Here s the practical, pocket-sized reference for IT professionals who administer and support Windows Server 2008. Designed for quick referencing, this portable guide covers all the essentials for performing everyday system administration tasks. Written by an award-winning author of more than two dozen computer books, this guide puts expert installation, migration, administration, and troubleshooting advice right at your fingertips. You ll discover how to manage workstations and servers, use Microsoft Active Directory® directory service, create and administer user and group accounts, manage files and directories, back up and recover data, and use TCP/IP, WINS, and DNS for network administration. Featuring quick-reference tables, concise lists, and step-by-step instructions, this handy, one-stop guide provides fast, accurate answers on the spot whether you re at your desk or in the field.

Zeroes in on exactly what the administrator needs to perform day-to-day tasks

Delivers information in concise tables, easy-to-scan lists, and step-by-step instructions

Features a pocket-sized format that puts the right information right at your fingertips

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 14 Ratings

The Best Admin book for Windows Server 2008 - 2009-05-02
Reviewer Rating:
Definitely the best daily admin book I've found. Like all Stanek's books, it's a gold mine of information. The details and advice are spot on.

You really can't go wrong with this one. Also recommend Stanek's excellent Windows Server 2008 Inside Out. The two together have answered my every question.

Jack of all trades, master of none. - 2009-10-16
Reviewer Rating:
BOTTOM LINE: Don't hesitate to buy this book, but realize you will need TechNet and other resources to learn. Too many tech books are bloated with legacy inforation from previouse versions that have been hastily freshened-up; they are filled with information you can't possibly remember and will probably never use.

Why 3 stars? As another reviewer said its just a collection of cut and paste from TechNet and doesn't not have enough original high quality content or links to more in-depth info so giving it 4 stars trivializes 4 starts

PROS:
Smaller than other books, gives you basic info on many topics. The books best strength is that it recognizes that admins limited time. It provides very light reference - if you need to go beyond just understanding how something works and need to understand how to implement it you will need to visit TechNet. Only books that cover a single set of related topics like Active Directory will provide this kind of depth. Even full sized books will still give you the basics.

Remember, it's one thing to set something up in the lab or in a small network with a few hundred users and quite another to do it in an enterprise with thousands or tens of thousands of users or where you servers must interact over a WAN for centralized management. Also, often we inherit systems that someone else setup and we don't have the time or authorization to correct so we must use them as-is.

CONS:
The reality is that server 2008 does so much that it must be approached in small chunks that are relevant to what you need to accomplish the rest is left on autopilot.

As an aside, one of the strengths of the mainframe and UNIX is that the basic commands never change. There is a steep up front learning curve but the pay off is a fairly static and consistent environment. Server Core 2008 is Ms's way or recognizing the benefits of a stripped down faster and more secure command-line environment.

Microsoft has had to evolve from something with low security to higher security being overly integrated with very complex FAT clients. In order to keep the number of pages to the minimum - you get about as much info as a brief help file pop-up box would provide.

From windows 2000 on I feel that things have become so complex in the enterprise that the server must be split up in to specialities: Storage & backup, ntfs file / user permissions / group policies. Active Directory, security hardening, cluster / farm / high availability / network ip4 /ip6, scripting WMI etc, server and backup device hardware / complex storage arrays, and so on.

Excellent for Windows Server - 2009-07-04
Reviewer Rating:
A key strength of the pocket consultants is that they are clearly and concisely written. William Stanek gets straight to the point and he knows Windows like no one else. This is one of two Windows Server books written by Stanek that I've purchased. Both are excellent. Anyone who wants to know Windows Server 2008 should get this book. Handy to have!

Short but not consise - 2009-07-04
Reviewer Rating:
The Pocket consult series has the virtue of being short, but not short enough. I do not know why it is so difficult to find authors who get the point in a clear precise manner,but I remain amazed that even in a book so short the fluff factor remains as high as 50%.

Moreover definitions are unclear and the procedures listed suffer from excessive and meaningless detail. This is not my first exposure to Mr Stanek's work and thus I have come to expect this -- still I remain disappointed.

I recently learned from Mr. Stanek's web site that he had early aspirations as a writer of fiction -- it shows in his style. Fiction exists to entertain non-fiction to inform-- his books do neither in this case. Get the point and then get out. Give only the detail that is needed no more.



Given its price and the fact that most books are far worse I rate it good, but I would not want to may full price -- its just not worth that much.

Clear, focused and the best for day to day work - 2009-04-26
Reviewer Rating:
As an on the go consultant, this is one of several of William's pocket consultants that's always in my daypack. Why? His books are always clear, focused and the best for day to day work. He packs more real information into these 675 pages than books that are 900 to 1000 pages and does it in a way that is easy to understand. His talent for taking the most complex subjects and presenting them in an understandle way is a real gift. Often he's able to communicate in a few paragraphs the same information other books take pages to explain. Bravo! I highly highly recommend this book and any of William's others.

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Operating Systems > Windows Server 2008
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