Rating: 
Summary: A Truly Excellent Guide.
Review: I received my copy of William Stanek's book, "Windows Server 2003 Administrator's Pocket Consultant", the other day. I don't normally sit down and read a technical book from front to back; however, once I started reading it, I just couldn't put it down! Mr. Stanek has a style of writing that makes even the driest of subject matter interesting. I like his examples of how to accomplish something, and at the same time tells the pitfalls and best practices. An excellent book all around. It stays on my desk in the office and has made my job so much easier!
Rating:
Summary: What a great guide to Windows 2003
Review: I wanted to get in there and start working with Win2003. I don't have a lot of patience for extra verbage. I wanted to go. I have attempted to read two other books dealing with Windows 2003 only to put the books down in frustration. Within the first chapter of this book I knew this is what I had been looking for. It is to the point, doesn't waste your time, and tells you what you need to know to get the job done. This is a must have publication for any administrator.
Rating:
Summary: Another home run for William Stanek
Review: It's really simple: you can't go wrong with William Stanek. I picked up this and Stanek's Windows Commandline reference on the same day. This book has turned out to be the best of its class for Windows Server 2003. I reference this book agtain and again. It's been able to answer all the questions I've had with Windows Server 2003. If only I would have got this book as soon as we upgraded, it would have saved many headaches. This book is written in an easy style, very concise and packed with information. William Stanek understands the way administrators work, he anticipates your questions and answers them. It's that simple. He clearly is a Windows guru and someone who ins't afraid to share his best secrets. A flaw of this book, if you can call it one, is you have to read every page. Every page has important bits, if you skim the book you are going to miss useful things. I think okay as you WILL want to read every page. As others have said this book should be included with every copy of Windows Server 2003.
Rating:
Summary: It's Just Right!
Review: Most computer books tend to be massive tomes that are little more than fluff and filler and readers truly learn little even after reading hundreds and hundreds of pages. This is what I call the "bloat" approach to computer manuals. While there is a place for "bloat" manuals, the best books transcend this genre, and teach principles and background for understanding, as well as providing the essentials for getting the job done. William Stanek's most recent addition to the "Administrator's Pocket Consultant" series does just this for Windows Server 2003. Windows Server 2003 Administrator's Pocket Consultant combines the basics of Windows 2003 for newbies, and provides a more-than-generous helping of advanced techniques and principles for experienced administrators. I have 3 years experience with Windows 2000, 5 with Windows NT before that, and I learned something on almost every page. Stanek includes plenty of coverage of Windows fundamentals, and he gives plenty of examples. He makes things clear, even difficult and hard to grasp subjects. He provides enough instruction for the reader to get the task accomplished. He doesn't shy away from addressing the more difficult parts of the OS. There is a substantial amount of advanced material for the experienced administrator. The chapters on monitoring provided me the first thorough yet understandable overview of the subject I've found and this is follwed with expert-level how-tos and tips for improving performance. My only bone to pick with the book is that I wish there was a security pocket consultant written by Stanek, which there isn't. Don't get me wrong the book has lots of security coverage. It has security tips and cautions throughout, and provides good coverage of essentials. It doesn't however cover every conceivable security topic like a separate pocket consultant would. It's almost certainly got the information you need, be you a new administrator, a convert from another OS, or a serious administrator searching for a good reference work. You will enjoy reading it, a rare thing for computer books, and if you read it all, you'll know 95% of what you will ever need to know for on the job. As of this writing, William Stanek's Windows Server 2003 Administrator's Pocket Consultant is the best Windows Server 2003 book for your dollar.
Rating:
Summary: Does what it says, excellent resource!
Review: Over the years I purchased many tech refs and programming books. A lot of the books I have are written by Stanek. His style is clear and concise. When it came time to start installing Windows Server 2003 on our network this was the first book I used. It hasn't let me done. It answered the questions I had. I have found myself reading entire chapters to get better acquainted. There's a wealth of knowledge and its clear the author is an expert consultant who knows his stuff. If you admin Windows this is the book to get. It is the Windows Server 2003 resource I use the most. I recommend any other Pocket Consultant books written by Stanek as well.
Rating: 
Summary: Good for the new or occasional admin
Review: Overall, this book is well written and works as advertised. However, to say that it is 100% fluff-free depends on your perspective. For example, there are two pages dedicated to the driver update dialogue box. This function is identical to that in Win2k, and any experienced admin can recite that process in his/her sleep. You'll see lots of basic information such as this throughout the book. Those who have a strong windows administration background will be much happier with the Delta Guide, which focuses on new and improved functionality.
Rating: 
Summary: Good as far as it goes
Review: The many 5 star reviews this book has received are based on it being well written and handy. But way too many things are left out. Shell commands (which are far more extensive in Windows Server 2003) are mostly ignored and advanced features such as network load balancing, message queuing, clustering, etc. (all of which are free once you purchase the OS) aren't covered at all.
I'd recommend Tulloch's Nutshell book from O'Reilly over this. The coverage of shell commands is much better and Tulloch assumes you don't need to be told every little detail about how to navigate the UI.
Rating:
Summary: Superficial coverage
Review: There is one major weakness of this book: all topics are only superficially covered. This is, of course, a pocket guide and, hence, a forgivable flaw. If you understand Windows 2000 really well, then this book will hardly provide anything new, except for obviously new features such as disk shadowing. If you want to truly understand Windows 2003, then I suggest other books. This book is only for those who seek superficial and minimal understanding of Windows 2003. One note, I highly recommend this book for those who are looking for their first book on Windows 2000\2003 as it will provide a good introduction.
Rating:
Summary: Focusses on the essential features you use!
Review: This book is 20 chapters and 540 pages, deceptively small especially when it covers more ground than several of the 1,000 page books I bought before it. In fact, I haven't had a question yet that this book didn't answer and the answers are all clear and concise. I've never seen a daily operations book that compares and I have in fact set aside several of those doorstopper books in favor of this one. I can and do carry it with me everywhere. It fits nicely in my backpack. Why this book over the others? Windows Server 2003 isn't as much of a jump from Windows 2000 (not like Windows 2000 was from Windows NT) and this book covers everything you need to know about Windows Server 2003 to get the job done. You can start using this book as a desk reference immediately or as I've done, read the book from cover to cover to learn whats new and whats what. The good news is that if you are new to Windows Server 2003, this book has everything you need for your every day administration of Windows Server 2003. I think that regardless of your experience level you will find that this book is written in a very clear manner and exceptional accurate and to the point. The author explains his topics very well. The book is divided into four parts. The different parts are administration fundamtentals, directory services administration, data administration and network administration. The book has held up well and I've abused it in my backpack taking it with me to job sites and the type is just about the perfect size for comfortable reading. I particularly like Stanek's expert tips and "Real World" advice sections. This is easily the best book on my shelf right now and I plan to use the knowledge I've gained to help with the MCSE for Windows Server 2003 that I plan to take next year. I think that like the previous book, Windows 2000 Pocket Consultant, it will prove to be valuable addition to my preparation book list. Sure there are plenty of preperation books out there (as there were with Windows 2000) but you will still need a good reference on Windows Server 2003 itself in order to give you the practical knowledge--you know the stuff you are going to use. Overall, I am very happy with this book. It was money well spent. Go buy it, I'm glad I did. Very highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: William Stanek knows Windows!
Review: This book really helped me get up to speed on Windows Server 2003. I was new to Windows Server 2003 and really in the dark about what to do as I had no access to the beta. But this book cured that problem. It is packed with useful information, well written, intelligent, and easy to read. This book is really worth every penny it costs. I highly recommend this book and all of William Stanek's work!
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