Info you are looking for This book VS the M$ one.   July 13, 2004

Good Luck!


Very good. Occasional errors...   May 27, 2003
  0 out of 1 found this review helpful

At first, I was a bit disapointed at the minor editorial errors and typos that I encountered and it became apparent that things were not going to improve much as I moved through the book.
I like the author. He has a very 'english' approach and his occasional use of real-life examples make the book more valuable than it should be.
My main issue with this book are the errors that were encountered. These ranged from technical details to misspellings and grammar. Sheesh! The end-of-chapter exams (multiple choice) occasionally had typos in the answers where a character would make the difference between right and wrong.
I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone new at the material, but for an intermediate who can catch things that don't seem right, it might be worth it as the author is pretty good.


Great Overview   May 21, 2003
  1 out of 1 found this review helpful

While working on my MCSE certification, I happened to select this book for the "70-218 MCSA Managing a Windows 2000 Network Environment", and I'm sure glad I did. While not an in depth reference guide, this book was more than adequate as a guide to the exam, which is its intended function. I appreciated not rehashing binary conversion, and as it turned out, there was very little binary on my exam, which I passed. I found it to be an easy read, with good examples and thought provoking review questions. I especially liked the "2-Minute Drill" included at the end of each chapter.

The included practice test did a good job of instilling the exam topics, but with a total of just 70 questions, there could have been more. Also, the Examination Score report didn't actually give you a section analysis, which would have been good for review. While there are probably better practice exams available, the one included will certainly do the job. I did like the answer guide which explains the correct answers for questions you missed, and the reference section available during the "open book" test, which explains why each answer is right or wrong, helping you to understand the logic.

If you're looking for a study guide for the 70-218 exam, I would certainly recommend "MCSA Managing a Windows 2000 Network Environment Study Guide (Exam 70-218), by Alan Simpson, Rory McCaw".


Another one to get you through the exam   April 20, 2003
  1 out of 1 found this review helpful

The book covers all the exam topics in an organised manner. Reading the book from cover to cover should be sufficient to pass the MS 70-218 exam.
I would not recommend the book for anyone looking for thorough explanation of the items covered. Too often details are missing, incomplete or even incorrect. For me, this makes the book useless as a reference for the topics included.
Sometimes the book is even frustratingly disappointing. As an example I can quote the paragraph on transforming binary to decimal numbers and vice-versa, something that you should master for some of the network related questions in the exam. Basically all the book says about it is this: "use the windows calculator in scientific mode". Sure, it will do the job, even during the exam where the calculator is available for use in all questions, however, it does not provide you with any understanding of these numbering systems.
So again, for passing the exam the book will do, if you are looking for a good reference and thorough explanation of topics covered in a precise manner, this book will not suffice.


Great book.   December 19, 2002
This book is great and I recommend it to anyone taking the 70-218 or 70-216 tests. Although this book says it's for the 70-218, it's also very good for the 70-216 (certainly better then the last ... book I bought for that test). I only wish I had this book from the start : (
It's a relief to see the topics explained in a clear and thorough manner, without the usual useless clutter... which seems to be pretty rare with these types of books.
Good luck.