Learning Windows Server 2003 (Paperback)

by Jonathan Hassell (Author)
Key Phrases: terminal services, system console, security templates, Windows Server, Active Directory, Click Next (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
With Windows Server 2003, Microsoft has the right server for a world now dominated by enterprise networks and web-based server applications. A number of significant improvements make this a more reliable server than Windows 2000, and those who switched have seen notable performance gains. Server 2003 is, in fact, a very competitive solution to Unix in terms of cost, performance, and application development productivity. But getting this server up and running, either as a stand-alone or as part of a multi-site, multi-server network, is a formidable task even for the most experienced system administrators. Our no-fluff guide gives you exactly what you need: all the nuts and bolts for installing, configuring, securing, and managing Server 2003. This focused and practical book clearly documents the complexities of this server, and offers hands-on advice for planning, implementing and growing Windows networks without trying to teach you how to be a system administrator. Learning Windows Server 2003 shows you how to create and manage user accounts (with particular attention to Active Directory), how to manage access to system resources such as printers and files, and how to configure and manage the server s plethora of major subsystems. The book goes into considerable detail about:

• Windows file and print services
• Active Directory
• IIS6 web server
• Group Policy and other security tools
• Patch management
• .NET Framework application server
• Windows Terminal Services (including their use in conjunction with Microsoft Office and the Small Business Edition)
• Various networking subsystems that ship with Server 2003

This highly instructive book also provides an introduction to clustering services, and thoroughly documents steps that should be taken to ensure the security of the server and its resources. Windows Server 2003 was designed to meet the needs of companies or organizations that rely on one or more internal computer networks, and our comprehensive reference is the ideal companion.

About the Author
Jonathan Hassell is a proven author with more than ten years of Windows server experience. He has implemented Windows servers in businesses ranging from five employees to a few thousand, and he has a unique perspective having managed both Unix and Windows

Product Details

• Paperback: 704 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc. (December 20, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596006241
• ISBN-13: 978-0596006242
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #932,846 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Presumes significant experience, July 6, 2007

By	John Wismar (Collierville, TN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Learning Windows Server 2003 (Paperback)

I don't know if "Learning..." was the right title for this book. It assumes the reader has a fair amount of server administration experience, and therefore leaves many terms and concepts undefined. (Personally, I'm a software developer, but haven't done this type of system administration, so I'm a newbie in this field.)

What this book provides is a fairly comprehensive tour of the various configuration programs and dialogs that are provided by Windows Server 2003. If you are an experienced SysAdmin, and want to find out how to locate a specific configuration option, this may well be a valuable book for you. Because I need to find out why various options are important, I did not find this book very helpful.

An example may be in order, and this one jumped out at me. There's a page that describes how to add an ISAPI filter to IIS. Click this button to add, click this other button to remove, click this third button to move it up the list, etc. There was no discussion about what an ISAPI filter is, and why I might want to add one.

So again, if you already know what you're doing, but need a tour of Windows Server 2003 configuration, this book will help you. I'm going to look for another book.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely deep and comprehensive, January 14, 2005

By	Jack D. Herrington "engineer and author" (Silicon Valley, CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This book is classic O'Reilly, well written and researched, heavy of the expository text and very light on graphics and screenshots. All of the key topics are covered, file and print sharing, active directory, IIS, .NET, VPN, the fundamentals of security, and even clustering.

One thing that struck me about this book was how much of it seems to come directly out of the author's experience. For example the security policy coverage is a blend of the straight technical material and practical advice on how good network security can be tailored to find the right balance of security and convenience. It's these practical insights that distinguish this book from just a straight feature review.

Certainly an easy buy for anyone doing administration work on Windows Server 2003.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars VERY VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!, August 26, 2006

By	John R. Vacca "Tech Write Independent Reviewer" (Pomeroy, Ohio) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Learning Windows Server 2003 (Paperback)

Are you a beginner to intermediate system administrator? If you are, then this book is for you! Author Jonathan Hassell, has done an outstanding job of writing a book that shows you how Windows Server 2003 and its follow-up release, R2, works and the different ways to administer machines running that operating system.

Hassell, begins by providing a very general overview of Windows Server 2003 from Microsoft's approach to its design and packaging and the different versions that are available, to an overview of the features in this release that are new or otherwise improved. Then, the author provides a detailed guide to installing Windows Server 2003 in a variety of different environments. Next, he discusses the basic file and print services built into Windows Server 2003. The author then covers the domain name system, or DNS. He continues by providing a complete guide to the technical potion of Active Directory, including its logical and physical structure, hierarchical components, scalability, and replication. Then, the author introduces you to GP and its structure and operation. Next, he ensures that you are well versed in locking down your systems to protect both your own computers and the Internet community as a whole. The author continues with a discussion of the revamping of IIS. Then, the author covers the .NET Framework services introduced in the IIS revision. Next, he provides a guide to Terminal Services, including an overview from the server administration's perspective and a similar overview from a typical user's point of view. The author then covers the standard networking architecture of the operating system, including addressing and routing issues. He continues by covering windows clustering services. Finally, he discusses the other elements of Windows Server 2003 not covered elsewhere, including the Indexing Service and the Microsoft Message Queue.

This most excellent book has step-by-step procedures and discussions of complex concepts such as Active Directory replication, DFS namespaces and replication, network access quarantining, and server clustering. More importantly, if you're a GUI aficionado, within this book, you'll still find everything you're accustomed to.