Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Delta Guide

From Barnes & Noble

The Barnes & Noble Review
Is this you? You already know Windows 2000 Server. Now you need to learn Windows Server 2003. But you don’t want to waste time slogging through stuff you already know. All you care about is: What’s new, and what’s changed? Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Delta Guide was written for you.

For example, installation hasn’t changed radically, but this book focuses on useful improvements that simplify the creation of automated installation files. (And, yes, the Windows Product Activation feature, coming to servers for the first time). Windows Server 2003 adopts the WinXP interface, but more important, the authors focus on must-know features like Remote Assistance and Compressed Folders.

You’ll find detailed coverage of Microsoft Windows Server 2003’s security enhancements and tools (Bill Gates actually stopped Windows Server 2003 development for two months to review security). The authors tell you about new tools that make Active Directory far easier to architect and manage as well as improvements in group policies -- especially the Resultant Set of Policy console.

There’s extensive coverage of IIS (completely revamped, and not installed by default); tweaks to network services such as DHCP, WINS, and fax; and a full chapter on networking and remote access (including IPv6 support and IPSec enhancements).

Clustering, headless servers, new command-line tools -- all covered. There’s even a chapter on the implications of .NET for the Windows Server 2003 administrator. A quick, concise read, this book will get Win2K professionals up-to-speed on Windows Server 2003 practically overnight. Bill Camarda

Bill Camarda is a consultant, writer, and web/multimedia content developer. His 15 books include Special Edition Using Word 2000 and Upgrading & Fixing Networks for Dummies, Second Edition.

Library Journal

Microsoft's April launch of Windows Server 2003 signaled a newer, modular strategy; the company intends to continue delivering additional components for at least six months postlaunch. This means that libraries, though needing to invest in guides to the new server OS, may need to upgrade more quickly than in the past for coverage of newer components. These four titles will help start the collection. Intended for Windows Server 2000 administrators who need to update their skills, Delta Guide eschews the basics for changes in the new OS, beginning with selecting an edition and moving through interface and policy changes, security enhancements, new command line tools, and more. Online sidebars bring users up to speed in areas where their Win2k knowledge is lacking. Buy in conjunction with more thorough guides that also address the needs of beginning administrators. Beginner's Guide and Teach Yourself target beginning administrators, teaching via step-by-step chapters. In Beginner's, the notes and "Ask the Expert" sidebars add useful info, progress checks mid-chapter help break up lengthy prose, and projects and mastery checks close chapters. Teach ends chapters with a summary and Q&A and includes similar notes and asides, falling somewhat short in explaining what to do when its step-by-step instructions fail. Beginner's, for example, goes by degrees through setting up nonplug and play printers, while Teach merely directs readers to the Add Printer Wizard. Both are good bets for all libraries. Meanwhile, Unleashed is a comprehensive reference for intermediate to advanced administrators. Lists of best practices contain tips to keep servers running smoothly, along with rules and recommendations integrated into each chapter; larger libraries can consider. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.