YOUR WINDOWS SERVER 2008 ADMINISTRATORS COMPANION IS IN THE HOUSE

For me the Microsoft Press book I’ve been waiting a while to see was the full Administrators companion. I will admit to being a fan of this series, both the full Companion and it’s pocket sized sister. I think I might have the complete sets of both in my bookcases somewhere, most are good, some are a little indifferent, but that is not today’s subject.

The quality of the Windows Server 2008 guides has been getting higher, the ones coming out now are more comprehensive. The first two I reviewed, Windows Server 2008 Inside Out by Microsoft Press and Windows Server 2008 Unleashed by Sams Publishing are detailed looks at the product, however both skip some features and cover others in more depth. I feel with both I have good coverage and both are on a par, however for me, the core of my Windows Server 2008 publication library is always going to rest with the Admin Companion, basically because of experiences using it.

Before I dive into this book, I will say I’ve been reviewing a publication from Pearson entitles “The Complete Guide to Windows Server 2008” by John Savill, this is not in print yet and I’ve only had access to the electronic script, but I’ve liked what I’ve read so far and I’ll write more on that closer to the publication date.

So back to the Admin Companion, what can you expect? Well if you have the Windows Server 2003 version, the layout is going to look almost identical. It’s broken down into the same number of parts, similarly titled, covers the material in the same order, but is 200 pages shorter than it’s predecessor. Should that concern you? Well frankly no, some of that difference comes from things like “Understanding TCP/IP” chapter that is not in the 2008 version, the Security in 2008 is more comprehensive, gone are individual chapters on Novel, Mac and Unix interop, in comes a section on Internet Servers and Services. Plus in comes all the details on Roles, features and installation types. Also in comes a chapter on scripting – including PowerShell information and scripts as well as a detailed chapter on Virtualisation, which was one of the chapters I was looking forward too – the Inside Out book does not cover it and the Unleashed book covers the concepts not the Hyper-V technology as it was still in flux at the time.

Looking at the book overall, I’m certainly not missing the material that was in the 2003 version and not in this version, I am liking the material that replaced it a lot, the authors have added enough to certainly freshen it up, I mean we all know that task like administering file and share permissions has not radically changed but this type of book has to cover that material and I may not rush to those chapters, but I have glanced over them.

This is a worthy additional to the series, it was what I expected, all the step-by-steps are there, the Real World notes are there and importantly details of all the features of the product are there. Worth the time in any good book shop to look over, especially those ones that have coffee bars, and one that will serve you well if you have to start administering Windows Server 2008 systems in your organisation.

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