Solaris 8 System Administrator Exam Cram (Exam: 310-011, 310-012) [Paperback]

Darrell L. Ambro (Author)

Book Description

Series: Exam Cram (Coriolis Books) | Publication Date: August 15, 2001

The perfect study companion for UNIX system professionals preparing for both Solaris 8 System Administrator exams. The book contains accurate and efficient coverage of the many new features of the Solaris 8 system including new support for Ipv6, LDAP, and DHCP, installs using Solaris Web Start, new Universal Disk Format (UDF) file system support, Network Cache and Accelerator (NCA), Solaris Print Manager, and the new Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI). In addition to the technical content, the book includes sample questions and practice tests that are much like the format of the actual exams, sections on proven test-taking strategies, helpful memory joggers, and timesaving study tips and shortcuts.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Darrell Ambro (Greensboro, NC) works for Lucent Technologies leading the technical teams and participating in the design, development, and deployment of networked computer and communications systems for the U.S. Government. He has served as a technical lead for an ongoing project with the U.S. Army using Solaris. Lucent has continued to support more than 80 of these systems worldwide as part of the initiative.

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Coriolis Group Books; 1st edition (August 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576109216
• ISBN-13: 978-1576109212
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,360,262 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Coverage of Topics, October 9, 2001

By 

Jason Steinman (Richmond, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Solaris 8 System Administrator Exam Cram (Exam: 310-011, 310-012) (Paperback)

This book appears to be an update of the Solaris 7 Exam Cram. In the Introduction, the author states that about 25% of the test objectives have changed between Solaris 7 and Solaris 8. If you already own the Solaris 7 Exam Cram you might feel that you have been cheated by buying this book, but on the other hand it's nonsense to expect a 100% of a study guide to be re-written when only 25% of the topics have changed.

I've compared the contents of the Solaris 8 Exam Cram with the test objectives for Sun's system administrator certification and as far as I am concerned, they are all covered and in a well-organized and concise fashion.

I have used Solaris for 6 years (2 of those years as a system administrator), but while thumbing through the book I see topics on the exams that I have never heard of before! This book is labeled on the back cover as intermediate to advanced level. And it is. Those new to Solaris or have little to no sys admin experience should not use this as a starting place. Also I took the author's advice and got myself a copy of the system. As I read about each topic or command, I get on the system and use it.

The Solaris 8 System Administrator Exam Cram is exactly what it claims to be. A study guide for experienced system administrators that want to take the certification exams. No more, no less. It's a road map for the information/knowledge you need to know for the exams. The rest is up to you.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Decent Exam Cram., May 28, 2002

By 

Yevgeniy Mishchenko (Edison, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Solaris 8 System Administrator Exam Cram (Exam: 310-011, 310-012) (Paperback)

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone planning to take the exams in the nearest future, especially for the first one. It is exactly what it claims to be: an exam cram, not a study guide or reference. The author does not bother too much to explain the concepts in depth.

PRO:
-Follows the objectives very closely in comparison to other books.
-Short and clear explanations.
-Format is close to excellent (fonts,tables,etc.).

CON:
-Part II needs more depth on JumpStart,NIS and networking (especially RPC mechanism).
-Part II does not need NIS+, it's not an exam objective.
-Answers to practice questions need to be moved away from them, so people don't see correct choices before answering.
-Several simple proofreading errors.

In the reviews some people are whining about READING this book and failing. First of all, this book is not for reading, it is for careful study and brushing up the day before the exam. Secondly, Darrell Ambro clearly says in the preface that along with this book you NEED the official Solaris 8 documentation and the list of exam objectives from Sun's website; also, he recommends as much practice and additional materials as possible. This is not a joke, take it seriously. As a matter of fact, you will most probably need some additional material. The book by Bill Calkins worked for me. I passed both exams with a good margin, but trust me, you can not be too prepared, especially for Part II. People who complain either didn't read the introduction or didn't believe the author, so they have only themselves to blame.
By the way, Sun has a couple of questions about AdminSuite on the second exam, but it IS NOT on the list, watch out.
Good luck.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too many errors -- not updated for Solaris 8, December 20, 2001

By 

Jeremy Smith (Salt Lake City, UT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Solaris 8 System Administrator Exam Cram (Exam: 310-011, 310-012) (Paperback)

I teach a Solaris Systems Administrator course specifically designed to prepare people for the SCSA and SCNA exams.
While this book is useful, it is disappointing in several ways.

First of all, it contains several 'silly' errors on the practice tests as well as throughout the book.

Here's a simple example: Question 1 on the practice test asks:
"Enter the name of the directory where group account membership is stored?"
The answer given is /etc/group, which is, of course, a file. I found at least four incorrect answers on the practice exams alone. Some mistakes are bound to happen, but the number in this book is above my expectations.

Secondly, the book does very poor job of updating the information within for the Solaris 8 exams. An example of this is in its discussion of naming services. In question 35 on the practice test, it mentions FNS as an option to /etc/nsswitch.conf (it's no longer supported, as far as I know) without mentioning ldap as an option (which has been added). Also, the book continues to cover NIS+, both in the text and in the review, even though this has been taken off the examinations.

I wish Mr. Ambro had taken the time to update his Solaris 7 Exam Cram for Solaris 8 and proofread/review the book a bit better.
If he would like to get in contact with me, I can give him a more complete list of the things which I find questionable or incorrect in the text.