Description:
Microsoft BackOffice 4.5 Resource Kit, to the hardcore BackOffice administrator, is a CD-ROM in a really heavy box. (Yes, this kit ships with two CD-ROMs, but one of them is just the 120-day evaluation version of Microsoft SQL Server 7.) The one key CD-ROM contains utilities for Exchange Server 5.5, SNA Server 4, Systems Management Server 2, and SQL Server 7. Some examples include a better Mailbox Cleanup Agent for Exchange and an inventory synchronizer for SMS. The utilities CD-ROM comes boxed with four books, each documenting a particular BackOffice suite member rather comprehensively. (You'll find these books about as good as most other publishers' comprehensive offerings on the programs.) The books provide lots of reference material, including full documentation of command-line interfaces and error codes. There also are some tuning and troubleshooting hints, while the SQL book includes a lot of information on migrating legacy databases to Microsoft's product. Is this Resource Kit worth the money? If you need the software, absolutely, though Microsoft really ought to sell à la carte Resource Kits for each of the four BackOffice elements in addition to this suite pack. The BackOffice programs are usually so critical to the enterprises that use them that an administrator wouldn't want to risk lacking a key utility during a crisis. --David Wall
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