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Rating: 
Summary: Useful overview
Review: 'Designing Microsoft Windows 2000 Network Security' brings together all the sections on security held across four books of the Resource Kit. Much of the material is similar; however it is all good stuff. If you are interested in designing a security structure to cover your LAN, WAN, portables and the internet, then this book explains how to set up the VPN, IAS/ RRAS servers and all the transport, authentication and encryption protocols involved. The sections on integrating the various types of certificates into your Windows 2000 system make it a worthwhile buy in itself.
Rating:
Summary: A good choice for learning W2K security.
Review: I am surprised that with the very poor quality of 70-220 study guides on the market, more people have not used and reviewed this book. While I'm not a huge fan of Microsoft training kits as exam study guides, I usually do buy them for reference along with an ExamCram. This training kit does a good job of covering the subject of Win2K security. Unlike MCSE study guides, the goal of the Microsoft Training Kit is not solely to help you pass the test. The goal is to teach how to design and implement Win2K security, and gain hands on experience by doing the lab exercises. As a result the book does go into detail well beyond what is needed to pass the test. However, someone with previous experience taking Microsoft tests will concentrate on the concepts and not get bogged down in the detail. I used the Microsoft 70-220 Training Kit to learn the material and the Readiness Review to study for, and pass the 70-220 exam. I recommend both of these books
Rating: 
Summary: A must read - even if not planning to take 70-220!!
Review: I did not take the exam for 70-220 due to a change in Microsoft policy that upgraded me to W2K MCSE status. However since I already had the book and find security very interesting and important I read it a couple of times. I found it extremely informative, well organized, and understandable. This book is much more than a step by step how to with screen shots manual that so many of the "core four" books seem to be - and you will need to look elsewhere if that is what you need, you will not learn how to install Certificate Services here. Each chapter starts with a network design scenario, presents you the theory/options and ends with the solution. Security relates to almost every action one takes on a W2K network. The first half of the book dealt with the more mundane security topics that most should already know by the time they are preparing for design exams - active directory design, group policies, dns, security groups, and file permissions. However the last half is where you learn the good stuff - ipsec, rras policies and authentication, public key infrastructure including certificate services, internet access, vpn, and securing an extranet with firewalls. I read three different books on 70-216, but this book still taught me a lot, especially about ssl and pki. The explanation of, and how to implement certificate services and smart cards was great. It also explained thoroughly about when to use a private versus public and standalone verus enterprise certificate server. I finally have a good understanding of when to use pptp versus l2tp for a vpn. Ipsec had a whole 50 page chapter devoted to it explaining in detail how to implement it. Page 413 has an excellent explanation on what goes on between a web client and a web server during ssl when logging into a secure website, and page 485 has a terrific and concise table showing all the remote access authentication protocols from Pap to Ms-ChapV2 to Eap-Tls and how to determine which to use for a particular condition and why. The chapter on securing an extranet was loaded with helpful diagrams and charts showing specific protocol/port/address/action settings for a particular firewall setup. Throughout the book there were LOTS of helpful charts and diagrams to accompany the text. I find the "making the decision" tables to be an extremely helpful learning tool - an exam cram type of summary of what was just covered. One side of the table lists what you want to accomplish while the other side lists your options. The end of chapter questions are all challenging "fill in the blank" type based on a mini case study. The answers with an explanation are at the end of the book. I was very impressed with the book. Since security is such an important core concept of networking I highly recommend this study guide to anyone wanting to learn more about Windows 2000 network security.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Content
Review: I think this book is an excellent resource for anyone interested in Windows 2000 security. The book is well written, and more detailed than some of the other books that I have seen, and it can easily be used as both a study guide and a desk reference. I passed the exam with real world experience and this book, and I would recommend it to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: This is a very easy book to read. The information contained within is very good and the case studies are great too. Windows 2000 Security is a big topic - and this book covers most of it well. Good enough for the exam. Buy it!
Rating:
Summary: Great study guide, but perhaps not the best one!
Review: Windows 2000 is a much more secure product than most competing operating systems - if configured right. (Unfortunately, more networks out there are being managed by admins from the "point-and-click" school of systems/network administration.) This book is a good study guide. However - and this is a trait of many MS Press Study Guides, particularly for the Design tests - they don't have detailed case studies, the kind you see on the real tests. Coverage of some topics like SMB Signing, Firewalls, etc. is adequate for the test. Proxy Server coverage is overkill - it's a redundant product, and I didn't see its relevance to the test. Being a MS Press book for a MS test, the book is not obiviously not critical of MS products - need to pick up a book like "Hacking Windows 2000 Exposed" - [Joel Scambray & Stuart McClure, ISBN: 0072192623, Osborne McGrawHill] to get that perspective. Overall, a good book (and a good test - 70-220) to complete your MCSE with and get a more-or-less Microsoft-centric view of Windows 2000 network security. Does give a good overview of most Windows 2000 security features. Bharat Suneja
MCT
Rating:
Summary: Great study guide, but perhaps not the best one!
Review: Windows 2000 is a much more secure product than most competing operating systems - if configured right. (Unfortunately, more networks out there are being managed by admins from the "point-and-click" school of systems/network administration.) This book is a good study guide. However - and this is a trait of many MS Press Study Guides, particularly for the Design tests - they don't have detailed case studies, the kind you see on the real tests. Coverage of some topics like SMB Signing, Firewalls, etc. is adequate for the test. Proxy Server coverage is overkill - it's a redundant product, and I didn't see its relevance to the test. Being a MS Press book for a MS test, the book is not obiviously not critical of MS products - need to pick up a book like "Hacking Windows 2000 Exposed" - [Joel Scambray & Stuart McClure, ISBN: 0072192623, Osborne McGrawHill] to get that perspective. Overall, a good book (and a good test - 70-220) to complete your MCSE with and get a more-or-less Microsoft-centric view of Windows 2000 network security. Does give a good overview of most Windows 2000 security features. Bharat Suneja
MCT
Rating:
Summary: A good choice for learning W2K security.
Review: `Designing Microsoft Windows 2000 Network Security' brings together all the sections on security held across four books of the Resource Kit. Much of the material is similar; however it is all good stuff. If you are interested in designing a security structure to cover your LAN, WAN, portables and the internet, then this book explains how to set up the VPN, IAS/ RRAS servers and all the transport, authentication and encryption protocols involved. The sections on integrating the various types of certificates into your Windows 2000 system make it a worthwhile buy in itself.
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