Customer Reviews

Windows 2000 System Administration Handbook

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

 

 

I have been looking for a Windows 2000 book that would teach me all the features, but also help me on the job as we move over to the new operating system. Two few of the books out there cover all the necessary topics, they either concentrate all their time in Active Directory or they don't contain anything really useful.

I found this book hits the kinds of tasks I am expected to do every day. Everything from Active Directory design (okay so that is not something I do every day) to adding a user account. A great book for beginners like me. I'm digesting it over time by leaving it on my desk. Great exercises too. The real test - I've already used them on the job. Thank goodness someone wrote a guide for people like me! Bravo!

I was some what fimiliar with Win2k before reading this book. Im only about a third of the way through it and I have learned alot. Very well written and easy to follow.

As a NT network administrator who hasn't had a lot of time to look at Windows 2000, I really liked the straightforward style of this book. The authors obviously have real-world experience, and it showed in their examples and explanations. Great book, and one I will keep for a long time!

One would think that among three authors at least someone would do some basic editing; fun can be had during a read finding a page that does NOT include a typo, spelling, grammatical, or typesetting error of some sort (even in the major headings you notice things like "6.5 Windows 200[sic] Boot Disks"). Many of the included figures have been moved around but not renumbered in the text itself. In other areas one finds notations like "AUTHOR: SUPPLY FIGURE" apparently from the publisher left in the final print. Perhaps somehow I got a pre-print copy and subsequent ones have been cleaned up.

More disturbing, however, were a number of inconsistencies and inaccuracies between the authors among the various chapters, particularly with regards to descriptions of WINS name resolution with the LMHOSTS file, and use of private (RFC1597) and automatic addressing (169.254/16) in DHCP. While not particularly critical for setup and operation, it's good to have a proper understanding for these services when debugging problems.

Coverage of Active Directory is broad, through much of the network service specifics are given a hand-wave following a cursory, but decent TCP/IP introduction (such as actually setting up redundant DHCP and DNS servers).

Nevertheless, you get the message despite the glaring distractions and without alot of the typical fluff found in other boots. An OK book for a new admin, but anyone with any background (Windows or UNIX for that matter) might prefer something a bit deeper where it counts.

I would not feel comfortable recommending this book to others, except to give away my copy.

-eric