Rating: 
Summary: wealth of information
Review: This book contains not only an up to date list of the material covered in the Solaris 9 exams, but also a lot of practical information valuable to anyone using Solaris 9. The author gives the reader a knowledge of the tools needed to use a Solaris system more effectively. Questions at the end of each chapter enable the reader to assess their skills in each test area, and the CDROM based testing tool provides the look and feel of the actual exams. I have also tried the Exam Cram book, but find this one to be much
more thorough in preparing me for the exams.
Rating: 
Summary: So much filler trash, so little time...
Review: This exam has six objectives: (1) Manage File Systems (2) Install Software (3) Perform System Boot Procedures (4)
Perform User and Security Administration (5) Manage Network Printers and System Processes (6) Perform System Backups and Restores. DOES IT REALLY TAKE OVER 1,000 PAGES TO COVER THIS VERY SIMPLE MATERIAL? I really hate authors being paid by page because they fill their books with filler after filler after filler...Buy the Tim Gibbs book instead. It's several hundred pages shorter...
Rating:
Summary: Buy this one
Review: This is the best book available to prepare you to pass the Solaris 9 certification exams (it's better than the Exam Cram book which, as its title suggests, is a bit sketchy and doesn't have anything like the kind of depth of explanation that Calkins' book does).I'm really surprised that even a couple of people have indicated in their reviews that they think the Exam Cram book is better. By all means buy the Exam Cram book if you can afford to, it's a handy supplemental text, but if you have to choose only one book then get Calkins' one, it's a hands down better choice. Calkins' book sticks rigidly to the certification topics, introducing no extraneous material. The certification topics are covered and explained in detail; if you study the book, you will really LEARN something, and you can rest assured that whatever you learn will help you to pass the exams. Important issues of practical experience aside, if you study this book well, I can't see you not passing the exams. I passed them both well, this book was my primary preparation. Good luck to everyone.
Rating:
Summary: great reference and study guide
Review: This is the second time I have used Mr. Calkin's study guides to pass the Sun Solaris System Administrator exams. The way the book is formatted, the presentation and depth of each topic, along with the practical questions at the end of each chapter is what sets it apart from the other study guides. It is far easier to read and several thousand pages shorter than the official Sun documentation. All in all, you can not go wrong in purchasing this book.
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