With Windows 2000 becoming less of a novelty and more of an established force in organizational networks, a book based on experiences with real-life deployments--instead of laboratory systems--comes in handy. Windows 2000 System Administrator's Black Book distills the Windows 2000 experiences of three administrators into a large collection of stepped procedures, with some tips and conceptual explanations in the mix. It pays special attention to the differences between Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000--a valuable emphasis. It also shares numerous practical lessons, such as the fact that you can (against Microsoft's recommendations) put printers of different makes and models in the same printer pool, as long as they all can be made to use the same driver. This book has real substance, and the authors know their subject.
On the negative side of the scale, this book has real language problems, which fact reduces its usefulness. Fortunately, documenting sequences of steps makes up the majority of the text, so it's understandable enough. Also, it's easy to locate procedures that interest you, by using either the index or the black page-edge thumb tabs and the separate tables of contents for each chapter.
This is still a substantial book based on real experience. It pays ample attention to the contents of the Windows 2000 Resource Kit and deals adequately with special situations, such as preparation for disk imaging. That's a lot to offer the Windows 2000 system administrator, particularly if he or she wants the new operating system explained from a Windows NT 4.0 perspective. --David Wall
Topics covered: Microsoft Windows 2000, explained mostly in a series of procedures, for installing, configuring, and managing the operating system for a medium-to-large organization; how to perform key work in disk management, Active Directory setup, Registry management, and print services provision; migration from Windows NT 4.0 to Windows 2000, IntelliMirror, and the Microsoft Management Console (MMC).
Product Description
Windows 2000 Systems Administrator's Black Book is a must-have reference for system administrators and IS professionals who install, configure, and support workstations and servers on Windows 2000 networks, and who require a detailed guide to Windows 2000 security, start-up and shut-down, disk and file systems management, networking, Internet Information Server, and the Active Directory. Windows 2000 Systems Administrator's Black Book provides details of the upgrade process from Windows NT 4 and discusses integrating Netware servers and Apple Macintoshes with a Windows 2000 network. The accomapanying CD-ROM includes all example projects from the book, code for managing the Windows 2000 Directory, and command line scripts that can be adapted by readers for their own use.
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