Rating: 
Summary: For the SBS user and owner
Review: Being knowledgeable about Server 2000 I thought SBS would be a breeze. Well there are poignant, as well as subtle differences of which you should be aware. I purchased this book to help me troubleshoot and use the index to look up my problems.Well, you find your problem, then you read a little before and a little after the page you needed. After solving my issues I began to browse whatever caught my eye, and began to wish I had the book prior to the installation. I enjoyed the author's commentary along with the technical information he has brought to the book. If you're using SBS have this book handy.
Rating: 
Summary: An absolute must have for SBS administrators & consultants
Review: For the first time user, this contains a by the numbers installation that will let you get an actual site up and running, as well as sneaking in the technical reasons for doing things. The language is simple and the real life stories make it easy to remember when you set up your own organization. For the experienced user, this provides plenty of detail of the pesky quirks that normally require hours of researching. Harry does a great job of alerting you to possible unintended consequences of various settings and interactions of the many powerful servers included in SBS. He has done an excellent job of providing the "must know" of SQL Server, Exchange and ISA to operate SBS and leaving the hard details to other references. This keeps this book manageable and on track. Readable, complete and well done, your return on investment is immediate.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book
Review: Harry and Bob do an excellent job of describing the workings of SBS2000 and they provide humor at the same time to keep you interested.
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Summary: A must have for the technology consultant!!
Review: Harry has done a great job of presenting the nooks and crannies of SBS 2000. Before reading "Best Practices" I knew very little about SBS 2000... and now I have completed my first SBS 2000 installation and will be starting my next within a week. Thanks to Harry's insights and years of SBS experience I am growing my SBS consulting business! Harry's writing style appeals to us techies as well as non-technical business owners who want to admin their own installations. I highly recommend this book to all who work with SBS.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely Helpful and well written.
Review: Harry has set the benchmark for computer books high and low end. Humour and insight all in the one package. If you are looking at Small Business Server, get the book FIRST! It is a pity I had to import the book from the US, as it is not available in the UK. Some things are not the same here in the UK but Harry gets around the problem by being clear and concise. Buy now or regret later.
Rating:
Summary: A technical how-to guide done right!
Review: Harry wrote an incredibly accessible guide to installing, maintaining, and supporting SBS 2000. He takes readers through a step-by-step site evaluation, gives checklists and forms to use before installing, and runs through the process of setting up a server so that it works right the first time. Even more helpful, he tells you *why* you are doing things a certain way. Most howtos say "do this" and leave you hanging if you encounter something outside the norm; with Harry's explanations and Best Practices tips, you get reasons, guidelines, and tips that help you out when something doesn't follow the game plan (usually due to bad or mismatched hardware). One feature of Harry's writing that really makes the book work is his willingness to share his embarrassments and goofs he's made along the way. As the old saying goes, "Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment." He humorously shares his moments of good and bad judgment with his readers, which lets you avoid quirks and pitfalls that have trapped many, many people (including Harry) over the years. I'm an MCSE but new to SBS, and found the level of technical detail excellent, ranging from the basics to the advanced tips, and learned a lot of things that you just don't learn from various Resource Kits. As a fellow writer I know how hard it is to carry off this quality of technical writing for an entire book, and Harry makes it look easy. If you are new to SBS and are installing it for the first time, or you are a Windows 2000 guru looking for a single-box office solution, or an SBS consultant seeking to optimize your time and improve your level of service, you should have this book with you at all times as your first go-to reference.
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Summary: Must have for all SBS Consultants
Review: Harry's done well to document a lot of the little things that take years to learn. There's even space to put your own notes in there which is really good for later reference - no more post-it notes! The book shows you from the basics right through to the more advanced stuff and all in simple terms. This book should become your right hand if you deal with SBS2000 on a regular basis.
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Summary: Best purchase for SBS Installation
Review: I bought all the MCSE books so I could learn how to setup Microsoft 2000 and SBS servers for our company and I couldn't figure much out. They gave me great textbook knowledge but only in a very abstract way. I went through Harry's book and leaned more in 2 days than 2 months with the MCSE books. This book is worth more than the $ I spent on all the other books combined. Harry's style is interesting and easy to read. Real life and fictional examples show you what you should and should not do. Actual diagrams of network topology were very helpful as well. I have not run into a situation where he does not cover something I am interested in or that I need to know. If you are going to setup a SBS you have to get this book no matter how much you know!
Rating: 
Summary: Don't buy this book
Review: I completely agree with Gary's comment below. This book is of little value except for those who have very limited knowledge of small business networking. This is to say, this book may be useful for those who are NOT in the IT consulting business. You won't get any warm and fuzzy feeling, if you are looking for valuable insights of running MS Small Business Server 2000 as the title of this book implies. In most cases, the author tip toes around the most basic concepts, congurations and setups without any appreciable new insights in very verbose albeit walm and friendly fashion. This book really should have been part of the "Dummies" series, as it serves inexperienced business persons or very incompetant consultant types but not technical persons with hands-on experiences in NT and 2000. Notice how so many glorious reveiws are from Washington State. My suspision is that authors' buddies have helped him out on this. This is NOT a five star book, period.
Rating:
Summary: Go Back to SAMS, Harry :(
Review: I found previous book by Harry, SBS 4.5 in 21 days a really excellent book and looked forward to the SBS2K Version. Sadly disappointed - lots of unecessary stuff (like a 6 page line by line listing of ICW ins file) and major gaps in important areas; far too much of a sell on Net Meeting as form of remote control, yet little detail on configuring RAS.
Another reviewer noted: "This book needs an editor...As proof of this I also bought Harry's "MCSE Consulting Bible" which was published by IDG Books. This book is well edited and Harry comes across as the smart and informed business man I'm sure he is. This is a 5 star book. What a difference an editor makes!" Apparently, Harry fell out with SAMS and went to Brelsford with this book; I can't help wonering if it was something to do with editorial policy ? If so, go back to SAMS, Harry, your technical knowledge is superb but you really do need a good editor to get your writing better focused Martin Harran
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