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Rating: 
Summary: Just average.
Review: I bought this book because it was the only one at the time that was on Solaris 8. I suppose that's also a bad thing since there was nothing else to compare it to. I ordered the New Riders book and am very impressed with it however. The Syngress is decently organized, but not good enough for remembering things -- for example, all the switches for the commands you will invariably need to know are not as cleanly laid out for quick reference (many are just crammed together in a single paragraph). New Riders is not like that -- it's much better laid out. Syngress isn't BAD, or terrible, by any means (it covers the exam topics fairly well), but if you want a well-laid-out book for easy reference, and slightly more information, I would suggest you get the New Riders Solaris 8 book instead. I regret that I had to buy 2 books to see this, but had I waited, I would have seen that in the long run, the New Riders is just better. (ISBN 1578702593). The only disadvantage is that the New Riders is going on a "Soft Cover-kick" as I call it -- which most definitely is not as good as the Syngress Hard Cover. But to be honest -- I don't keep my older certification books for long. I find that my knowledge improves quickly enough to the point where I need other, better (geekier) resources. If you want a true Bible that makes a good companion, and even better "keeper", get Unix System Administration (3rd Ed. at least). It's worth the money (I think it's actually a college book, hence the "no-discount-applies" theory that most publishers for academic books subscribe to). High, but worth it, ay [price] (ISBN 0130206016). That book deserves it's own review, which I've done, but you won't find many sub-5-star reviews of it anywhere (it's the best).
Rating: 
Summary: This is the only book you'll need.
Review: I felt the book was very well written and to the point (which is to get you certified). I had a couple of years of medium-user experience when I bought the book, got myself an intel box and loaded Solaris into it, couple of weeks later....voila! I would like to stress though that even though this is a great book to get certified with, it is an invaluable resource as a reference book. The material is so clear, and applicable in real life situations that you surely get your money's worth pre and post exam.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty Good Book
Review: I found this book pretty helpful. The part of the book that covers exam 310-011 was difficult for me because I had never used Unix before. I made sure to install Solaris 8 several times and get it hooked up on a network. Without that experience I may have failed the first exam. I passed with a 75. 62 or 65 is minimum passing score. The second part of the book is easier to remember, so I didn't try as hard and only passed that test by 2%. The minimum passing score for 310-012 is 70 or 72 I think. The book was well written. How well you do depends on how hard you study the book and practice. It covered the majority of topics that I saw on the test.
Rating: 
Summary: Good text for a Solaris Sys Admin course
Review: I have been looking for a textbook that I can use to teach a course in Solaris system administration and I have finally found it. I like this book because: 1. It is readable. Let's face it, UNIX texts are not fascinating reading, but this one holds my interest better than others I have reviewed including Sun's books that come with their exam preparatory courses. 2. It is comprehensive. It does not just concentrate on being an exam cram for the certification exams. The information presented explains why things work the way they do. 3. It has great support. The CD that comes with this book contains a summary of each chapter and a practice exam which provides feedback after each question that lets you know why each possible choice was either correct or incorrect. I have not taken the full practice exams that come on the CD, but I retaken the practice exams on the dullest chapters after multiple hour intervals and aced them thanks to the feedback system. If you want to skate through the exams there are other sources that can help you do this, but if you want to learn UNIX system administration and study for the exam, this is an excellent book.
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