Rating: 
Summary: Great Book by Sybex
Review: Another great book by Sybex. The first edition by gary govanus was way off target. Second edition hits the mark. Full of useful, indepth, technical information. Authors are concise and to the point. I would recommend this book for anyone planning to write the exam or for those like me who just enjoy the read.
Rating: 
Summary: Pick this book up if you need more resources...
Review: As a standalone book, it does a fair job in preparing a Server+ candidate for the exam. End of chapter review questions along with good diagrams help the reader. I found the storage device chapter to be quite good. However, I felt that the chapters often went overboard on extraneous topics. Depending on how you look at it, you may consider it extra filling or a waste of time in your Server+ preparations. I found the included CD-ROM a good tool with its included test engine and searchable pdf, though some of the practice questions came out of left field. As in not even covered in the actual book which makes you doubt yourself in your preparedness for the actual exam. I would recommend using this book as an additional reference for spot checks to your main Server+ materials.
Rating:
Summary: Better, but still needs improving & coordination
Review: Having bought the 1st edition by Govanus, I was unpleasantly surprised by its insufficient content and rambling commentary about the author's experiences. When I saw the bad reviews it got, I decided to try Sybex again and buy this 2nd edition by the Klingon sounding Hryhoruk. It was definitely better and worth the expense. BUT, after having passed all the chapter exams with scores of 95 or 100, I failed one of the two final exams on the included CD, which asked a significant number of questions that were NOT covered by the 2nd edition, but were covered on the 1st edition! It seems that Sybex decided to use/recycle questions from its 1st edition in the 2nd edition without coordinating or checking on their relevance. This can be very upsetting on the day before taking the real exam! You need to find at least one other source of study, since I found this 2nd edition Sybex book to be really lacking in the troubleshooting part of the exam, which I failed. Fortunately, my strengths in the other areas brought my overall exam score up to 81%, so I did get the Server+ certification. Since troubleshooting is essential in real life, Sybex has to get this part improved so that you don't suffer from the paper certification syndrome of good theoretical knowledge, but little practical application.
Rating:
Summary: Better, but still needs improving & coordination
Review: Having bought the 1st edition by Govanus, I was unpleasantly surprised by its insufficient content and rambling commentary about the author's experiences. When I saw the bad reviews it got, I decided to try Sybex again and buy this 2nd edition by the Klingon sounding Hryhoruk. It was definitely better and worth the expense. BUT, after having passed all the chapter exams with scores of 95 or 100, I failed one of the two final exams on the included CD, which asked a significant number of questions that were NOT covered by the 2nd edition, but were covered on the 1st edition! It seems that Sybex decided to use/recycle questions from its 1st edition in the 2nd edition without coordinating or checking on their relevance. This can be very upsetting on the day before taking the real exam! You need to find at least one other source of study, since I found this 2nd edition Sybex book to be really lacking in the troubleshooting part of the exam, which I failed. Fortunately, my strengths in the other areas brought my overall exam score up to 81%, so I did get the Server+ certification. Since troubleshooting is essential in real life, Sybex has to get this part improved so that you don't suffer from the paper certification syndrome of good theoretical knowledge, but little practical application.
Rating:
Summary: Pick this book up if you need more resources...
Review: I can only feel sorry for users of the 1st edition, because this 2nd edition is bad. The chapter material is all over the place, chapter questions are short sighted, and the available answers to chapter questions are frequently wrong or short sighted also. The only reason I didn't give it 2 thumbs down is because it was an improvement over the Microsoft A+ book which started my CompTIA certification effort. I recommend the "All In One" series whenever available.
Rating: 
Summary: 1 Thumb down, on a 2 thumbs scale.
Review: I can only feel sorry for users of the 1st edition, because this 2nd edition is bad. The chapter material is all over the place, chapter questions are short sighted, and the available answers to chapter questions are frequently wrong or short sighted also. The only reason I didn't give it 2 thumbs down is because it was an improvement over the Microsoft A+ book which started my CompTIA certification effort. I recommend the "All In One" series whenever available.
Rating: 
Summary: It's very wired :-S
Review: I have the first edition of Sybex+, authored by Gravous. Very disappointed by finding a second edition within 12 months !! I thought I'm bought something good and special, not something not vaild or accurate so Sybex changed the author and issue a new edition very fast this way !! I bought it in Feb 2002, but didn't know a second edition is coming away next month, otherwise I will wait, because I failed in the exam and I perefered to wait 6 months before retaking it. I get tired of reading several stories of his experience. By reaching the mid of the book I start forgetting what I read before, so start over. I agree to what said above, won't use it as the only study source for the exam.
Sybex, you were very good. What happened?
Rating:
Summary: Not all that great
Review: I'll admit that I have not fully read the contents of this book. I started off by going through the Skill Assessment and chapter Review Questions in order to evaluate where my weak areas are. Based on my experience with these mini-tests, I'm not holding out hope for high quality in the rest of the book. Many of the questions are unclear on what they're asking, and I've run accross several that are flat out WRONG in their answers. The CD test is useless, as it merely recycles the chapter review questions, and includes the same errors (plus others--like having the correct answer by a multiple answer (i.e., correct answer is both A & E) but only allowing you to choose one). I've used Sybex books in the past for my MCSE, and always felt they were of good quality, but this one is a definite let down.
Rating: 
Summary: Change authors, update book - Sybex has a winner!
Review: Server+ hasn't been around that long but already the exam is being updated, Sybex has made a reputation on releasing reference manuals with the most accurate information possible. This book is no exception, they change authors, updated the material and you have been given a first class study guide. Right as you open the book you are given an objective map to follow. The book is broken down in the 5 parts, install which include planning to installing and administration. Hardware from storage to networking to RIAD, which by the way is one of the best breakdowns I have seen so far. The NOSes with TCP/IP, which should have a little more information, although it does a fairly good job of covering. Upgrading, maintenance, backups and disaster recovery are next followed by 70+ pages of troubleshooting. The authors are well organized and the book can be studied from any point in the book. There are more than enough practice questions in the book and the cd has Edge Test practice exams as well as palm flash cards and an e-book. Overall the changes are needed and the book will certainly help.
Rating:
Summary: Sybex Server+ Study Guide
Review: This book was ok for the second edition but not perfect. There was quite a bit of information in this book
that you will not find on the exam which didn't help me on the exam. I used two book to study from for this exam
and came through with a 79%. I used this book and the Server+ cert Bible I found the Server+ Bible to be more accurate.
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