Description:
Some technical handbooks are destined to be dog-eared, coffee-stained, and perpetually atop the pile on a system administrator's messy desk. Windows 2000 Deployment and Desktop Management is one of those books. Windows 2000 provides extensive, new management functionality, allowing for a high level of administrative control over the corporate desktop. The downside of this control is the resulting list of administrative decisions--over 500 group-policy object settings and hundreds of configuration options. Without proper guidance, these features can trip up even the most ambitious system administrator. So, this book will come in quite handy for anyone who's tasked with administering a Windows 2000 network, from rollout strategies to security, and from installation of desktop applications to access control. The first of Windows 2000 Deployment and Desktop Management's two sections details the options available for automated installation of Windows 2000 Professional. They range from preparing hard disk images to over-the-network installation. The second section is dedicated to managing the corporate desktop. Windows 2000 allows everything from lax management of the desktop, which requires minimal up-front work by the administrator, to extremely tight control, which requires a good bit of planning. For those implementing desktop control, the book effectively combines technical explanations with practical advice. It covers the complex ins and outs of assigning group-policy objects in conjunction with Active Directory, as well as software installation, Intellimirror, and security. In several instances, exercises demonstrate the various technologies to the reader. The first of several valuable appendices is an exhaustive list of file extensions, useful for decoding file formats and stumping your peers with trivia (PPT is easy, but what about PRS?). Just as helpful is the extensive documentation on Windows 2000 answer files. Just having these references in one place will really help system administrators out. This book is well written and efficient, fusing common sense with technical know-how. It will appeal to Windows 2000 system administrators of all skill levels. Note that it focuses narrowly on deployment and desktop management, and assumes a working knowledge of complementary Windows 2000 services (DHCP, DNS, and Active Directory). True to the title, it is both a solid introduction to deployment and desktop management, and a long-term reference for those in the administrative trenches. --Pete Ostenson
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