| To put it in terms understandable to the many former English majors who now manage Windows networks: if Everyman were a system administrator, he'd run Windows 2000 Server. It supports pretty much any business requirement, yet it's user-friendly enough that anyone can learn to be an administrator with a bit of study. Mission Critical! Windows 2000 Server Administration explains how to set up and run Windows 2000 Server on a network. Its approach isn't oversimplified by any means, but neither is it bewildering. With lots of clearly written text and enough stepped procedures to satisfy those who just want to know how to accomplish a specific task, this book balances how-to facts with knowledge-building information.
The administrator's primary goals (maximizing the reliability of the system and minimizing the workload) are top of mind in this book. Technical details (say, configuring permissions for users and groups) are generally combined with a snippet of administrative advice (the merits of using special groups rather than restricting users individually). Each chapter concludes with question-and-answer sections that make great reading (typically, the answers reference related issues as well as responding to the question). The FAQs weren't thrown together to satisfy the publisher's formatting requirements; they are highly readable repositories of Windows 2000 wisdom. This book, though not meant as such, would help someone studying for the Microsoft certification tests on Windows 2000. --David Wall
From the Author Rightly or wrongly, Microsoft has been soundly chastised on more than one occasion for supplying server-based operating systems that fail ungracefully under pressure. Mention Windows and Mission Critical in the same sentence, and most people are likely to choke on their coffee. In the last 10 years, mainframes and several flavors of UNIX have been the first choice for providing mission-critical services, and for very good reasons. The message chanted by hardware and software vendors alike was, “Don’t use Microsoft for anything that just can’t go down”—a statement that most times I would have agreed with. Windows 2000 Server has changed all of that. If you work with Windows 2000 Server, or are planning to, then this book will be of use to you. It is not meant to be light bedtime reading, but an exploration of the more technical issues of Windows 2000 Server.
Robin Walshaw (B.Sc Computer Science, MCSE, DPPM) is an independent consultant who delivers strategic Windows 2000 solutions to large corporations around the globe. Born in England, Robin spent the majority of his earlier years in Scotland and South Africa. One of the first MCSEs in Africa, he enjoys being at the forefront of new developments in network and operating system architecture. With a flair for developing strategic IT solutions for diverse clients, he has worked in the world of computers in eight countries, and has traveled to over thirty countries in the last ten years. A veteran of numerous global projects, Robin has honed his skills across of a wide variety of platforms and technologies. Though an industrious computer professional by day, by ‘night’ Robin is an experienced mountain guide. Robin is a keen sportsman and has managed to balance work with a passion for climbing the world’s highest mountains, culminating in an attempt on the North Ridge of Mount Everest. |
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