Customer Reviews

Windows 2000 Server: Network Planning and Migration (Circle Series)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was lucky enough to be able to review an advanced copy of this book. Sean Deuby does an excellent job of covering Win2000 and the complicated ideas you can expect from this new product. There are a LOT of changes coming and after reading the book I'm not sure I'm ready yet! But he does manage to cover the good stuff: Active Directory, DNS and the naming conventions, native versus mixed mode, and my favorite-- migration. There's more but I don't want to spoil the ending :) He's got real world experience with the product and gives it to you straight-- buy it and read it.

An excellent choice for LAN admins that want to get ahead of the curve and may not have a boss that is amenable to training costs for a product that is not even out yet. It becomes becomes apparent that Mr. Deuby has "real world" experience in working with Windows NT networks. Newer admins take note: This should become _Required Reading_ for you!

This book rocks. It is easy to read, fun to read, and it has awesome "real-life" observations and information. I especially enjoyed the "recommendations" bullet-lists summarizing the author's text. These bullet lists are an excellent resource for refreshing your mind about a particular topic as you sit down to design some aspect of your network.

Most books cover the basics too thoroughly and then stop. This book continues with the details. It is great for someone trying to get clear, honest, and concise technical information on Windows 2000. This is not a book for the non-technical. Buy it, its great!

I've been working with Win2K for 6 months now and have read most of the books available on the subject. This book as a very practical perspective and highlights many of the key things you need to understand to utilize Win2K appropriately. If you're migrating to Win2K anytime in the next year, I'd buy this book!

Sean's book is an excellent, concise overview of "what's new" in Windows 2000 and includes very little fluff. Time-crunched admins should find this to be an invaluable resource for evaluating Win2K, defining a migration plan for their environment and actually getting started on the dirty work of pulling it off.

However, I *strongly* recommend accompanying this book with something that goes into more detail on Active Directory. O'Reilly's "Windows 2000 Active Directory", for example, is an excellent companion to Sean Deuby's work. Go ahead and buy this one -- it's money well spent.

If you need to know about Windows 2000 so you can pass the exam, go buy a training book. If you want to understand Windows 2000 so you can get the job done, buy this book.

Deuby has a gift for finding the right homespun metaphor to bring technology out of the ether. He knows hardware, software, and human nature. Not only does he blueprint design and implementation phases, he offers astute observations on avoiding turf wars and using the adoption of a new OS to clarify corporate goals and improve communication. He doesn't duck the complexity of W2K, but gives the reader common sensical advice for mastering it. Besides, he refers to the end-user as Jim Bob. This book makes hard things simple. Don't migrate without it.

Alright. I have a collection of 9 Windows 2000 books, and this, by far is the most vague book of them all. I found little useful information in it. Maybe I'm the only one - all the other reviewers seemed to love it (maybe they're relatives on the author?). Who knows. Any book that insistently refers to the Network Administrator as "he" gets a black mark in my mind. To all the female Net Admins out there - keep up the good work.