Rating: 
Summary: Good Reference Material
Review: After completing the 2000 track, I found I was using this book quite a lot. It is an excellent tool for 70-220 and most of the design exams. In short, there is more info in this book than the exam requires. However, there was nothing on the exam that this book did not cover: DDNS, WINS, DHCP, RRAS, CA, NAT, ICS, Network Monitor, and multicasting. It was all in this book. Make sure you know DDNS, WINS and DHCP better than your best friend. :) As with any MOC, I recommend prep exam software or a second study guide. Don't forget the resources at MCSEtutor.com. Good luck to all.Patrick MCSE+I, MCDBA, MACP, MCP 2000 (x4)
Rating:
Summary: The Hardest 2000 Core Exam
Review: Being an NT MCSE+I and MCDBA and having passed this exam on the first try, I can safely say that you have a challenge on your hands. If you are an aspiring MCSE, note that you do not get major TCP/IP training in this manual. Previously, TCP/IP was an exam by itself and to cover all of it as a minor topic for this exam is a huge undertaking. I suggest covering TCP/IP on your own with a separate manual after the exam. Refer to a separate source (even the older NT manuals are still relevant for TCP/IP) such as the Resource Kit for 2000. You really need to know RIS, RRAS, DHCP, WINS, and DNS extremely well. Concentrate on the newer features of 2000 over NT as a general rule. I prefer to have too much information rather than too little. It makes for a good reference book later on and adds value to your purchase. This manual goes into too much depth on Certificate Services and VPN setups for the exam. Otherwise, this book has everything in it. I used Transcenders and the questions I missed had the answers in this book. It has a wide subject matter and as a result the exam will be hard due to the amount you need to cover, and not really the difficulty of any single topic. The book has Sybex's usual excellent tools such as prep exams and simulation demos for most chapters. This will greatly assist your studies. For all of your efforts, you will KNOW Windows 2000 Server by the time you are finished. The other books do not really give you the networking knowledge you need to really harness the new 2000 features. Give yourself a little extra time and you should come through well. Good luck.
Rating: 
Summary: Exams are a money making sham. But the book is useful.
Review: Exams are a way to make "money for nothing and checks for free." This book is barely discernable from the NT books and I am sure the XP will not be long off. I did not buy it for the exam as People that pass exams only show that they can remember questions. However windows 2000 seems to be with us for a while and this book does a good job of pointing out problems before they happen allowing for a preventive plan. Networking is networking is networking However Windows 2000 is not intuitive and is convoluted. So without this or a similar book your goose is cooked. The book has 14 chapters and an appendix. In them they seem to take you from ground zero to an administrator with a few diagrams and a few pictures. Most of the contents seem to be written by someone who already knows the subject well enough to leave out what he thinks you should already know. As stated before one reason for using this book is to cut through the convolution. On a UNIX based host the use of DHCP is as simple as filling out a form with base information all in one location. This book takes 20 pages to describe where and how to use DHCP as if it was a separate process than the operating system. There are better books but this book is better than not.
Rating: 
Summary: Serious about getting your W2K MCSE? Read on...
Review: For the Windows 2000 MCSE program, Microsoft has made it their mission to demand more of exam candidates. Their exam developers have gone to great lengths to raise the bar in order to bring an end to the "paper-certification" syndrome, in which individuals obtain a certification without a thorough understanding of the technology. Sybex welcomes this philosophy, with its higher standards and greater accountability, as we have always advocated a comprehensive instructional approach when developing our certification study guides. It has always been Sybex's mission to teach exam candidates how new technologies work in the real world, not to simply feed them answers to test questions. The depth and breadth of technical knowledge required to obtain Microsoft's new Windows 2000 MCSE is staggering. And this being the case, the need for top-quality study guides is unprecedented. We've assembled some of the most technically skilled instructors in the industry to write our Windows 2000 MCSE study guides, and we're confident that our books will exceed the demanding standards both of the sponsoring companies and you, the aspiring MCSE. Along with the comprehensive coverage of all exam objectives within the text itself, you'll now find enhanced CD content that includes the following: · Program Simulators: Not a mock-up, but a program that shows you how Windows 2000 really looks and operates. In addition to video walkthroughs of all of the exercises in the book, we also provide a number of hands-on simulation exercises that require your input, just as it will be required on a simulative format exam! · Electronic Flashcards for PCs and Palm Devices: With each study guide, we now provide hundreds of flashcard-style questions that you can use to reinforce your understanding of key concepts. And we provide these flashcard questions in two formats-one that can be run off a standard PC and another that can be run off a Palm device. Now you can study anywhere, any time! · Sample Adaptive Exams: Now a standard feature in our test engine, the adaptive testing component gives you an opportunity to experience the pressure of taking an adaptive test, one that will quickly determine if you're ready or not. · Bonus Exam-style Questions: We've added hundreds of additional exam-style questions to our test engine, so you can test and re-test yourself before sitting for the actual exam. Best of luck in pursuit of your MCSE!
Rating: 
Summary: Lenthy descriptions that never get to the point!
Review: I liked the previous 2 books in the Sybex MCSE series (and passed the exams with them). But this one by Paul Robichaux is just rubbish! Note that the first 3 chapters do not cover ANY Microsoft exam objectives - while it could have been an admirable intention to cover the foundations before the "how-to's", here it was very poorly done. The author gets carried away with lenthy analogies (sports cars, sedans, etc..., to the point of naming several makes and models of different types of CARS - are we still learning about networking computers???) When it comes to configuring the finer details, the discussion often ends with "(do such and such)... unless circumstances dictate otherwise". What are the circumstances that may rise? Believe me, it was not clear at all in the context (and these situation-based decisions are what we really need to know to pass the exam). In short, I find this book confusing and seldom to-the-point.
Rating:
Summary: Lenthy descriptions that never get to the point!
Review: I liked the previous 2 books in the Sybex MCSE series (and passed the exams with them). But this one by Paul Robichaux is just rubbish! Note that the first 3 chapters do not cover ANY Microsoft exam objectives - while it could have been an admirable intention to cover the foundations before the "how-to's", here it was very poorly done. The author gets carried away with lenthy analogies (sports cars, sedans, etc..., to the point of naming several makes and models of different types of CARS - are we still learning about networking computers???) When it comes to configuring the finer details, the discussion often ends with "(do such and such)... unless circumstances dictate otherwise". What are the circumstances that may rise? Believe me, it was not clear at all in the context (and these situation-based decisions are what we really need to know to pass the exam). In short, I find this book confusing and seldom to-the-point.
Rating:
Summary: Inconsistent throughout
Review: I read this book cover to cover and pass the exam. BUT not because of this terrible book. I had a TestOut CD-Rom...
The wording of the author is strange and inconsistent. The CD-ROM were terrible horrendous. The author only appeared (in audio) in few example and the rest was a woman's voice. This woman doesn't know anything about computer period. This is most evident in her inappropriate pause of her speech. My advice to you the shopper DO NOT buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: Do Not Rely on this Book either for the MCP or for reference
Review: I used Sybex for a lot of my MCPs, but this one is truly horrid.
The style is fun and admittedly the author made an attempt to amuse you while you're reading. This would be a good thing (although unnecessary and uncalled for) if it was accompanied by reliable and well written technical material, which isn't the case.
The book is structured in a rather confusing way - you get most of the stuff explained roughly in the first couple of chapters, and then explained in detail afterwards. This is just a stupid approach as it is confusing: if you talk to me about NAT, do it all in one go, and the same for everything else!!
After reading the book I took a transcender... wow, the questions there are really tough, and most of them require knowledge that this book doesn't provide at all.
The main problem though is in the questions and answers. The questions are often written quite poorly and in a very misleading way. Also, the answers sometime state the opposite of the theory (e.g. according to an "answer" you don't need WINS during a WinNT-Win2k migration in a mixed network!) ... of course, there was another "answer" for an identical scenario where it was stated, correctly, that you do need WINS.
Was this book EVER proofread by a tech? I seriously doubt it.
I waisted 2 weeks. Now I bought the MS Press book, and everything makes sense.
The authors did a very bad job. Sybex was thoroughly disappointing for allowing the publication of the book. Do not buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Inconsistent and incorrect writing
Review: I will be avoiding this author in the future (though other Sybex books have been very good) because 1.)He doesn't explain things very well in general and in particular doesn't cover what is on the MCSE tests (I just failed this one after passing the others using only the Sybex book) and 2.) The answers in the question and answer sections are wrong and in some instances the answers would be a copy/paste of the previous question. A terrible author.
Rating: 
Summary: Sub-par, a real disappointment
Review: I would recommend this book, but only with grave reservations -- don't use it as your only study material. I have been using Sybex's excellent study guides for years (all the way through my NT MCSE certification and now on Windows 2000), and this 70-216 study guide is definitely inferior. The material presented is handled well, but numerous omissions make it unreliable. The chapter tests are particularly atrocious. Questions are badly worded; several tests contain duplicate questions; there are numerous questions on material that is not covered at all in the book (e.g., WINS proxy, DNS round robin, DHCP database migration). I've come to expect far better from Sybex; this has been a major disappointment.
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