Rating: 
Summary: A must have for every AD/Exchange 2000 Architect
Review: As a Consultant that will migrate 50,000 users in 15 countries to Win2k this book is a must have. It is a superb reference and contains exactly the information I have been looking for about AD and Win2k server. The distributed systems guide alone is well worth the price. Real serious technical info about the AD.My advice to anyone recruiting Win2k engineers would be to ask prospective candidates if they have read the resource kit, if the answer is no then don't employ them. Anyone who is serious about deploying Win2k must have this book
Rating: 
Summary: An essential refernce for Windows 2000
Review: Contains an almost overwhelming amount of data. For a productthis early in its life, this is excellent collection ofinformation. While some information is difficult is hard to locate and some items are not documented as well as I would like; the overall quality of the information is excellent. Note that some of the information in the resource kit is available in separate books.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Very Practical
Review: Don't buy this set of books if you are interested in learning how to manage a 2000 server. It is very theoretical and devoid of practical advice. There are much better resources available if you are looking for a "how to" or reference book.
Rating:
Summary: Intimiating But Essential!
Review: How many synonyms can you think of for "huge"? All would apply to this collection, but it is also hugely helpful. I am still working my way through the volumes, but so far, each has been usefull. If the set came with a comprehensive index and more information on Active Directory, I would upgrade my review to a full five stars. I would also like to see a few fun things added, like the Desktop Themes found in the NT 4.0 Resouce Kits or the Windows 98 Plus Kit. Sure you're not going to run them on the server, but it would go a long way to keeping my users happy if I could put these on their desktops!
Rating:
Summary: For Microsoft gurus, this is a must-have reference!
Review: I hate the size of this Resource Kit, the biggest ResKit published by Microsoft so far. But the material more than justifies its size - every thing you need to know about the Windows 2000 platform and Active Directory is in here. I keep coming back to this one from time to time to refer to a lot of stuff that I would've otherwise overlooked. If you hate the idea of carrying or shelving this ResKit, the whole thing's available on the CD as well. I prefer to read long artciles/topics on paper - the CD servers as a Field Reference. Has plenty of tools too - some of them available for free on the Microsoft web site. This Resource Kit is the best investment in a Microsoft Press book i've ever made. Bharat Suneja
MCT
Rating:
Summary: windows 2000 profesional resource kit
Review: I haven't read this yet but I'm amused and perplexed as to how the above reviewer was on the edge of his seat reading this and never read something so fast paced and compelling. Now that gives new meaning to the term geek.
Rating:
Summary: excellent
Review: I was on the edge of my seat reading this! It's faced paced and exciting as the mystery slowly unravels. I'll never read John Grisham the same way again.
Rating: 
Summary: Distributed Systems Guide is Four Books in One
Review: Microsoft was saving us money on this volume. If the Active Directory section had been released alone it would have been a 600 page book. But no, Distributed Security was included with about 300 pages and Enterprise Technologies with about 200 pages, and finally Desktop Configuration Management with about 200 pages. I have a permanent crease in my belly from lying in bed with this book weighing me down. Are all these topics related? Yes. Did I find myself paging into other sections of the book to make sense out of something that I read in another section? No. There is a significant amount of repetition within sections and only a little between sections as new concepts are introduced that depend upon others already explained but I never found myself tempted to go look at an Active Directory concept again while I was reading about the Distributed File System, for instance. I do not understand how keeping these sections in one book enhanced value. It was hard to carry around too. The Active Directory book earned 2 stars with me. The explanations were cloudy but the detail was good. It was in reading this section that I realized Microsoft was thinking of third party developers when they wrote the Server Resource Kit (SRK). While many references were made to the Software Developers Kit (SDK) in the SRK an attempt was made to lay out the ground work for understanding what it would take to customize tools to work with Active Directory. Much of this material was irrelevant to a network engineer who has to work with what is available without having the option or budget for customization but it seemed to me that Microsoft was showing helpfulness to third parties with this publication. Distributed Security was written in a fairly accessible manner. Since the technologies covered in this section are new to many organizations I wondered if a special effort was made here to start from the ground up without expecting too much from the reader. I found it refreshing to get this package laid out neatly. This section earned 4 stars with me. The explanations were good but I thought the details on managing a security infrastructure were a little lean. Enterprise Technologies made up the smallest section of the book and earned a 3 star rating with me. The explanations of Distributed File System, File Replication Service, and Network Load Balancing were okay but not great. The chapter on interpreting the Cluster Log was pretty obscure but I guess you have to be into your own cluster log before this material can get exciting. Desktop Configuration Management was the last section and earned 3 stars. I happened to work through some CD based training on Preinstalling and Deploying Windows 2000 Professional while I was reading this section and that gave me a comparison with what is possible. The CD based training earned 5 stars with me. I learned more with it in about 25 pages than here in 200. Of course the CD only hit the high points while obscure details are reviewed here but it seemed to me that if you removed the coverage of obscure details the SRK still would not have been as clear in covering the technology. I have to admit that in the course of reading this volume I began to question my commitment to reading the whole SRK. These presentations do not measure up in clarity to most other material I have encountered. I will continue for several reasons: 1) There is no more authoritative source of information. 2) The reading is getting easier as I go. Many concepts are related and now that I am over 2500 pages in I can read for new details and confirmation of my previously developed understandings. 3) I am stubborn. I am starting the TCP/IP volume next. Funny how 1000 page books are looking small now. Check back in about 20 days and see what it was like.
Rating:
Summary: Great Reference great product
Review: Must own for serious 2000 system administrators. Period. From deployement to maintenance. Even those who are pursuing Microsoft certificaton will benefit from indepth knowledge in the resource kit.
Rating:
Summary: Great Reference great product
Review: Must own for serious 2000 system administrators. Period. From deployement to maintenance. Even those who are pursuing Microsoft certificaton will benefit from indepth knowledge in the resource kit.
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