Rating: 
Summary: Mega Tomb Has About Everything
Review: In embarking on the path to learning system administration, I find this book invaluable. This humungous tomb is packed with just about everything imaginable in administering Windows 2000 Server. I looked at other books, and found that they are more focused on Microsoft certification, but is more useful for getting the job done, not passing a test.Some of the things I like were excellent sections on support for legacy systems, even profile support for DOS-based Windows (Win 95/98/Me) and Windows NT OSes (3.x and 4.x). There's also coverage on nice features like creating MSI packages, terminal services, macintosh support, smtp services, etc. Some things I wish were there, even if only an appendix or a small section, would be coverage of command line tools like netsh, net, netstat, tracert, ipconfig, etc., scripting with perl/vbs/jscript with MSI, ADSI, WSH, etc., and some notes on registry tweaks like turning off certain annoying "features" like APIPA (Automatic Private IP Addressing), toggling encryption for SMB authentication, etc. Overall, if you do anything with W2K Server, this book is absolutely a must. If you are in a shop using Win 2K/XP/2K3 and older legacy systems Win 9X/Me/NT, then this book is very useful as well.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book....and it's HUGE!!!
Review: This is a HUGE book. My Windows XP Inside Out book looks little compared to this thing. I mean, that book is gigantic, and so is the amount of information contained here. Mark knows how to write well, he does so by keeping the reader interested in the topic. If you're thinking about managing your own server, then you must get this book. Not only that, but here you learn everything else that you need not only to manage a server. Users will learn how to configure DNS, Active Directory, DHCP, File servers, Print Servers, Domain Controllers, Security Policies, User Accounts; in other words, how to administer a server based on Windows 2000. My complaint is the following. This book, while is has a lot of Windows information, it also contains information that the reader might find important but irrelevant or obsolete at time of reading. Examples: The birth of DNS, the birth of the Internet, the birth of Windows, WINS, and blah blah. Yes, these are useful topics, and of course, the more you know the better; but I think they should have been included in a different book. I found myself skipping a lot of chapters and sub-chapters because of this. On the other hand, the information is quite helpful if the user has time to read. If you just want to learn how to master Windows 2000; you'll find yourself skipping a few chapters. This book is VERY broad & I recommend it to administrators or people who are administering a server version of windows. For regular version of windows 2000 just get another book; this one is mostly for server stuff. Even though you can learn about user accounts, file and securities, it's mainly directed to administrators. If you just want to learn Windows 2000, look at a regular version of Windows 2000; and not the server version.
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