Authors: J. Peter Bruzzese, Ronald Barrett, Wayne Dipchan
Publisher: SAMS Publishing (http://informit.com/sams)
Published: July 2009
ISBN-10: 0-672-33075-X
ISBN-13: 978-0-672-33075-9
Format: Soft cover, 312 pages (free online edition with purchase of the hard copy version of the book)
Price: $26.99
Windows Server 2008 How-To
It’s not surprising that it took three people to write the book “Windows Server 2008 How-To”. That’s because it contains a comprehensive amount of information that can help anyone who is involved in installing, maintaining, fine-tuning, or trouble-shooting Windows Server 2008 in their company or organization. The other major advantage of having multiple authors is that each of those authors can impart knowledge gained from their unique experience with, and the use of, Windows Server 2008, to readers of the book. For example, J. Peter Bruzzese, one of the authors who is also an independent consultant and trainer, says that he “enjoys taking complex technical topics, like Server 2008, and breaking them down so they’re easy to understand and enjoyable to learn.” Ronald Barrett, the second of the authors, specializes in network infrastructure, security, and IT management, and is also the co-author of two other books about server technology: “The Administrator’s Guide to Microsoft Office 2007 Servers” and “How to Cheat at Administering Office Communications Server 2007”. The last of the three authors, Wayne Dipchan, with more than 12 years experience in IT in a variety of business sectors, holds the industry recognized MCSE, MCDBA, and MCT certifications.
The introduction in “Windows Server 2008 How-To” should be regarded as mandatory reading for anyone who wants to maximize the use of this book. This is where Bruzzese, Barrett, and Dipchan, explain firstly, the best ways of educating yourself about Windows Server 2008, and secondly, how to benefit from their book. Thirdly, and most importantly, they also provide a strategy for continuing to expand your knowledge of the technology. This section of the book contains the details of relevant web sites and blogs that can be referenced, as they say, to “stay on top of the flood of information regarding a subject as big as Windows Server 2008.”
The remaining content of “Windows Server 2008 How-To” has been divided into a dozen chapters that the authors of the book recommend be read from cover to cover if your goal is to gain a full understanding of Windows Server 2008. A brief rundown of what you can expect to find in each of those chapters is as follows:
1. Performing the installation: this chapter tells you how to compare your company’s current hardware resources to the minimum, recommended, and optimal hardware requirements for Windows Server 2008. It lists the details of other pre-installation tasks that need to be performed, and assists you in working out the edition of Windows Server 2008 that should be installed. The last section of the chapter then discusses how to carry out the actual installation, either as a manual installation or as an unattended installation.
2. Configuring and managing Server Core: As a Server Core option is provided as an option when installing Windows Server 2008, this chapter explains what the Server Core is and whether or not your company should implement it. If you do decide to implement it, the remaining parts of the chapter take you through the installation of the Server Core as well as how to configure and manage it. Information is also provided as to how to further your knowledge of Server Core administration once you have mastered the basics.
3. Working with Server Manager: The topics presented in this chapter involve dealing with the Initial Configuration Tasks window; navigating settings with Server Manager; handling role and feature management; and the use of the new command-line Server Manager tool.
4. Managing Windows Server 2008: Different aspects of managing the Server environment are presented and discussed in this part of the book, with examples being the use of the Microsoft Management Console (MMC), the Device Manager, the Task Scheduler, and the Remote Desktop.
5. Installing and configuring specific Server roles: Individual sections in this chapter are respectively devoted to the DNS Server role, the DHCP Server role, IPv6, and the File Services role.
6. Working with IIS 7.0: The emphasis in this chapter of the book is to show you how to install the Web Server role in Windows Server 2008 and then, after a successful installation, to learn what’s involved in creating, configuring, managing, and securing new sites.
7. Implementing and utilizing Hyper-V: You can configure your company’s environment to support virtual servers thanks to an installable role, Hyper-V, that comes with Windows Server 2008. This chapter of the book focuses on the different aspects of Hyper-V that you need to know about – its installation, ongoing management, and the creation of virtual hard drives and machines, along with the monitoring of Hyper-V’s performance.
8. Installing and configuring Terminal Services: The first question that you need to ask yourself is whether or not Terminal Services is required within your environment. If the answer is yes, the next question is concerned with what features of the Terminal Services role are desirable. Fortunately, this chapter of the book answers both of those questions, and then follows up with advice for installing, configuring, and managing Terminal Services.
9. Understanding and managing Active Directory: If you’re unfamiliar with the functionality of Active Directory, consult the opening section of the book’s ninth chapter. Put briefly, Bruzzese, Barrett, and Dipchan, the authors of the book, describe the Active Directory as allowing you to “create objects (user accounts, groups, computers, and so forth) for which you can then define attributes (such as name, address, and department) and that you can utilize in a network to determine login settings, permissions for access to resources, computer behavioral auditing, policy settings, and much, much more. It goes beyond a simple, static directory and is much more dynamic, or active, in its functionality.” After learning about the role of the Active Directory, the rest of the chapter can subsequently be read to learn about maximizing your use of the Directory.
10. Utilizing Group Policy: Getting the Active Directory up and running is only the first step. Bruzzese, Barrett, and Dipchan point out you now want to “see the benefits of applying policies that apply to your users. However, this may be a complicated task if you have never used Group Policy before. There are thousands of policy settings, and it feels a bit overwhelming.” To overcome that feeling, make full use of the practical advice supplied in this chapter.
11. Configuring security: This chapter leads you through the security improvements in Windows Server 2008 and how to make the most of them.
12. Monitoring performance and troubleshooting: The last chapter of the book is divided into two major sections, with the first section devoted to monitoring performance in Windows Server 2008 while the second section discusses troubleshooting the environment. The success of your installation of Windows Server 2008 relies on meeting two basic criteria: 1) that it continues to run at peak performance; and 2) it remains reliable in your production environment.
Note: the first chapter from the book, about installing Windows Server 2008, is available online for reading from the site of the book’s publisher, SAMS Publishing (http://informit.com/sams).
“Windows Server 2008 How-To” certainly lives up to its title of being a how-to book because of the manner in which the content of the book has been compiled and displayed. Each chapter consists of a series of scenarios/problems, followed by solutions, that the authors of the book have used to highlight different aspects of Windows Server 2008. Each scenario/problem is easily spotted in the text since a box, with a gray shaded background, is used to contain the information about the specific scenario or problem being investigated. These scenarios/problems serve three purposes in the book:
a) They represent an effective way of introducing an aspect of Windows Server 2008 to be tackled in a practical manner as opposed to putting forward just a theoretical approach. Because of this style of presentation, they represent a “good starting point” for discussion.
b) It is likely that a number of these different scenarios/problems will be highly relevant to some of the issues that your own company might currently be experiencing, or will shortly experience, with Windows Server 2008.
c) Different scenarios/problems could “alert” you to new directions that your own company should seriously consider following in regard to your implementation of Windows Server 2008.
Another pleasing aspect of “Windows Server 2008 How-To” is the authors’ liberal use of notes throughout the text of their book. The major purpose of these notes is to bring to the attention of readers additional information that is still relevant but which does not “fit neatly” into the subject matter under discussion. These notes are also used in those cases where the book’s authors want to draw readers’ attention to a specific point about the technology.
However, in closing, I would like to make one small criticism of the book that has nothing to do with its content but instead with its physical construction. Since the book is meant to be a hands-on book (and it does that very well indeed), I feel that it would have been preferable for the book to be made in such a way that it would lie flat on the desk wherever it was opened, instead of it invariably folding back on itself. This physical aspect of the book is rather annoying when you are in front of a screen trying to follow the instructions provided in the book.