Learning Windows Server 2003: The No Nonsense Guide to to Window Server Administration

by Jonathan Hassell

Getting Microsoft Windows Server 2003 up and running, either as a standalone or as part of a multi-site, multi-server network is a formidable task for anyone. O'Reilly's no-nonsense guide, Learning Windows Server 2003, 2nd Edition , gives you just what you need to get the job done. It provides you with the nuts and bolts for installing, configuring, securing, and managing Windows Server 2003-plus, it has been completely updated for Service Pack 1 and release R2. Learning Windows Server 2003, 2nd Edition includes just enough theory for you to understand how the different features and systems work in this latest version of Windows. You'll come away with a firm understanding of what's happening under the hood of the system, but without feeling like you're taking a graduate course in OS theory. After its high-level overview, the book offers complete discussions and treatments of all of Server 2003's major components. You'll learn how The book also features step-by-step procedures and discussions of complex concepts such as patch management, Active Directory replication, DFS namespaces and replication, network access quarantining, server clustering, Group Policy and other security tools, and IIS6 web server. Whether you're an experienced system administrator or one who's just beginning, you'll turn to this practical guide again and again when you need to understand the massive product that is Windows Server 2003.

742 pages, Paperback

First published December 27, 2004

Reviews

[Greg Stearns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learning Windows Server is an excellent book for somebody who is warming into the Server environment. It assumes a general comfort in NT class operating systems without demanding too much.

At 616 pages of text and screenshots (not that thick for well spaced illustrated technical material) it covers features unique to the Server OS. It is infinitely more readable than something like Microsoft Press's Inside Out which covers every single bell and whistle. However, this book does gloss over a lot of tasks, even for every day administration. For instance, coverage of Active Directory gives you a general idea of what it does and what you can do with it. However actually implementation is left to the administrator with only general advice.

Printing, File, and Web serving is covered with enough information to get started. There is a chapter on the .net framework for some reason. It does show you some of the administration of .net, however, not coverage of the API which wouldn't really belong in this kind of book.

All in all, this is a great book to get started in the server field, but don't expect to know everything by the end and I would suggest having a good reference book afterward. Possibly the Inside Out book with its searchable ebook on cd.