific tools, specific techniques, and details on how to interpret the results. When a printer prints garbage, when servers disappear from the network neighborhood, when shared network resources suddenly disappear, you will want to pick this book up first. The Real-World Network Troubleshooting Manual is very highly recommended.

I've got to this book at Amazon from a sponsored link in a newsletter for IT professionals.

Amazon's "Look inside" feature is great - convinced me not to consider this book. Even the first network diagram shows IP addresses with five bytes (192.168.2.2.2) and network masks like 55.255.255.0. One can say it's a type, but again, the next diagram shows the same errors.

I don't believe this is a book for pros.

Becoming a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MSCE) may help you get a job, but getting this book will help you keep your job. It has numerous real-world troubleshooting examples and does a good job of explaining the process of problem solving. It explains troubleshooting techniques that are not covered in most classroom settings.



I wish this book was available a little sooner, because a lot of the tricks and techniques mentioned in the book I had to learn the hard way. To get the most out of the book, it's a good idea to read it before you have to jump into a difficult troubleshooting problem, so you've had a chance to practice and understand the techniques discussed in the book. But, it's still a helpful book if you need to solve a problem right now. Highly recommended!

I am really satisfied with the product, and the service i recieved when buying the product was amazing. at first i didnt get my book, but then, they shipped me another book at no cost to me. i recieved my book, and am very happy. thanks!

First and foremost, the thing I like the most about this book is that it is current. It troubleshoots technologies in use today, speaks briefly about emerging ones, all while teaching basic troubleshooting skills as well as using enough real-world examples to be helpful to any business help-desk operative.