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Rating: 
Summary: Broad coverage, mostly thorough
Review: 20 authors + 1 editor to tackle what has become an enormous product. Several versions ago someone realized that niche books for Exchange were feasible and we saw excellent volumes about just the IMC for instance. Exchange 2000 is like AD and deserves separate volumes for specific areas. It's too bad that a book like this has to be cluttered with migration information about systems that we have almost forgotten. Other chapters, like OWA, are a little light and could use more depth. And you have to wonder how many hard-core administrators will value the Outlook client chapter or Digital Dashboards.That's it for criticism. Browsing this book among others convinced me that it had the best balance for answering administrative questions. Sure the Admin Companion and Pocket Consultant fit into a full time Exchange consultant's library, but this book was the perfect balance if you cannot justify several. Tony Redmond's book will probably come along and knock our socks off, but for now this is the best balance of material on Exchange 2000 for the money. The Tuning and Troubleshooting chapters actually refer to the right tools unlike the Black book. (Even though the reviewers creamed it they did not mention enough of the inaccuracies.) SMTP configuration and NNTP are covered well. Security is tackled twice, with a chapter based on AD and then another with Internet considerations. Having been through the betas and release candidates hunting for information on each new release I found it refreshing to pick up SEU E2K Server and find answers to so many questions. I'm sure you will enjoy the scope of the book, maybe its organization, possibly the writing and, of course, its weight.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed in routine treatment
Review: I bought this book to help me in my migration from v5.5 to 2000. While the book covers the Ex2k territory, I am disappointed in the breadth of its vision. It is like the guy sat down with the product and went through a checklist of the features thinking "OK, I'll describe how to turn this one on, then I'll describe how to turn this one on, then I'll describe this checkbox by expanding its 5 word title into a 20 word sentence..." Every time I return to this book to try to get a better handle on how to *manage* my system, I get frustrated. It never leads me from my knowledge of how to do something in v5.5 to how to do it in 2k-- and the differences in design philosophy that came with Active Directory integration turn many management tasks on their heads. Yes, it walks through all the dialogs and interface controls, but it doesn't expose any of the real-life gotchas. For instance, after many frustrating attempts, I finally stumbled across the reason why the "Set as Primary" SMTP addr button doesn't work, even though this book says "you simply click" it. (You apparently first have to clear the checkbox near there that ties primary addresses to policies.) Another frustration is that the indexing is weak. A book this large is primarily used as a reference work, with the primary access path through the index. While not as weak as some lousy indexes I've cursed, this one rarely leads me from the term or concept I know to the few paltry pages this book includes on the closest topic.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed in routine treatment
Review: I bought this book to help me in my migration from v5.5 to 2000. While the book covers the Ex2k territory, I am disappointed in the breadth of its vision. It is like the guy sat down with the product and went through a checklist of the features thinking "OK, I'll describe how to turn this one on, then I'll describe how to turn this one on, then I'll describe this checkbox by expanding its 5 word title into a 20 word sentence..." Every time I return to this book to try to get a better handle on how to *manage* my system, I get frustrated. It never leads me from my knowledge of how to do something in v5.5 to how to do it in 2k-- and the differences in design philosophy that came with Active Directory integration turn many management tasks on their heads. Yes, it walks through all the dialogs and interface controls, but it doesn't expose any of the real-life gotchas. For instance, after many frustrating attempts, I finally stumbled across the reason why the "Set as Primary" SMTP addr button doesn't work, even though this book says "you simply click" it. (You apparently first have to clear the checkbox near there that ties primary addresses to policies.) Another frustration is that the indexing is weak. A book this large is primarily used as a reference work, with the primary access path through the index. While not as weak as some lousy indexes I've cursed, this one rarely leads me from the term or concept I know to the few paltry pages this book includes on the closest topic.
Rating: 
Summary: Another Excellent QUE book
Review: I have been using QUE books for about 5 years, I have yet to get a bad one. I was pleased with the depth and the layout of the material in this book. I'm new to Exchange Server, so it was important that I get atleast a basic understanding of the previous 5.5 version, this book goes back to the beginings of messenging and archetecture. Excellent product.
Rating:
Summary: A MUST have for any Exchange Specialist
Review: This is an incredible book. I have used it repeatedly to keep my systems running at their full potential. This is the only book I need for my Exchange Environment. Kent Joshi has assembled a great team to produce this book.
Rating:
Summary: A MUST have for any Exchange Specialist
Review: This is an incredible book. I have used it repeatedly to keep my systems running at their full potential. This is the only book I need for my Exchange Environment. Kent Joshi has assembled a great team to produce this book.
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