Rating: 
Summary: Incomplete, conflicting, and sometimes patently wrong
Review: As a rule, I try not to write overly negative reviews. In this case I must make an exception; these books are ... and the certification process is often important to one's career. The slipshod manner in which this book was put together borders on irresponsible. Even if you ignore the fact that the grammar and spelling is atrocious in places (spell-check is so easy), much of the information therein is misleading. The chapter self-test questions often directly contradict information within the chapter. The questions are also poorly worded, without any real justification for the answers. Finally, there are a number of blatantly incorrect statements that the author makes. It is a wonder that the author managed to pass the exam! Despite the glowing praise showered upon this book by the other reviewers, I am not the only person with this opinion. Check out the customer reviews for "MCDBA SQL Server 2000 All in One" on this site and MCDBA newsgroup postings regarding Osborne books. You will find that this seems to be a trend with the company. Microsoft Certification is an ... and time-consuming endeavor- don't waste either on this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Very good MCDBA cert guide.
Review: Considering the limited availability of MCDBA certification guides on the market, this has to be one of the better ones. The material is well layed out, and for the most part, covered in appropriate detail. However, the chapter on Replication (Chapter 13), is excessively long and could be broken up into more concise and focused chapters. Some of the exercises aren't always explained very clearly, or have too many typos, i.e. (Exercise 12-1 "Using a DTS Package to Transform Data"). Several steps for this critical exercise are missing and one needs to refer to Books Online to get the correct result. In addition, there are too many references to SQL Server 7.0 that were obviously missed during editing (particularly in Chapter 13). More hands-on exercises are needed and perhaps a greater emphasis on using T-SQL statements for performing traditional DBA tasks. However, the "Two Minute Drills" are excellent. They help test your understanding and retention of subject matter, and are good review tools. Lastly, be sure to read and follow, "Some Pointers," in the PREFACE section of the book, as this is what one needs to do to master the material, and ultimiately be successful during the 70-228 exam.
Rating:
Summary: I expected much more from Osborne...
Review: I chose this book because of a few good reviews on this site, coupled with my success using other certification guides from Osborne. Up until now, I would have continued purchasing Osborne books. However, this book is VERY poorly written. There are blatant grammatical errors, and many of the sentences are so poorly written that, at times, my friend (who is an MCDBA) could not understand some of the concepts that the author was attempting to illustrate. If you are looking for good books to study for 070-228, you should definitely look elsewhere!
Rating:
Summary: I expected much more from Osborne...
Review: I chose this book because of a few good reviews on this site, coupled with my success using other certification guides from Osborne. Up until now, I would have continued purchasing Osborne books. However, this book is VERY poorly written. There are blatant grammatical errors, and many of the sentences are so poorly written that, at times, my friend (who is an MCDBA) could not understand some of the concepts that the author was attempting to illustrate. If you are looking for good books to study for 070-228, you should definitely look elsewhere!
Rating: 
Summary: Embarrassing, DON'T BUT THIS BOOK
Review: I have read and reviewed over 25 MS certification books, and this is among the worst I've ever seen. This book was obviously rushed into print, as the spelling and grammar errors are the worst I've ever seen in any published material. There are many cases where they give example SQL text that doesn't even run b/c of inaccuracies. Many of the exam questions specify incorrect answers and/or tell you one answer is correct, then the answer explanation will explain why another answer is the correct choice.The book is week on substance, as many of its pages are filled with screen shots rather than enlightening content. The test questions are not similar to the type of questions found on the actual exam. If anyone actually reviewed this book before it went into production, they should be fired immediately, as it's hard to read more than a couple pages without finding errors, many of which make it difficult to determine what the author is trying to say. If you want to learn SQL server and desire to pass the exam, spend your time with other material.
Rating:
Summary: Embarrassing, DON'T BUT THIS BOOK
Review: I have read and reviewed over 25 MS certification books, and this is among the worst I've ever seen. This book was obviously rushed into print, as the spelling and grammar errors are the worst I've ever seen in any published material. There are many cases where they give example SQL text that doesn't even run b/c of inaccuracies. Many of the exam questions specify incorrect answers and/or tell you one answer is correct, then the answer explanation will explain why another answer is the correct choice. The book is week on substance, as many of its pages are filled with screen shots rather than enlightening content. The test questions are not similar to the type of questions found on the actual exam. If anyone actually reviewed this book before it went into production, they should be fired immediately, as it's hard to read more than a couple pages without finding errors, many of which make it difficult to determine what the author is trying to say. If you want to learn SQL server and desire to pass the exam, spend your time with other material.
Rating: 
Summary: MCDBA 70-228 SQL Administering
Review: I used this book as a training/study guide, and passed exam 70-228. The topics are discussed logically and in a fair amount of detail. Real world situations are provided, procedure demonsrations providing actual screen shots, exam watch tips, and certification objectives. The two-minute drills at the end of each chapter are a good review, a help reinforce the material to memory. The CD contains practice exams with full explanations which are useful for exam preparation. There are also review sessions, which are just the 'two-minute' drills from the book provided in a 'flash-card' format. The full text is also on the CD for easy electronic searching. I would suggest the following for passing exam 70-228 (I am an MCSE, and 1 test away from MCDBA):
1.) Use this book to train and learn the content. Also Microsoft MOC or other MCT Training.
2.) Use ExamCram notes, "Cramsession.com", or "ExamNotes.net" study guides to review and commit the needed details to memory.
3.) Use "Transcender", the included "ExamSim" on the CD, or any other practice exams to learn the material and familiarize with MS exam format. Unfortunately the Syngress book for exam 70-229 SQL 2000 Design is not yet released, so I had to buy the Sybex MCSE SQL 2000 Design Study Guide.
Rating:
Summary: Its ok. Not bad, not great...just "ok".
Review: I used this book to prepare for the SQL 2000 test (70-228) and it seemed like it was a very informative book. That is until you actually begin to use what you get from the book against whats in the test. The book doesn't cover quite a bit of material that is on the test, and gives you very minimal information about other things. It does cover replication quite well, and it has good information on setting up jobs/alerts/DTS/etc... It's a big book, but the vast majority of it is "filler" that uses overly complicated descriptions and LOTS of screenshots to walk you through tasks. Also, the included CD is useless. It has an a copy of the book on CD, and ONE sample test with just 45 questions (many of them from inside the book). I just passed the test with a 950, but thats only after I used several other resources to fill in the many gaps. Overall 2 1/2 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Once you've been Perkovich'ed, you won't go back
Review: I would have to say that for a book I haven't cracked open yet, other than to have installed the CD with test questions, my 2 month old could have done a better job is this is indicative of the quality of the text. If the quality of the book text mirrors the quality of the practice CD, you'll need to swing by the store and get some Huggies. Errors, errors, errors. Dead-wrong answers in the on-line tests AND 'check all that apply' when radio buttons (only one answer can be chosen) makes me believe that my studying the content of the book will hurt my chances on the exam. How in the world did this guy get a book published? I sent an email to the publisher, but have had no reply as of yet. Will write another review IF I get a response. I would like to believe that the CD content was developed by Perkovich's intern on their second day on the job. Let's hope so, as I begin to read and study... Good luck on this one.
Rating:
Summary: Needs Improvement
Review: If you are new to SQL server and want to know the basics of the application then this books if your you. If you want to pass the exam however then I suggest you look else where. The material is too simplistic and there are too much typo errors. I read the book twice before turning to other materials like the Transcenders and Self Test software and I must say had it not been for the other materials that I used I would have failed the exam.
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