Customer Reviews

The Ultimate Windows 2000 System Administrator's Guide

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I am a member of a team responsible for rolling out Windows 2000 for a bank with several hundred branch offices. We have all searched for a single reference that can provide the information we need. Needless to say, we now have many books on the topic, but this is the best.

This book provides the answer we need. It gives great background on each topic and then gives us solutions. It is well organized with an excellent command line reference guide. The security sections have already been a life saver and suggested solutions that would have resulted in real damage otherwise. The Active Directory stuff is also super.

I guess that I must measure the value of a book by the number of times someone comes to my cube to borrow it. I can report that this book is always used by someone in the group. That is way my group manager is purchasing copies for the entire group. I want to personally thank the authors. Great job guys!!!

I am senior UNIX and Linux system administrator that was recently tasked with the responsibility to deploying Windows 2000 servers. I began this effort by taking standard Microsoft courses and was very offended by the pro-Microsoft messages that were being delivered. What I needed was a comprehensive understanding of the operating system and not hype. After purchasing several disappointing books, I read the recommendations on Amazon about this book. They were right. This is the BEST book available on Windows 2000. It provides a neutral and easy to understand view of the structure and theory behind the operating system. These discussions are always followed by practical examples on using the technologies. New concepts such as Active Directory were handled so clearly that even a UNIX veteran like me could easily understand it. The book also provides superior coverage of security and networking issues ... the areas that are really important to integration with our existing platforms. The last chapter even provides review of character based commands. I recommend this book most highly !!!

Windows 2000 is the latest operating system form Microsoft and the complexity with which it was developed has made the understanding of the application more difficult for administrators. You have planning and migration issues, active directory and directory services issues, new file formats that weren't part of the NT OS. You have distributed file system concepts, public key encryption and security, VPN and IP Security as well as IIS issues. All of this must is similar, yet different that NT and yet you are responsible for making sure the transition is easy and quick. The Ultimate System Administrator's Guide is definite help in this task.

The 894-page text is load with figures, table, diagrams, pictures, notes and most importantly step-by-step procedures for the support and administration of Windows 2000. The author break down the subject matter into sections with detailed descriptions of what you need to do and then allows you to try it with the hands-on exercises. I was most impressed by the amount of information presented, I was a little taken back by the somewhat complex technical explanations in certain areas. Overall the author did an impressive job making sure that the information was for the most part easy to understand.

I liked the fact the book starts with an overview of 2000 administration and the 2000 architecture, this way you have some idea of the way the operating interacts with your computers. Then there is an excellent section on the planning and migration from NT to 2000. The author makes every effort to give you the most up to data and accurate information so that transition is as smooth as possible. Then after all this you begin to discuss the Active Directory and Directory services which is over 100 pages of information.

Chapters 7,8 & 9 are the user administration chapters dealing with accounts, groups, policies, permissions, and security, sharing and distributed file sharing. Follow that up with over 350 pages of information on networking, security, encryption, naming services, VPN and IP security data management and disaster recovery, terminal services, IIS issues, clustering, indexing and message routing. This is simply one of the best books for 2000 administration on the market today.

There is also an appendix with over 100 pages of 2000 commands and utilities, by far the most complete collection I have ever seen. Finally the book makes working with and supporting 2000 a whole lot easier. The layout of the topics and information itself is what makes this book a must have for all those studying for the certification or the longtime administrator

Often online documentation and many computer books concentrate on the step by step process of how to accomplish a task while glossing over the more detailed theory behind it. This often leaves a system administrator with unanswered questions especially when the task he needs to complete varies slightly from the basic task outlined in most books. The Ultimate Windows 2000 System Administrator's Guide does not fall into this trap. It is an excellent resource for system administrators precisely because it gives the background, the theory, and the practical steps needed to administer a Windows 2000 environment.

It is evident that the authors have a strong grasp not only on technology but also on what a system administrator faces on a daily basis. Personally I felt that their coverage of Active Directory made a complex subject easier to understand. After reading those chapters I felt confident in my ability to implement Active Directory. Another part of the book that I found valuable were the chapters on security. The chapters were organized well and explained the concepts with plenty of descriptions and detail.

Overall I felt the diagrams, notes, and tables supported the text so that they added to the value of the written text. The organization of the book is such that it can be used as a reference book allowing the reader to examine only those sections of particular interest or it can be used as a training guide taking the reader through Windows 2000 in a more sequential fashion. I believe that this book is definitely an integral part of a Windows 2000 system administrator's reference library.

Now that Microsoft has finally produced a real enterprise operation system, I needed to identify a book that could explain both concepts and offer practical guidance to my university students. I have examined over a dozen books that publishers have sent in the hope I would adopt one or more of the books for these classes. This book is the best available. It is well written and organized. It tackles highly complex concepts in a logical fashion and provides solid implementation guidelines. Students new to operating systems will find the first two chapters a good foundation. My advanced students can dig into advanced security, networking and directory services topics. This is the only book I will need for both my introductory and advanced courses. Overall, this is an excellent book.

I am almost through the book and I have found it to be very good. I appreciate that the author took the time to explain all the new concepts like kerberos, active directory, pki etc.. The books I like most are those that give you the great info and have lessions that build on one another. The authors give great detailed instructions how to perform the tasks and they explain just about everything. My only complaint is there could have been more continuity between the step by step examples. I liked this book 10x better than the microsoft press book regarding information content. The only place that the microsoft book beat this book is that the examples have continuity from chapter to chapter. I have read hundreds of books and I am always looking for the perfect book on a subject, this book comes very close!!! Nice job!

I am an IT manager requiring both theoretic and practical guidance on the deployment and management of Windows 2000. Prior to purchasing this book, I bought other "administration guides" from Microsoft Press and several other publishers. While they were reasonably helpful, they lacked real depth and an understanding of what I face. They generally spend hundreds of pages on basic issues like print and file server functions, and ignored more advanced topics By contrast, this book digs-in. For example, it provides an exceptional theory chapter on Active Directory. This is followed by a comphrensive implementation chapter. Another strength is the various chapters on security, Kerberos, PKI, and virtual private networks.This is truly the only book I have seen that handles both basic level and advanced topics in a comprehensive and an easy to read fashion.

OK, I have never found a technical book that answers all my questions but this one comes as close as any I have seen. My concern is Windows 2000 security and managing that beast know as Active Directory. Both of these issues have dominated the press as the downside of Windows 2000. Fortunately, this work positively addresses the issues heads-on. The book reviews the major issues in an easy to understand format and then provides proactive actions for effective implementation. While I have several specialized books that address Active Directory and security issues, this book frankly does a better job than these specialized texts. This also is the only book that integrates the concepts. I only wish I had bought this heavy duty book earlier. Hopefully the authors have a Windows .NET book in the works.

As an IT professional it is inevitable that you will be called upon to implement newer technologies. Often this occurs early in a product's life cycle, before you have had the opportunity and the time to become completely familiar with the product through the hands on experience of `repetition of implementation'.

Such is the case with Windows 2000. Windows 2000 brings a myriad of potential new services and functionality to the corporate enterprise environment, both large and small. My customers are IT savvy enough that they are aware of some of the newer functionality, and see where it could improve their IT environment and business productivity. As an IT professional I need information resources that will both bring me up to speed and act as a `as you go' reference for Windows 2000. `The Ultimate Windows 2000 System Administrator's Guide' has quickly established itself as being this reference for me.

The book is well organized and indexed, and the content is solid. It has been particularly helpful for me as a Windows NT 4.0 expert in navigating the new OS, and implementing new or improved functionality. An example of this is the Group Policy and Software Installation (functionality) of Windows 2000 and Active Directory. The ability to distribute software in the enterprise, without having to do an SMS implementation, is important feature of the new OS. With `The Ultimate Windows 2000 System Administrator's Guide', I was able to quickly understand the concepts involved and implement the functionality.

I am involved in the migration of UNIX and Windows NT systems to Windows 2000 for a large financial institution. I have attended a number of Microsoft Windows 2000 classes and read several other books on the topic. Even with all this preparation I had many questions .. that is until I got this book. THIS IS CLEARLY THE BEST ORGANIZED AND COMPLETE REFERENCE. To anyone needing a straight forward and easy to understand guide to Windows 2000, this is the one to buy. It written for both beginners and expert users. WOW, what a feat.