Features
- Cover Type: Hard Cover with 699 pages
- Published by: Osborne/McGraw-Hill; Bk&CD-Rom edition September 14, 2000
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 0072124970
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-0072124972
-
Book Dimensions:
9.4 x 7.8 x 2.2 inches
- Weighs: 4.4 pounds
Product Review
There are three phrases that describe this book accurately:
Well Written. As with most books in the vastly underappreciated Syngress series, the writing is a wonderful mixture of clarity and readability. Not that it's a day at the beach, by any stretch (this
is a certification book, after all), but the Study Guide walks you with ease through the various issues that are involved in high-level Windows 2000 security. The sections on the political, organizational, and emotional sides of security are particularly worthwhile; you'll learn how IT security strategies must be shaped by the pressures from both upper management and the everyday user to be effective. The chapters on Active Directory planning and EFS are good from a technology standpoint, and illustrate the various approaches that one can take when using these two new
Microsoft features.
Challenging. The multiple-choice questions probably are just a shade less difficult than what you'll find on the actual exam; but, to simulate the often complex (and much-feared) "scenario" questions that
Microsoft has loved to throw out recently, there are also lab questions at the end of every chapter that give real-world business scenarios and ask you what you'd do to solve them. These questions tend to be rough, particularly near the end of the book, and they should prepare you quite nicely for the exam. The wealth of ExamSim questions also adds value.
Poorly Organized. Unfortunately, the Achilles heel of this book is the fact that, instead of making its own way, it follows the
Microsoft test objectives chapter by chapter, which leads to a scattered and disjointed feel. The book skips from topic to topic, repeats certain ideas numerous times over the course of several sections, and brings up important topics only once or twice. For example, instead of detailing the security issues that are involved in, say, remote salesmen having to dial in to a Windows 2000 network all in one place, the Study Guide details the laws, regulations, and personnel issues of remote users in chapter 3; dialup permissions in chapter 4; laptop group policies in chapter 6; EFS hard-drive security strategies in chapter 8; and VPNs, which barely are mentioned until you're all the way through chapter 11. Almost every security issue is split and diced finely throughout the book.
If you already have hands-on experience with security issues, no doubt you'll be able to assemble these disparate topics into a coherent whole. But, if you're new to security and aren't quite sure how things mesh, you could be knocked off balance by a simple question like, "What are the security measures you need to take when hosting a Web site?"
This is a solid book that's marred notably, because it adheres too closely to the
Microsoft curriculum. If you have experience with security already, or approach networking from a feature-based line of thought, this could prove a fine guide for you. But, if you're new to security, or tend to think in the greater picture instead of in individual functions, you might want to look elsewhere.
--William Steinmetz
Book Description
The only classroom-based training and self-assessment system! Osborne's MCSE Designing Security for a Windows 2000 Network Study Guide provides 100% complete coverage of all official
Microsoft objectives for exam 70-220. Based on 200,000+ hours of IT training experience, the book contains hundreds of practice exam questions and hands-on exercises. The CD-ROM features full CertTrainer CBT
software with interactive tutorials and lab simulations, plus the new ExamSim adaptive test engine.
Reader Reviews
Was somewhat disappointed by this book. Expected much more from Syngress. Looks like author was in a great hurry trying to present at least _something_ to cover the exam objectives, piece from here, piece from here, no clear presentation of the information, no vision how the things fit together, etc. The typical note from the author when the things are not clear - "that's enough to pass the exam". About 1/3 of the 700-page book are screendumps - kind of "what you'll see if you'll try to do that", 100-page Glossary - not so much remaining for the real information. However I have to admit that all certification objectives are covered more or less. If you are not new to the thechnology - you can browse this book to become familiar with the objectives and what knowledge from wich areas Microsoft expects from you. Definitely will not recommend this title to anyone who new to security area - the one can get complete mess in his/her head after reading of this title. Looks like that for preparation to the 70-220 exam this title is not the best choice, especially taking into account that this is case-study based exam. Just to add more pepper - the quality of videoclips on CD is not so good. Not sure that anyone checked them at all.
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