With Microsoft's release of Windows Server 2008 and a new generation of certification exams, IT administrators have more reason than ever to certify their expertise in the world's leading server software. Inside, find the full coverage you need to prepare for Exam 70-640: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuring, one of three specializations in the Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) certification track. You'll find full coverage of all exam objectives, practical exercises, real-world scenarios, challenging review questions, and more.
For Teaching supplements are available for this title.
As a warning for this review, this is the first technical book that I have finished so it might not be a completely fair review.
Who really does enjoy reading technical books? I'm sure there are a few people out there that do but I much prefer books with stories. That being said, I learned a lot from this book, I feel very confident in Active Directory and in Group Policy situations now.
This book was helpful with the chapter summaries, exam essentials and review exam at the end of each chapter, it really helped me gauged how strong/weak I was in a certain area.
The Active Directory portions and GPO portions were explained well enough. I felt the Certificate Services sections could have used improvement. Also, I wish the DNS was done differently, I think that might have been the longest chapter for me to finish due to all the terminology.
You might wonder, how does this compare to the real test? When I took the test, I felt unprepared even though I had done well on all the chapter exams. The questions presented on the test were completely different in tone and difficulty. I wish the questions in the book reflected the actually exam better. There were a few questions on the exam that did resemble the book though.
All in all, I think I would continue to use Sybex books for exam preparation but don't let that be your only source. I will have to try out a different publisher though just so I can get an idea how these technical books vary.