ISBN:0735605777Amazon.com
Microsoft BackOffice Small Business Server 4.5 Resource Kit combines a collection of utilities on CD-ROM with a volume of documentation. Collectively, the software and explanatory material are meant for systems integrators involved in putting together customized solutions based on BackOffice Small Business Server 4.5. The software includes programs for automating software deployment across a network, customizing the appearance of Small Business Server programs on client computers, some migration utilities for Exchange Server 5.5 and SQL Server 7, and a selection of monitoring software. (Scores of programs appear on the companion CD-ROM.) The printed portion of the resource kit includes documentation of most of the CD-ROM software, plus advice on the ways the Small Business Server programs can be customized on their own.
The authors of the Resource Kit text attack the consultant's job one step at a time, beginning with planning and progressing through deployment, administration, and troubleshooting, and covering the special considerations of security and upgrading along the way. The coverage is goal-oriented: the authors explain how to get a Small Business Server system hooked into a point-to-point tunneling protocol (PPTP) network, how to connect to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) by a variety of means, and how to set up a Proxy Server 2 firewall, among other things. The text runs heavily to steps and screen shots, so you can follow along on a machine easily. --David Wall/p>
Reviews From AMAZON.COM
SBS Consultant's Bible
This book is NOT for a network administrator, but it is a must-have for anybody who deploys and supports SBS installations. Covers just about everything except how to install and configuure RRAS to replace RAS. Apart from that it gives you a solid fundation on which to build your SBS expertise. Note Microsoft posted an errata on their Web site.
I wouldn't recommend this book..
I purchased this book to be used as a reference book. I already had our SBS up and running (and even if I didn't, I don't think this book would have helped too much). The book goes on and on about the features of Small Business Server and how easy it is for the administrator to set up and maintain (the book does this for at least a hundred pages). I believe knowing about all of the features are important, but the book lacks in not showing the reader how to troubleshoot and inplement most of them. Some of the features that I was trying to implement were advanced but not out of the ordinary. This book didn't halp me at all.
I have read many text books in my days. I felt that this book was the worst purchase I have made in a long time. This book wouldn't be that bad if the reader was never going to set up the server, but wanted to know what the server could do.