ISBN: 0-7356-1354-0

 

 

 

Writing Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Administrator’s Pocket Consultant was a lot of fun—and a lot of work. As you'll see, Windows Server 2003 is very different from its predecessors and that meant a lot of research to ensure the book was as accurate as it could be. When all was said and done, I ended up with a book that was nearly 1,000 pages in length and that just isn't what a pocket consultant is meant to be. Pocket consultants are meant to be portable and readable—the kind of book you use to solve problems and get the job done wherever you might be. With that in mind, I had to go back in and carefully review the text, making sure I focused on the core of Windows Server 2003 administration. The result is the book you hold in your hand, which I hope you'll agree is one of the best practical, portable guides to Windows Server 2003.

Reviews & Information

The Barnes & Noble Review If you were to distill Windows Server 2003 into 500 pages of specific, trustworthy, fast-access answers for system administrators, you’d wind up with something like Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Administrator’s Pocket Consultant. William Stanek begins with a high-level look at Microsoft’s tools for managing Windows Server 2003 plus detailed coverage of monitoring processes, services, and events and a full chapter on support techniques -- including Remote Desktop. He also presents a solid overview of the many ways in which you can automate Windows Server administration, including group policies, scripting, security templates, and the Scheduled Task Wizard. Next, he tackles Active Directory administration, focusing on the tasks you’re most likely to be involved with: creating, managing, and resetting accounts; managing organizational units; setting privileges and logon rights; working with groups; managing user profiles; and more. There’s a full section on administering data: managing hard drives, working with basic and dynamic disks, administering volume sets and RAID arrays, controlling shares and permissions, auditing, quotas, and more. Stanek covers backup/recovery in detail -- for example, showing you how to avoid the pitfalls associated with recovering encrypted data. The book’s final section demystifies networking: not only TCP/IP, DHCP, DNS, and WINS but printer troubleshooting, remote access security, and other essential topics. Unless you're a kangaroo, this book won’t quite fit in your pocket. But it is small enough to take anywhere you’re working. And it’s useful enough that you'll want to. FROM THE PUBLISHER Here's the practical, pocket-sized reference for IT professionals supporting Windows .NET Server. Designed for quick referencing, this portable guide covers all the essentials for performing everyday system-administration tasks. Topics include managing workstations and servers, using Microsoft Active Directory services, creating and administering user and group accounts, managing files and directories, data security and auditing, data back-up and recovery, network administration using TCP/IP, WINS, and DNS, and more.

Table of Contents

Speed and ease of reference is an essential part of this hands-on guide. The book has an expanded table of contents and an extensive index for finding answers to problems quickly. Many other quick reference features have been added as well. These features include quick step-by-step instructions, lists, tables with fast facts, and extensive cross-references. The book is broken down into both parts and chapters. Each part contains an opening paragraph or two about the chapters contained in that part.

Part I, “Windows Server 2003 Administration Fundamentals,” covers the fundamental tasks you need for Windows Server administration. Chapter 1 provides an overview of Windows Server administration tools, techniques, and concepts. Chapter 2 explores the tasks you’ll need to manage Windows systems. Chapter 3 covers monitoring services, processes and events. Chapter 4 discusses group policy and also explains how to automate common administrative tasks. The final chapter in this part details how to work with support services and remote desktop connectivity through terminal services.
In Part II, “Windows Server 2003 Directory Services Administration,” you’ll find the essential tasks for administering user, computer and group accounts. Chapter 6 introduces Active Directory structures and details how to work with Active Directory domains. Chapter 7 explores core Active Directory administration. You'll learn how to manage computer accounts, domain controllers and organizational units. Chapter 8 explains how to use system accounts, built-in groups, user rights, built-in capabilities, and implicit groups. You’ll find extensive tables that tell you exactly when you should use certain types of accounts, rights, and capabilities. The core administration tasks for creating user and group accounts are covered in Chapter 9, with a logical follow-up for managing existing user and group accounts covered in Chapter 10.

The book continues with Part III, “Windows Server 2003 Data Administration.” Chapter 11 starts by explaining how to add hard drives to a system and how to partition drives. Then the chapter dives into common tasks for managing file systems and drives, such as defragmenting disks, compression, encryption, and more. In Chapter 12, you’ll find tasks for managing volume sets and RAID arrays, as well as detailed advice on repairing damaged arrays. Chapter 13 focuses on managing files and folders and all the tasks that go along with it. You’ll even find tips for customizing folder views with folder templates. Chapter 14 details how to enable file, drive, and folder sharing for remote network and Internet users, then goes on to cover Active Directory object security and auditing. The final chapter in this part explores data backup and recovery.

Part IV, “Windows Server 2003 Network Administration,” covers advanced administration tasks. Chapter 16 provides the essentials for installing, configuring, and testing TCP/IP networking on Windows 2000 systems—covering everything from installing network adapter cards to actually connecting a computer to a Windows 2000 domain. Chapter 17 begins with a troubleshooting guide for common printer problems and then goes on to cover tasks for installing and configuring local printers and network print servers. The final three chapters in this section focus on the key Windows 2000 services: DHCP, WINS, and DNS. DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) is used to assign dynamic IP addresses to network clients. WINS (Windows Internet Name Service) is used to resolve computer names to IP addresses. DNS (Domain Name Service) is used to resolve host names to IP addresses.

About Ordering

This book is available everywhere Microsoft books are sold. I hope you'll order the book from your favorite bookstore. All on-line bookstores carry the book as well. Here's the direct link to order the book at these bookstores:

Amazon.com
BarnesAndNoble.com
 

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