Microsoft® Proxy Server 2.0 MCSE Study System

Rating:
Summary: GREAT BOOK
Review: Don't listen to nay sayers who don't like this book. If you want to learn about firewalls, proxy'ing, and the like this book is for you. This book changed my life insofaras it taugh me advanced TCP/IP. Firewall functionality is all about TCP/IP really and if you want to pass the MCSE exam it's a MUST HAVE. Great job Curt! I just purchased Curt's ISA 2000 book. I can't wait to read it.

Rating:
Summary: GREAT BOOK
Review: Don't listen to nay sayers who don't like this book. If you want to learn about firewalls, proxy'ing, and the like this book is for you. This book changed my life insofaras it taugh me advanced TCP/IP. Firewall functionality is all about TCP/IP really and if you want to pass the MCSE exam it's a MUST HAVE. Great job Curt! I just purchased Curt's ISA 2000 book. I can't wait to read it.

Rating:
Summary: Great book AND reference guide.
Review: I am an MCSE+Internet, CIW, A+, Network+, and I-net+ professional.

I made an incredible score on this exam, and this book deserves all of the credit. It thoroughly covers every aspect of setup AND each and every aspect of administration. MOST OF ALL, it includes great screen shots and incredible labs.

The earlier version of the book included a large number of mistakes, according to the earlier reviews, but I only came across a small few in this version. He went WAY too much into IIS, but didn't cover Winsock administration any where near enough.

The beachfront quizzer is poor--very poor, so don't even bother installting it. BUT the PDF version of the book along with the evalution version of PROXY came in very handy.

This book is all that you need to certify yourself in proxy.

Rating:
Summary: Great book AND reference guide.
Review: I am an MCSE+Internet, CIW, A+, Network+, and I-net+ professional.

I made an incredible score on this exam, and this book deserves all of the credit. It thoroughly covers every aspect of setup AND each and every aspect of administration. MOST OF ALL, it includes great screen shots and incredible labs.

The earlier version of the book included a large number of mistakes, according to the earlier reviews, but I only came across a small few in this version. He went WAY too much into IIS, but didn't cover Winsock administration any where near enough.

The beachfront quizzer is poor--very poor, so don't even bother installting it. BUT the PDF version of the book along with the evalution version of PROXY came in very handy.

This book is all that you need to certify yourself in proxy.

Rating:
Summary: Very helpful, but some errors
Review: I find all the IDG books helpful, informative and written in a consice manner. I picked up the Exam cram for proxy, and found information (like the bandwidth formula) that just wasn't in the IDG book. Proxy Server by IDG also had gramatical and spelling errors. I suggest 2 books on any given topic.

Rating:
Summary: Reader Feedback
Review: I looked at every book available on PROXY SERVER 2.0 before I decided to purchase Curt Simmons version. My main reason for choosing his book was the copy of Proxy Server 2.0 (30-Day Trial) and the Quizzer program to help prepare for the test. Unfortunately the 30-Day Trial version needed at least Windows NT and a copy of IIS for it to work, so it was worthless to me. The quizzer program was very helpful although you do need a password or key to open it up. The key is suppose to be hidden in the book somewhere, but I had to call the company to get it (they didn't know where to find it in the book either). The topic is dry and you have to force yourself through it all, but most of the MCSE books are that way. All in all, I might have bought another book on the topic had I known the 30-day trail version would not be accessable to me.

Rating:
Summary: Wastes space, wrong audience
Review: I'm working as an assistant IT admin and recently got certified under Proxy (I was already MCSE/A+). I bought this book, as well as a few others, to educate myself on the product as well as prepare for the exam. I was disappointed with this book for two reasons. First, the book spends the first 100 pages or so (almost a third of the book) on things other than Proxy: TCP/IP, IIS, etc. While comprehension of these topics is an absolute necessity for installing, configuring and maintaining a proxy server, the author did not cover them in sufficient detail to make their inclusion worthwhile. When the author does get around to Proxy itself, he gives thin descriptions of the issues. Which leads to my second problem. The book isn't really appropriate for the NT novice, but then again, it's not meaty enough for someone who's not. Most of the needed topics are covered, but only just. Much more could have been said about client installation, performance monitoring and common errors associated with arrays and chains. The step-by-step instructions are well-written and there is a PDF version of the book on the CD that's included, but the end of chapter questions are even worse than most books. Also, don't let the lure of extra test questions on the CD fool you; you'd have to fork over an extra $100 to get enough of them to do you any good. Keep looking.

Rating:
Summary: Great Learning Tool for Proxy Server 2.0
Review: If I'm just studying to pass a test, I read a book through once, answer all the chapter questions, maybe pass up the labs for now, then either turn around and read it again and work the labs on my humble home network, or start reading through another similar guide first, and then going back and working with the product through the labs. Polish all that off with one of the readiness reviews for the last few days and the test is passed.

This time I needed to learn Proxy Server so I can better understand the live system I actually work with, and worry about the test later maybe. I've read through this book once already, and it is clear and understandable, very well written. In one read I've gleaned a lot of information for my day-to-day use, and know that the second pass through, working the labs live, will tighten up my understanding of this technology even more. Some technical books are so poorly written I can't finish them so I just move on to the next one, but this one is pretty well done, and suits my needs just fine.

There are a few little errors but they are obvious and not too distracting; a diagram reference # wrong or a silly misspelling like HEKY_LOCAL_MACHINE as the correct answer on one of the chapter assessment tests. I've seen much worse.

This book is a great learning tool for Proxy Server 2.0, whether to pass the MCSE test or to learn it for work. If I were going for the test, I'd not stop here; but just to use it for knowledge, review and reference, it's great.

It lists and covers all the certification requirements, and even gives a good cross reference of which chapters cover which test objective, as well as a convenient appendix containing all the collected Mini-Labs from each chapter. I haven't tried the BeachFront CD yet so I don't have an opinion, but the book itself is solid.

I recommend it.

Joe Buchberger

Rating:
Summary: Overall is good
Review: This book can give you a full picture of the exam. Even, it contains a certain no. of pages talking about TCP/IP basics and IIS to help the beginners, if you know about these items, you may find it boring. I haven't read a training guide that shows the steps, such as installation, configuration etc. so clearly - One illustration for one step. Almost you need not open the software while you are studying. I would also appreciate the lab practice; and questions in the CD-ROM. However, I am very disappointed is that quite many errors in the book. If I can, I would give 3.5 stars instead.