This is the only book you'll need.   March 28, 2003

I would like to stress though that even though this is a great book to get certified with, it is an invaluable resource as a reference book. The material is so clear, and applicable in real life situations that you surely get your money's worth pre and post exam.


Worth a look?   February 12, 2003
  2 out of 2 found this review helpful

This has to be one of the worst Solaris study guides I've looked at. Several of my colleagues use it to do a study class, but we have found some of the material to be incorrect and/or badly presented. My advice would be to avoid buying this one!

The best way to prep for the exams is to get hold of a set of the authorized training guides from Sun ( someone needs to go to class for that though ) and use those in conjunction with practice tests.


This book is not enough to get you passed part 2 of the exam   February 6, 2003
  1 out of 1 found this review helpful

The material in RBAC is confusing. You would have not idea of how the RBAC feature works. The chapter on Jumpstart needed to be stuffed up a bit.


Occasionally useful, often embarrassingly bad   January 23, 2003
  4 out of 4 found this review helpful

This book should never have gone to press in its current state, and perhaps not at all. It is full of factual errors, editing oversights, and evidence of just plain laziness on the part of the writers and editors. Examples:
1. Unmodified boilerplate: Though focused entirely on Solaris 8, the help files note that "Microsoft may modify these exam characteristics at any time."
2. Self-contradictions: A multiple-choice exam question that asks "Which of the following best describes the client-server model?" gives as its answer "A, B, C: Don't get too bogged down in determining if one system is a "server" or a "workstation," but then goes on to explain that the most complete answer is C.
3. Inconsistencies: The answer to the question "Which script is used by the system to re-add a swap file into swap space each time the system boots?" is B, /sbin/swapadd, but the explanation below the question says that the answer is C. The result is a correct answer may be counted as a wrong answer.
4. Throw-away answers in the multiple choice questions: In a question about the advantages of a virtual disk management system like DiskSuite, the first choice is "Free cappuccino from Starbucks with every purchase of a virtual disk management application." In another, a possible choice is "Solstice Too Sweet." Choices like these reflect poorly indeed on the writers, editors, and publisher.
5. Factual errors: The supposed correct answer to the question "Which of the following best describes the term network booting?" is "Using a remote server from a console or dumb terminal." Not true, since not all uses of a remote server from either of these devices are instances of network booting, and a far more precise answer could easily have been stated.
6. Poorly worded questions: The possible answers to "Which of the following lines is the correct definition of loghost?" are "loghost," "@loghost," "loghost@domainname," and ".loghost". The problem is that none of these are "definitions" of loghost. The question seems to be asking "In /etc/syslog.conf, what is the correct way of indicating that a particular type of syslog message should be sent to the loghost?", but readers have to figure that out for themselves.
7. Overreaching claims, as in this from the blurb on amazon.com: "the book contains hundreds of practice exam questions and hands-on exercises." I expected to see plenty of new questions each time I took the practice exams, but the same questions come up over and over. The exercises are perfunctory and do little to test the reader's knowledge of the subject matter.
In short, this book is of poor quality, especially given its high price. I would not recommend it except as a supplement to other higher quality books on the Solaris 8 exams.


Good start, but don't use it as sole source   December 22, 2002
The Sygress study guide for the Sun Solaris 8 certification exam is well written and covers all of the published objectives in an organized manner. However, there is material on the exam that is not covered in this book. If you are taking the exam, use this book as one of your study materials, but certainly do not rely on only on it to pass the exam.