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Rating: 
Summary: Excellent book, poor exam
Review: Having experienced the monster exam 70-216 for MCSE 2000 I was very curious whether this W2k3 book lived up to the task. The 70-216 MS Press book was poor to say the least.I was surprised that not only this book was excellent to read, but it even filled in some things I didn't know before. The hands-on exercises were good as well. Things like CIDR were discussed in a very clear way which made me think why did I find this difficult before. Likewise the book isn't superficial but goes for in-depth knowledge and insight, just what you also need in real-life. Simply stated this book has excellent depth and covers nearly all subjects, only some security related things get less attention than on the exam (SUS is emphasized in every exam so it seems). Then again, these should be known from the 70-290 exam and seem to be common knowledge for just about every exam. What was disappointing however was the exam, of the topics in the book only 1/3 was covered in the questions I got. This is the type of book MS Press should have made for the 70-216 exam.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't rely on this one alone to pass the exam...
Review: Having just taken the 70-291 exam, I can assure you that this is not a full and complete study guide for the real exam. The book is made up of something around 1000 pages, however, for each lesson review, the full questions for each lesson are repeated in the answer section, padding the book's pages quite a bit. Incompleteness in and of itself is not entirely bad, but I found the book to be often misleading and containing several errors. The book is not without its merits, though. The accompanying CD contains a trial version of the Server CD and the labs and exercises were very helpful. The book on CD is also useful to have, especially when you want to study on the go and don't want to drag the book around with you. Call-outs in the text point you to think about what's on the test, too. However, if you're going to take the exam, make sure you don't rely on this book by itself. It's pretty weak on security policies and SUS, both of which are tested on the exam. If you arleady have study guides for this exam, this isn't a bad addition to your library, but it shouldn't be your only book to help you prepare for the exam.
Rating:
Summary: Don't rely on this one alone to pass the exam...
Review: Having just taken the 70-291 exam, I can assure you that this is not a full and complete study guide for the real exam. The book is made up of something around 1000 pages, however, for each lesson review, the full questions for each lesson are repeated in the answer section, padding the book's pages quite a bit. Incompleteness in and of itself is not entirely bad, but I found the book to be often misleading and containing several errors. The book is not without its merits, though. The accompanying CD contains a trial version of the Server CD and the labs and exercises were very helpful. The book on CD is also useful to have, especially when you want to study on the go and don't want to drag the book around with you. Call-outs in the text point you to think about what's on the test, too. However, if you're going to take the exam, make sure you don't rely on this book by itself. It's pretty weak on security policies and SUS, both of which are tested on the exam. If you arleady have study guides for this exam, this isn't a bad addition to your library, but it shouldn't be your only book to help you prepare for the exam.
Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your money on this book
Review: I am an MCSE MCDBA and MCT. One of the training companies I work for chose to use the self paced study guides from Microsoft Press for their curriculum. (We are transitioning to the new MOAC courses.) While this book doesn't seem to be riddled with as many innacuracies as some of the other books in this series are, the author does a poor job of presenting and explaining the material. In addition the author explains how individual features in Windows Server 2003 work but makes either no attempt or poor attempts to explain the higher level concepts that tie all the features together. Reading this book will not enable you to pass the 70-291 exam, worse yet it will not train you to be an effective systems engeneer.
While I have not read the Sybex counterpart for 70-291, I used the Sybex books for studying for my NT4.0 and Windows 2000 certifications and would highly recommend them.
Rating:
Summary: Harvey's Review of: 70-294
Review: I hold a degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.I am currently an MCSE, MCSA, MCDBA, CCNA, CCNP. I read alot of Technical Books and strongly recommend this one. Anybody that has plans to complete the MCSA/MCSE Exams, should look at the new series that Microsoft has in print. It gets down to the real facts quick and when you are ready for the Exam, you will pass it for sure. I would welcome your feedback or questions. Happy reading.......
I have included my Email: HLHAYES@MED.VA.GOV
Rating:
Summary: Harvey's Review of: 70-294
Review: I hold a degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.I am currently an MCSE, MCSA, MCDBA, CCNA, CCNP. I read alot of Technical Books and strongly recommend this one. Anybody that has plans to complete the MCSA/MCSE Exams, should look at the new series that Microsoft has in print. It gets down to the real facts quick and when you are ready for the Exam, you will pass it for sure. I would welcome your feedback or questions. Happy reading.......
I have included my Email: HLHAYES@MED.VA.GOV
Rating:
Summary: NOT PERFECT BUT VERY GOOD
Review: No 1 book is ever perfect. Like one reviewer said it does not do a lot of explanation. I think it explains enough for you to practice and figure out the rest. That's what some computer books are about. That's what makes this book extremely enjoyable to read without over burdening you with details. However, i did need a little more in depth to IIS 6.0 so bought the Resource Kit from Microsoft Press, that was excellent.
Rating: 
Summary: Agreed - Don't waste your time or money!
Review: There are so many things wrong with this book that I will have to make a list to explain them thoroughly.
1. Yes, the test itself is flawed...the Windows Server 2003 exams are made artificially difficult by the addition of questions that cover absurdly obscure topics. Let's get that out of the way first.
2. This book, and all of the books from the Microsoft Press MCSA/MCSE suite, are criminally inadequate and incomplete to provide a candidate with enough information to handle the exam objectives. Never go by just one book, but make sure this isn't even one of them. My experience with failing MCSE 2003 tests has shown that these books, while attractive, are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to covering material in its required depth.
3. The practice test materials are so badly put together that I found numerous wrong answers, nonsensical questions, and a very large number of questions that cover terms and concepts covered NOWHERE in the informational chapters of the book...not even in the glossary or index. It's as if the practice test materials were created by a separate committee of people who received only an early draft of the textbook, and then went on to do a very poor editing job.
Don't bother with any of these Microsoft Press MCSA/MCSE books, or you will regret it. I sure did.
Rating: 
Summary: Fairly good book
Review: This book for a certification exam this game is a good ground to start on, but it's designed with the same audience that the exams are designed for, Windows Admin that have at least one year experience. The first half of the book is a very good reference book, since it goes through many of the screens, step by step, unlike the other AD book that I like, so I would recommend this book and Active Directory Second Edition for any Windows Admins.
Rating:
Summary: Good book for 70-291
Review: This is a good book, I'm going to keep it on my bookshelf and I would give it 4.5 stars if I could. If you understand everything in this book you will pass the exam! The book does not cover SUS and ISA server, you will be tested on one of these two topics. The CDRom exams are buggy in 2 ways. The first is that sometimes I couldn't get the Exhibits to display....fustrating. The second is that some of the questions are very vague and you can't understand what they are asking for. The Microsoft test will be more specific. However, I do suggest taking the CDRom exams and then make sure you understand why you got the questions wrong, you will be able to find the Technet references when you review the results of the test. If you are a Windowz/Networking beginner you may have issues with the 70-291 test due to the concepts needed, this comes with experience. The book -will- give you the info you need. I'll be reviewing the 70-293 book in a few minutes.
Ben
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