Rating: 
Summary: Not enough info for the exam- save your money
Review: I am an MCSE (4 & 2000)and a practicing Sys Admin with several years of experience. I had just passed the Security + and decided to add the 70-214 exam so I can upgrade to an MCSE + Security. I bought this book because of the extra features such as web-based exams and the DVD. Using this book and building on the security + info (I am also a CCNP and CCNA), I thought I would be prepared. I read the chapters, did the exercises, did the tests, and failed the exam. Several test items were never mentioned in this book. The author went into great detail about many non-exam related items which is great for real-world just not good for your $125 test investment.I picked up Roberta Bragg's ExamCram 2 after failing and learned more reading her cheat sheet (2 pages) than I did reading this book. The difference in level of details was striking! I highly recommend her book if you want the certification. After using her prep material, I kicked butt on the exam. Poorer but wiser.
Rating:
Summary: Not enough info for the exam- save your money
Review: I am an MCSE (4 & 2000)and a practicing Sys Admin with several years of experience. I had just passed the Security + and decided to add the 70-214 exam so I can upgrade to an MCSE + Security. I bought this book because of the extra features such as web-based exams and the DVD. Using this book and building on the security + info (I am also a CCNP and CCNA), I thought I would be prepared. I read the chapters, did the exercises, did the tests, and failed the exam. Several test items were never mentioned in this book. The author went into great detail about many non-exam related items which is great for real-world just not good for your $125 test investment. I picked up Roberta Bragg's ExamCram 2 after failing and learned more reading her cheat sheet (2 pages) than I did reading this book. The difference in level of details was striking! I highly recommend her book if you want the certification. After using her prep material, I kicked butt on the exam. Poorer but wiser.
Rating: 
Summary: Best study guide of my 15 study guides
Review: In the past year of purchased and read 15 study guides. I rate this one the highest for organization, clarity, relevance, and usefulness as a reference. The practice questions in the book were ecelent and gave good explnations. It would have been nice if the additional practice questions were included in the CDROM instead of having to register online. The tutorial on line was very general and rather boring, but good for those times when you don't want to read.
Rating:
Summary: I used this book and pass the exam first time.
Review: Over the past 5 years usually I have already taken the certification test before reviewing the material, this way I can determine if the material would in fact help you pass the exam. For this book I decided to try it from the other way, use the book to see if I could pass the exam and this book did just that. Having little experience with security in a Windows 2000 network environment I used this book as the primary source of material to study for the exam. I spent 2 solid weeks reading and practicing the labs, as well as watching the DVD videos. I passed the exam first on the first try on February 28th. The book covers all objectives and I found the material to be right on the money with the exam questions I got. I also found that some of the material went beyond the actual exam which is certainly a bonus. There were exercises with utilities like MBSA, URLScan, HFNetChk and QChain, which explain how to use the utility and when to use the utility. One thing I did find is the new version of MBSA has HFNetChk built in, so you may have to be flexible with the exercises. This can be fixed in the next edition. Overall the material was very complete; there is also a web connection to Syngress where you can get a free web based exam. So if you are looking for a book that can help this one should work.
Rating:
Summary: Worth the Money
Review: Sometimes you buy a study guide and while it seems worth the money while you're standing there reading it before you check out, you get it home and upon closer inspection you determine that the book is a dud. Not so with this title. It goes into great detail without bogging down the reader in useless minutiae.
There was very little that I did not like about the book but I especially enjoyed Chapters 2,4,6,7,8,9. BTW I bought it for my own amusement, not because I was studying for the 70-214 exam.
Rating:
Summary: Hits the nail on the head!! Thanks for an AWESOME book!
Review: Syngress has hit a homerun with this 70-214 study guide and DVD combination. This book covers every aspect of this exam in very good detail and then offers you even more useful information that will go a long way towards keeping your network secure. The 2 hour DVD is an awesome addition that hammers home some of the most important subjects. As well, the depth of the practice questions is superb...this is a rare thing anymore with study guides. This book is a sure fire winner that will help you to pass this exam!
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Security Certification Read.
Review: This book is one of the easiest reads for a security certification book on the market. First, I hate to read. Second, I hate to read security books because they are boring and poorly explain important concepts. This is not that book. This gets right to the core of what is necessary to pass the test the fist time! It gives you more than that though, because although the DVD skims over all of the areas of the exam, it works as a way to review the information that you need to know, lets say the night before the exam. There are enough pictures so that you do not have to refer to the real thing, but at the same time, it is most helpful if you are already familiar with these interfaces because it will allow you to review some topics, while providing you with the needed configuration details on others. The chapter summaries are accurate, powerful and make concepts come together, as the author weaves detail after detail, so that you are confident in the subject matter. Most of the time I will dabble in a practice exam or two, I didn't waste time on the practice test because I felt that after reviewing the book and reviewing the DVD the night before the exam I was well prepared for it. Bottom line is that if you are going to do the 70-214 Implementing & Administering Security in a Windows 2000 Network, you need this book (Period)! Layout Summary: Head of the class gives you the needed edge on concepts that everyone talks about. Notes from the underground is the behind the scenes of what happening in the security world on topic. Damage and Defense was a way for the author to convey the finer points of network access and how to mitigate vulnerabilities. Note and Test Day Tips you should take as the advice from an elder because these are the golden eggs that will help you achieve your goal.
Rating:
Summary: Kicks ...
Review: This book rocks. Now that there is a major push towards the MCSA: Security, this test has become even more important. As an NT 4 MCSE and a 2000 MCSA, I definitely want to next take my Security+ and finish this new credential. As a Manager of a medium network, we do not have a security analyst so its up to use to lock down our own Microsoft servers so this book really helped. I REALLY loved the stuff with templates, which is a huge help. Although I have not taken the exam yet (so I can comment on if this book totally helps you with it), the amount of great information I picked up from reading this book has really given me a big boost at work. Thanks for the awesome stuff in this guide.
Rating: 
Summary: Poorly written
Review: This is filled with some misleading information in my opinion. Where the information is accurate the wording is misleading
and riddled with incomplete sentences (ie paragraphs referring
back to "it" often times seem confusing unless you are already
familar with the concepts. In addition, I don't follow books
that present acronyms and concepts before they are introduced and explained. I found this to be time consuming, finding and learning the background from other sources only to have them introduced a chapter or two later. This book will be an excellent referrence book not as much for the accuracy and depth of content, but the added information that is relevant to maintaining security on a Windows 2000 network. For that I gave the book 3 stars.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm really enjoying it...
Review: This is the second book that I have read by Will Schmied, and he just impresses me with the quality of his work. Although I'm not completely through with the book I couldn't wait either to do a review I'm that impressed with it! I like the way the exam objectives are listed in the front of the book and then tied into the Table of Contents. Very handy if you just want to review a particular objective. I especially love the little exam objectives boxes that can be found throughout the whole book that let you know exactly what objectives you are studying at the moment. I find the test day tips and exam warnings very insightful. I feel that the authors really put everything they had into this book. The information contained in those pages will take you deeper than the objectives required for the exam.
You won't find "This subject goes deeper than what the exam requires so it will not be discussed." (I really hate those sentences!) What you will find is "This information is not required for this exam but since it interacts so closely with an objective it will be explain." Trust me, they really do explain it to. I was very impressed with all the hands on exercises this book contains. Not just a few here and there through out the book. Each chapter contains it own exercises related to the chapter. Chapter 1 alone has 12 exercises to perform, and chapter 4 has 15! Yeah! I know, blew my mind too...
The exercises really help me pull all the information I just read together. And I'm the kind of person that retains things better if I can get some hands on time. The only things I was discontented with
1. The DVD and this is just because I don't have a player to view it with.
2. No glossary in the back of the book. This is just a personal preference of mine and to be honest the exercises more than make up the lack of one. Overall I think this book is excellent and worth more than what it cost. I know it is something that I will continue to use even after I sit the exam. Hey that's way better than being a dust collector.
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