Rating: 
Summary: Very good. Occasional errors...
Review: At first, I was a bit disapointed at the minor editorial errors and typos that I encountered and it became apparent that things were not going to improve much as I moved through the book.
I like the author. He has a very 'english' approach and his occasional use of real-life examples make the book more valuable than it should be.
My main issue with this book are the errors that were encountered. These ranged from technical details to misspellings and grammar. Sheesh! The end-of-chapter exams (multiple choice) occasionally had typos in the answers where a character would make the difference between right and wrong.
I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone new at the material, but for an intermediate who can catch things that don't seem right, it might be worth it as the author is pretty good.
Rating:
Summary: Very good. Occasional errors...
Review: At first, I was a bit disapointed at the minor editorial errors and typos that I encountered and it became apparent that things were not going to improve much as I moved through the book.
I like the author. He has a very 'english' approach and his occasional use of real-life examples make the book more valuable than it should be.
My main issue with this book are the errors that were encountered. These ranged from technical details to misspellings and grammar. Sheesh! The end-of-chapter exams (multiple choice) occasionally had typos in the answers where a character would make the difference between right and wrong.
I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone new at the material, but for an intermediate who can catch things that don't seem right, it might be worth it as the author is pretty good.
Rating: 
Summary: Consistent quality
Review: Great book, very well positiond to the exams, I will use this book as a resource.Keep up the good work
Rating:
Summary: Info you are looking for This book VS the M$ one.
Review: I have only read 70-210, 215, and 218 books so far from M$. As I am sure you have taken those exams already (hence, you are looking at 218), they all read like a badly written tech menu. This book by Rory McCaw however, reads more like responds you read from tech forums - right on the spot but sometimes long-winded. I believe it definitely has enough juice to get you thru the exam, but I must agree that this doesn't give you too much in-depth. Well, as info goes, in-depth is good, but not good when you are trying to cram all the info in your heads in 3 weeks schedule to pass your exam before the next interview. (I once remember all the UDP ports # up to the hundreds; did that help me pass my exam?) I would definitely recommend this book and read thru it casually to pass the exam, THEN refer to TechNet and the M$ book on areas you are unclear on and for reference when you are stuck on a certain problem at work or during practice. Before my closing, I only have 1 major complain about this book. M$ baby-step you via page 1 to 1300 on their exercises, this book however, sometime assumes too much or are out in order. For example, I remember somewhere around p.150, you where asked to join another server to your main in dynamic. Well, problem is that DHCP, DDNS, and scope has not even been discussed and setup yet! (Those topic comes AFTER this exercise) In a way, I was glad that this exercise made me realize that I know what I was doing in solving those problem, but for the person who gets frustrated easily from bad instructions (don't we all??), this book could be pretty aggravating as times. For the ones that already got A+ Net+ Server+ out of the way like me, I wish you luck on this exam, and your first title as MCSA. I got TONS of questions on DHCP, DNS, Protocol, and connectivity issues with replicating servers (remember broadcast doesn't go thru router - REALLY easy to overlook during those exhibit pictures. Good Luck!
Rating: 
Summary: Seems to be the complete package -
Review: Microsoft's MCSA certification is fastly becoming the certification to obtain for those in the Network Administration positions. While the 70-218 exam seems to cover a great deal of material it's good to know that there is manuals out there that can help you study. With over 95 exercises, over 15 labs and over 500 practice questions and half of the book dealing with troubleshooting, this is an excellent good user guide for both self study and in the classroom. What the authors have done is completely covered each objective and the overall result is one of the best guides on the market today. From installing DNS to configuration of DHCP to working with group policies and server administration there is more than enough information and exercises to keep you very busy. I like the fact that this book is setup in a manner that allows you to work at your pace and also repeat lessons as you need to. The cdrom included is also an added bonus; unlike most cds I have seen this one include videos so you can learn by watching. You also have the ability to take several practice exams before going live and they include and e-book; which has an added chapter for hotfixes and services packs. Something new added to the Cd is the Master Exam, like no other software I have seen before. This software has very detailed explanations and they stay away from the Microsoft "most correct" answer type questions. With the Master exam you can also download a 70-218 a simulation from LearnKey, again adding greater value to the overall package. With everything included you have the total package, about the only it doesn't do is take the exam for you.
Rating:
Summary: Great help for the exam
Review: Thank you Alan and Rory, this book was right on the mark, a great resource for the exams.
You hit the exams right on the nose with those test questions, this book really helped me to get through the MCSA exam. Thanks again
Rating: 
Summary: Another one to get you through the exam
Review: The book covers all the exam topics in an organised manner. Reading the book from cover to cover should be sufficient to pass the MS 70-218 exam.
I would not recommend the book for anyone looking for thorough explanation of the items covered. Too often details are missing, incomplete or even incorrect. For me, this makes the book useless as a reference for the topics included.
Sometimes the book is even frustratingly disappointing. As an example I can quote the paragraph on transforming binary to decimal numbers and vice-versa, something that you should master for some of the network related questions in the exam. Basically all the book says about it is this: "use the windows calculator in scientific mode". Sure, it will do the job, even during the exam where the calculator is available for use in all questions, however, it does not provide you with any understanding of these numbering systems.
So again, for passing the exam the book will do, if you are looking for a good reference and thorough explanation of topics covered in a precise manner, this book will not suffice.
Rating: 
Summary: A useless title
Review: This book completely misses the boat. It's hit or miss with Osborne, and this book is a miss. I find the content elementary at best, and useless when it comes to actually preparing for the exam.
Rating:
Summary: Great Resource!
Review: This book greatly assisted me in preparing for the 70-218 exam. It went well beyond the scope of the certification objectives and offered valuable insight into concepts I need to know in my daily administration.
Rating:
Summary: THANKS Rory McCaw
Review: This book greatly assisted me in preparing for the 70-218 exam. This book went well beyond the scope of the certification objectives and offered valuable insight into concepts I need to know in my daily administration. This is just one book written by Rory McCaw, that I have enjoyed reading. His writing style and tone make it easy to read and comprehend and I truly appreciate the technical accuracy. Kudos to the technical editors! I am enthusiastically awaiting the update version of this book for .NET. I would love to sit in one of Rory's classes if he is ever in my area. I have had the opportunity to hear Rory present for Microsoft on Microsoft Operations Manager and High Availability and bought his book immediately afterwards
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