Server+ Study Guide

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 688 pages
• Published by: Sybex Inc. May 2001
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0782128939
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0782128932
• Book Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.8 x 1.9 inches
• Weighs: 3.3 pounds

Reader Reviews
I have used Sybex technical publications for about four years now, as I have pursued various technical certifications. For the most part, I have found them to be technically accurate and polished. Until now... I am totally disappointed with the Server+ Study Guide by Gary Govanus, and I will completely avoid books by this author in the future. His work is full of logical fallacy, colloquialism, useless metaphor, filler prose, grammatical errors and technical inaccuracy. When I read this book I feel like I am in a BS session around the water cooler and what's being said is more fiction than fact. The total lack of professional tone and the juvenile words and phrases used in this book are almost shocking. Let me provide you with two illustrative examples: 1) Page 411 near the bottom of the page: "A server baseline is wonderful thing to perform right after you get the NOS installed. If it's 3:00 A.M. and you've been tussling with an NOS installation since 5:00 P.M. the previous evening, I'm not advocating that you turn right around and immediately obtain a baseline as soon as you get the NOS installed, but it would be wise to baseline the installation in fairly short order after installation." 2) Page 411 at the top of the page: "But then you install an application and find that the CPU is hammered at 80%-100% most of the time." I can sum this all up in the following short, meaning-packed sentence: "Generally, you should establish a baseline of server performance soon after you install the operating system." Why was the sarcasm included? This is not a work of fiction or satire, so the sarcasm is totally out of place. Also, "turn right around" is a localized American colloquial phrase. Sybex's Australian and British customers probably think a network administrator should do the Hokey Pokey while establishing baseline measurements. Using the term baseline as a verb is jargon. This is the kind of sentence that a self-righteous know-it-all techno-priest would say as he attempts to magically infuse the server with the Force. Finally, the term "hammered" is yet another localized Americanism. It's no wonder the British shout from the rooftops that Americans do not speak English, they speak American. After reading books like the Server+ Study Guide, I can see their point. I can also picture a British or Australian student after reading this book beating a rack-mounted server with a hammer because that is what the book told him to do. Gary could have chosen a much better, more precise and more universally understandable term than "hammered." Btw, "hammered" can also mean that the server is inebriated. Correct me if I'm wrong, but a piece of computer equipment cannot imbibe an alcoholic beverage. After this, I will not buy books written by Gary Govanus, and I will seriously consider whether to buy Sybex materials. The Microsoft Sever+ Certification Training Kit is much better than the Gary Govanus mind-diarrhea Sybex published. In the future, I will read before I buy, and I will not buy Sybex books if they are error-ridden logic bombs like the Server+ Study Guide. In short, I wasted money on the Server+ Study Guide because I trusted Sybex, and they betrayed that trust by providing me with a sublimly shoddy product. --ERE Comment | | (Report this)