A caveat: I don't care about the test. I was searching through lots of books for some information about creating a Windows server based network and this book really stood out. (I was setting up my first network and was lost trying to figure out some things.)

I know many or most of you only care about the test, but I am writing this to tell others that if you need a good book about infrastructure I think you may want to get this one.

Anyone who is seeking a Microsoft Engineering certification should obtain this book. In fact, the entire Sybex series of books are great.

You could definitely tell when they switched authors. There were two chapters when I could tell the author really didn't know the subject and was merely regurgitating information. I stopped midway through those chapters and skipped onto the next chapter. I later got the info I needed for Certificate Services and High Availability Services from Whitepapers and I also discovered the MS Press book on this test. It was much better. Reading the Sybex book I had very little confidence in the author. Reading the MS Press book I had complete confidence in the author.



For example in the Sybex book, when they were describing High Availability Services, I kept seeing a single point of failure. After a while I got disgusted and looked for better sources of information. I printed out the chapter from the MS Press book from Safari and my issue was addressed within a few pages. My point being is that the author of the MS Press book obviously knew how the brain of an IT person works and was able to answer my questions and concerns as they arose while reading. This was not the case in Sybex.



I would say the MS Press author definitely understood the subject and me (as an IT professional) much better.

You could definitely tell when they switched authors. There were two chapters when I could tell the author really didn't know the subject and was merely regurgitating information. I stopped midway through those chapters and skipped onto the next chapter. I later got the info I needed for Certificate Services and High Availability Services from Whitepapers and I also discovered the MS Press book on this test. It was much better. Reading the Sybex book I had very little confidence in the author. Reading the MS Press book I had complete confidence in the author.

For example in the Sybex book, when they were describing High Availability Services, I kept seeing a single point of failure. After a while I got disgusted and looked for better sources of information. I printed out the chapter from the MS Press book from Safari and my issue was addressed within a few pages. My point being is that the author of the MS Press book obviously knew how the brain of an IT person works and was able to answer my questions and concerns as they arose while reading. This was not the case in Sybex.

I would say the MS Press author definitely understood the subject and me (as an IT professional) much better.

You could definitely tell when they switched authors. There were two chapters when I could tell the author really didn't know the subject and was merely regurgitating information. I stopped midway through those chapters and skipped onto the next chapter. I later got the info I needed for Certificate Services and High Availability Services from Whitepapers and I also discovered the MS Press book on this test. It was much better. Reading the Sybex book I had very little confidence in the author. Reading the MS Press book I had complete confidence in the author.

For example in the Sybex book, when they were describing High Availability Services, I kept seeing a single point of failure. After a while I got disgusted and looked for better sources of information. I printed out the chapter from the MS Press book from Safari and my issue was addressed within a few pages. My point being is that the author of the MS Press book obviously knew how the brain of an IT person works and was able to answer my questions and concerns as they arose while reading. This was not the case in Sybex.

I would say the MS Press author definitely understood the subject and me (as an IT professional) much better.

The book is an easy read, which is good. You'll have an easy time getting through the questions, but when you go to take the test you'll fail. This book is no where a good match for the exam. I suggest this book for people who want to learn about Win2k3 AD, but if you're getting it to prepare for the test you should think twice. Nothing this book discuss could have prepared me for the test. Bummer.