Intranet Books

As a sys-admin who has used Python, I couldn't wait for this text to come out. It certainly fills a need and contains useful insights on how to get the job done faster.

The writing could be better though. The conversational writing style causes the book to take a while to say simple things. It also rambles a bit. I've noticed a couple times that it introduces a topic, goes off on one or two tangents and then gets back to the original topic. I've also noticed more than a few grammar and spelling errors.

Because of the value of the material covered, it is still well worth reading.

This book is pretty new in thin-client field. I got the general(not too technical) concept and information from this book. If you are a freshman in thin client field, this book is a good start. After this book, you may try the "Windows NT Thin Client Solutions" from Todd W. Mathers & Shawn P. Genoway or "Windows NT Terminal Server and Citrix MetaFrame" from Ted Harwood. From the two books, you can get more detials about thin client computing.

[Published on http://msmvps.com/blogs/luisabreu/archive/2008/07/28/book-review-power-shell-pocket-reference.aspx]

Im really happy to have received a copy of this book. Its really a simple, easy to read, concise book which contains all you need to get started with PowerShell. You can easy read the book in 1 or 2 days (that is, if youre reading from cover to cover). If youre near a computer, then you can always try to run the examples and even try some new things on your own (being a concise book, youll find lots of references which you need to explore).

As you might expect, this is not a complete guide to Powershell. You wont also be getting info on how to build custom cmdlets or on how to extend Powershell.

Overall, Id say this is a good reference book that you should have by your side if youre starting working with Powershell. Im giving it 7/10.

This book is very helpful in teaching me about setting up my home network, it should help you also.

good book needs to be updated to include vista
book good delivery from amazon very slow

I just purchased the book, so the technology was outdated, but the basic theory was valid, and I was looking for general knowledge of the process. It served that purpose quite well.

Sloppy editing.
Started reading this book today. Now at page 117 which is about 1/3 of the book and already found six (6) very obvious errors. Pretty pathetic for a book in its 8th edition.

As an example, on page 117, subnet mask is 255.255.240.0 yet the diagram shows it as all (1s)
--> 11111111 11111111 11111111 11111111 when it should be
--> 11111111 11111111 11110000 00000000

If you hate reading on the internet its an OK book....for basics....

Its outdated and all the information in the book is available on the internet if you are good with google.

Setting up a small home or business network.......buy a used copy to use as a reference for the most basic information....

I gave it three stars.....its got older info and not much detail....but it is good basic information....and if you buy a good used copy like I did ......its worth having on the bookshelf as a reference.

Although it spends a lot of time talking about OpenLDAP, the version is covers is outdated. I would also have hoped to find more information about how to choose which schema's. The email section does not mention the different attempts at standardizing a schema.

I am giving this 3 stars because it does a fair job of explaining basic LDAP structure. It does a fairly good job on administration of just LDAP but LDAP is usually used as a base upon which other applications rely upon.

If you are trying to integrate something with LDAP, as I was, then this is not the book for that. Also, this book is a little dated as it does not cover openLDAP 2.4. SLURPD is no longer used for replication in the latest openLDAP 2.4 releases...

The author does make an attempt at application integration but does an extremely poor job of it. For example, on the topic of Replacing NIS there is absolutely no mention of NSCD (Name Server Caching Daemon) which is included on every major Linux distribution. If you are integrating Samba with openLDAP, then it's crucial that you understand how NSCD works as it can cause Samba to break yet all the Linux tool-sets continue working.

If you have this book, then on page 113, the author talks about optimizing nss_ldap searches which is good. But later in the book on page 168 on the topic of Samba integration, there is no mention of the fact that you may, and most likely, need to revisit the contents of page 113 again. Samba and associated tools, by default, create a Computers container to hold computer accounts. If you implemented the searches as described on page-113 alone, you find you can not join workstations to a samba domain unless you also include a line that reads:

nss_base_passwd ou=computers,dc=plainjoe,dc=org?one

I sense that some attention to detail is lost considering the 2nd half of the book is on application integration and things like I just explained are left out. I suppose one could argue that you should have learned this after reading page 113 but it would have saved me some time if it was mentioned...

I would recommend this book as a companion to other openLDAP books that do a better job of covering application integration. I give this 3 stars because the Active Directory coverage and reference seems pretty good and the coverage of .conf file settings seems good.

Another great O'reilly book. O'reilly, IMHO are the best technical books.

I'm happy with this book. It's a little out of date and the details are getting a bit, shall we say, "off". However, it is a much better set of documentation that rummaging through the RFCs and paltry OpenLDAP README content :)

This book is written a while ago and it definitely needs update. It frequently refers to RFCs and states "blah blah is not yet accepted as standard" but probably it is accepted as one by now.

The organization of this book is a little chaotic. When I read it from the chapter 1, introduction, it was still not clear what I was getting into. After reading it all, I still think the introduction was not very helpful. I don't think reading this book from cover to cover all through would help a lot.

Nonetheless, after reading through this book with actual practice (installing OpenLDAP and running the examples as the book illustrated), I got good grasp of the concepts of LDAP and understanding how it works.

I like its practical examples and connection to other applications.

In conclusion, I feel I spent my money well on this book.

The book comes with a sample data base loaded on the CD but the author never took the time to illustrate the principles of data base construction with written out examples.
A word to publishers of mammoth books like Anderson's; a neophyte software user is not going to be very adept at dreaming up examples of the principles, and therefor really learn from all of the massive amounts of information contained in the book. This book is very difficult to use and probably would not be used by a serious programmer since it is not aimed at that audience. In fact I'm not sure who the audience is supposed to be except for the group of unwary buyers.

When I bought this book, I thought this would have everything I would need. Wrong. The book is good for taking the exam, because it covers everything in just enough detail. However, if you want to do a lot of advanced operations like using cross-tab queries, Visual Basic, dynamic reports, etc, etc.. the book pretty much leaves you out in the cold.

Don't get me wrong: the book is great if all you want is a good overview of everything inside Access, but the title "Complete Reference" is totally misleading.

...just my two cents...

After perusing the other reviews I reached this conclusion: (which makes sense) everyone has reviewed this book from their own perspective. As will I.

But first what the book isn't:
This book was not designed as an easy reference manual for you SQL and VB gurus out there who can whip out something superior to Microsoft Money in an afternoon. Check out the title The COMPLETE Reference. This book is 1300 pages long. It can be used as a study guide if you are going to take the MOUS.

This book was not designed (though the diligent can try) as an introduction to Access. There is so much information here that you will swamp yourself with details and give up before too long.

This book is:
A great resource for someone who has had one class in Access development, or (like me) two or three years of playing with simple databases (like tracking one checking account, etc.). There is a quick reference in back, which I've had limited success with. However, with a quick flip of the book's index, I can usually find what I am looking for on the first try.

What I feel was being said by the other reviewers (as a whole): This book doesn't fit my knowledge level!
Those who were not familiar enough with Access 2000 would not know where to look in an index. Those who can design Deep Thought (for all you Hitchiker's fans) would look it up but then have to sift through an entire lesson on the topic instead of just being told what to do.

*****Final Thoughts*****
This book fits the majority of Access users who have been using Access for a while, but aren't proficient enough to work as a professional database developer. Reading through two pages isn't a waste of time at this level because you get a well rounded view of the control/command/whatever.

I can figure most things out by example, but this book's examples are worthless. You would think a 1319 page book would have the space to give some working examples rather than code snipets taken out of context.

I suppose that if you read the book from page 1 on through you might be able to understand the examples, but to use it as a index based reference is impossible.

I wasn't looking for a novel when I bought this book. I have enough knowledge to get around in acces and just wanted a referece that will give me the guidence to do the rest in a matter of few minutes. Wasn't expecting to read a novel to find something simple!!
If you prefer pictures illustrations to essay descriptions this isn't the book for you ..

This book is a hardbound POC. The authors don't know the hell they are talking about. All the high level talks are good for nothing.

I looked at this book when I was just starting out working on IPsec. I had read the RFCs once but felt I needed a good book since the IPsec protocol is pretty complex and the RFCs are not very well written. I did not buy this book but scanned it thoroughly in a bookstore. The book seems to repeat what the IPsec RFCs say without adding more to it. There are very few figures in the book to explain the concepts. I ended up buying "Demystifying the IPsec Puzzle" by Sheila Frankel which is a much better book.

Ideally, you should understand basic crypto and have played around with VPNs before reading this book. Have you configured local, gateway, and Road Warrior VPNs before? If so, this book is ideally suited for review and for filling in any gaps in your knowledge. There are some grammatical errors, but nothing serious. Some illustrations, particularly those in the Deployment Scenarios section, don't mesh with the text and require correction to make sense. There is enough information in the text to resolve these errors and pencil in corrections, but isn't this supposed to be a second edition? Speaking of mesh, I was surprised to see no mention of the highly useful mesh equation n(n-1)/2 anywhere. Instead, a more junior-level illustration is used. A combination of both would have been more appropriate for this book. Overall, this is a useful book that will take your basic knowledge of IPSEC to the next level.
4 stars, as the book nevertheless is a productive discussion with two knowledgeable practitioners of IPSEC.

Before reading this book I think it is good if you have a basic understanding of IPSec topics and terms. In any case, the book explains quite well the basic principles of IPSec and the associated things such as hashing and encryption algorithms (doesn't go too much into details on these ones though...)
The chapter where I lost the thread was ISAKMP and IKE.
Maybe it's me, but I think this was pretty confusing way of explaining it.
Although most likely not the only book I would read about IPSec - it is certainly a good book as introduction into IPSec and many things are explained very well which I didn't find in some other books.

This book is a good recap on IPSec if you have not been working with IPSec for some time. I recommend this book for begineers to IPSec implementators and it is a good reference book to have handy. The first few sections explain the basics of IPSec and are very well detailed without getting into the specifics. However, the sections on IKE are not well explained and it lacks real detail of IKE implementations and no good diagrams.

I found this book an excellent recap of IPSec as i have not worked with IPSec for almost 3 years, and instead the book gives good and concise information but is mostly in a synopsis format and lacks the real meat.

After reading Inside Com, I read this book and found it easy to understand and full of useful programs and tips of how to generate files from IDL. One of the best books in market.

I am an entry level developer and I am trying to grasp this COM/DCOM stuff. This book was recommended but it just doesn't help. The book starts off with what looks like a nice easy intro to COM and DCOM then jumps to a hole lotta hoopla, what is going on? The code examples are difficult to follow and do not make sense unless you know what you are doing. They jump from topic to topic and mainly confuse the reader. I do not recommend this book unless you have a good understanding of ActiveX and COM already. And if you are not experienced with Visual C++, don't even bother.

The book starts well. The scene is set nicely in the first two chapters and the authors promise you the earth. Then they seem to loose the plot. Not only do they get bogged down with too much detail and not enough overview, but lots of little mistakes seem to creep into the text. It's a pity but it seems that the book was never passed by an editor. For instance, in Chapter 4 on page 136 the authors promise to 'have a lot more to say about threading models at the end of this chapter (see the section named COM Threading Models)'. The only problem being there simply isn't a section named COM Threading Models in this or any other chapter! Furthermore, one might pardon one broken promise in one page but to do it twice is unforgiveable! Later in the same page, the authors refer to the same imaginary section!!

But such mistakes and omissions are not confined to this chapter. The authors simply leave the reader bewildered and disappointed. I don't recommend it.

I'm a very experienced developer who's been programming since most of you were still in public school. Technical books are generally not a challenge for me but this one certainly was. Not because of the complexity of the subject, but because of the overwhelming amount of irrelevant information. Showing countless screen shots of behind-the-scenes code generated by the various Microsoft tools used to create COM objects is a collosal waste of time. 99% of the readers will never need to know any of this nor should they. Their explanation of this code, besides a waste of time, is also limp and extremely incomplete. Countless details are missing even when it's highly relevant (for example, the basic syntax of IDL files is nowhere to be found). Coupled will countless snapshots of COM API calls which look as if they've been copied straight from the compiler documentation, and huge bloated examples that spend more time dealing with non-COM related issues than anything practical (and which can take weeks to wade through), this book is a prime example of an experienced developer but a neophyte author (whose programming skills, based on some of the examples I saw, also need sharpening regardless of his knowledge of COM).

If you seek a book that provides real solutions to programming challenges, skip this one. If you're looking for ways to impress your friends by baffling them with useless detail and confusing presentation, by all means buy it! Basically, you get the generic plagiarization of COM overview, and then a rambling, incoherant dissertation on the benefits of micro-analyzing binary code dumps while investigating everything of irrelevance. These guys are the type that want to rewrite the world's entire software base in assembler.

There are some good treatments here, but I'm interested in applying knowledge to solutions, not bit-busting everything down to the Nth degree to prove I'm an MSEE. Soaking up 465 pages of digression to wind up with one control is not my idea of producing results. HTML references, historical treatises of intranets, treatment of security issues, sales pitches, obtuse examples ineffectually explained, and missing imperatives conspire to make this book one of the great paperweights of its time.

[...]

I picked this book up about three years to late, as it is entirely written about the original IBuySpy Portal framework, and I am an avid DotNetNuke module developer. The author presents numerous great examples of custom module development for IBuySpy, including a simple library application, extended discussions module, a complex Human Resources module, and a great Document Management System. Keep in mind IBuySpy is the forerunner to DotNetNuke, and all of the modules outlined in the book port nicely to the newer architecture, as they leverage many of the features moved forward into DotNetNuke, like user account integration, portal security, and more.

As I worked through configuring the various samples provided with the book, I got to set up & play with the original IBuySpy Portal framework after nearly three years of playing with it for the for the first time. When it was first released, it very intimidating in some of it's implementation details, although it didn't appear as sophisticated in it's business architecture, unlike the original Reports, Time Tracking, & Issue Tracking kits.

The book provides one of the best guides I have read to everything IBuySpy. The second time looking at IBuySpy portal, I was more able to appreciate the great concepts introduced in it, and I was at times amazed at how simple the IBuySpy Portal is when compared to the latest version of DotNetNuke. With the Introduction of the DotNetNuke Data Access Layer (DAL) in version 2.x, DotNetNuke was able to encapsulate all of the sophistication, and more, of the business layer found in the Time Tracking/Reports starter kits, at which point I was hooked.

I found the Document Management System described in Chapter 9 sophisticated enough that I believed it was worth the effort to convert it to a modern DotNetNuke module. The module is very well designed and documented in the book, so I decided on an uneventful Sunday afternoon to start converting it. Approximately 40 hours of development later, I have completed converting the module to DotNetNuke 2.1.2 (DotNetNuke 3.0.9 was released two days before the writing of this review).

I bought this book for 62 Euros (75 USD) in Lisbon that is too much for 450 pages (with promos, content, indexes, images from internet) book without any CD and with broken promise of the downloadable code!

IMHO, there was no need to bloat the volume of a book and reader's tiredness reprinting from internet the lengthy code examples just for the sake of a few modifications and after that again printing, again, the resulting snippets (it is proper only for e-books)

Since the book is oriented for working with codes, the absence of electronic version is also the great drawback.

The book seems to be the monopolist on IBuySpy Portal (the only one available) , but I wouldn't have bought it, had I known about mentioned above.

While the book is useful (in abscence of any other choice, esp. in electronic version), I estimate the ratio "price/worthyness" as extremely high

PS
I was also more interested in C# and/or Visual Studio .NET versions of IBuySpy Portal, and I think VB.NET is just inappropriate language for the middle-, like IBuySpy Portal,
and large-size projects)

In order to use this book effectively, you really need a good understanding of SQL and SQL stored procedures. The book isn't for SQL Beginners. The tables come from WROX without the identities being set, so you will need to know how to do that. The book also requires a good understanding of stored procedures, you will need to know how to fix the stored procedure if it isn't working correctly. The easy way to work with the stored procedures and all of the changes the WROX programmers made to IBUYSPY is to load their backup database onto your server using a different database name, then import the tables and stored procedures you need into your Portal database. There are some problems with the code that requires revising the name spaces and assembly references to get them to work with the ASPNET Portal, but once modified the code does work well for the most part. I really wish the WROX programmers had spent more time on the RTF piece. I eventually replaced the RTF functionality with someone else's software, but I have to admit that I learned alot about ASP.NET controls by examining the WROX RTF code. The document management piece is worth the price of the book. The documentation really is not very good but if you study the code, you'll learn alot. I disagree strongly with the reviewer who stated this is for people who want code but don't want to learn what it does. If you can make the WROX code work, you're doing pretty well.

I bought this book because I have been thrust into the Intranet development world, and I really don't have a lot of experience building multi-functional web pages. I bought this book to really help me understand the IBuySpy portal, and I have used it to customize that package for a couple of different web sites now.

The Good:
The book is very good at explaining the various components of the IBuySpy Portal. It's a lot like a tourist map; highlighting certain pieces (while complete overlooking other aspects).

The Bad:
As others have noted, this book doesn't go deep into explaining ASP.NET, or how to use classes in the .NET architecture. It merely allows you to copy a lot of code, cross your fingers, and see something work.

The Ugly:
As with most "best-of-breed" solutions from Microsoft, stuff breaks. While this particular manual does point out why some stuff doesn't work as well as intended, it doesn't go into a lot of detail (and don't expect it to catch everything).

In Sum: Buy this book if you have a need to get an intranet up and running quickly, and want to impress your non-developer friends. Don't buy it if you're expecting to use it to learn ASP.NET.

If you wish to understand the IBUY Portal, don't count on this book to help you. I didn't like the style and structure of this book. I got the sense that this book was just another rush publication with a group of programmers getting together, assigning chapters with desired content and then got down to pulling and writing code.

WROX needs to do a better job of controlling quality and up front planning for their books. Sorry, but this book shows none of that. The design of the existing site was mostly crammed into a single chapter. A decent database diagram was not included and no UML or other diagrams were presented so we could easily understand the Object architecture. Instead, the documentation was simply a straight lift from sql server table descriptions. I found myself drawing my own diagrams as I went through the book. An architect's perspective was desparately needed in this first chapter.

I won't be buying any more WROX books if things don't improve by enforcing good technical writing standards for their publications.

Fantastic instructional materials on how to use SharePoint Designer 2007 effectively! I made the mistake early on of buying SharePoint books that focused on infrastructure-related topics on SharePoint. This book provides practical and powerful insights on how to exploit the user-facing capabilities of SharePoint. I was cautious about purchasing a Step-by-Step series book due to my past experiences reading books in the series that had what I believed to be superficial content. This instance broke that mold in style. It was evident that the author not only has book knowledge of the subject, she also has practitioner knowledge. It seemed like she anticipated every question that I had as I read through the book. Excellent work!

I'm a novice to SharePoint Designer so I wanted to find a book that would walk me "step by step" through the process. The content was good but what was frustrating was that the author kept referring to a fictitious company, "Consolidated Messenger..." but the files or links were not available. If a book references files that will enable you to work through scenarios, with accompanying images in the book, the reader should be able to access them.

The Microsoft Office Share Point Designer 2007, loooks and feels like the same for the Office 2007, but the drop back is that you can no make any of the excersices due that it use a site that does not exist on the internet for pracice. I do not recomend this book.
I was planning to used it for a Web Designer Class in the university, but I encounter this big problem. It is imposible to learn if you do not have a way to practice the excercises. I was force to use to used the 2003 Front Page program, that is more simple to use for teaching.
My suggestion to Microsoft Press, please create a local site on the CD provide with the book, so beginers like myself can use it.
DO NOT BUY IT.

Great book for the advanced information worker that needs to do work on Sharepoint.

Supporting Sharepoint in our organization as well as being president of a local Sharepoint user group, I do see one common problem - people using Sharepoint Designer that have no understanding of the underlying technology. So let me reiterate: Sharepoint Designer is for the ADVANCED Sharepoint user.

The reader of this book should have a basic understanding of programming concepts and working with web pages, as it's VERY easy to render a Sharepoint page unusable with relatively "simple" changes. (Don't forget to make a backup first!) Chapter one does a very good job of getting the user started and should be required reading for anyone using SHarepoint Designer.

The biggest plus on the Microsoft Step-by-Step books is that the reader is given the opportunity to learn exactly what they need, when they need it. This book is well written and Penelope Coventry does a thorough job (in my opinion). The CD that comes with the book is a HUGE plus as well, with full examples and test files the user can learn on before making changes to Sharepoint sites.

I also recommend the reader look at Office 2007 books, as the integration between Sharepoint and Office is powerful and can really extend the reach of your Office apps. (I like "So That's How! 2007 Microsoft Office System: Timesavers, Breakthroughs, & Everyday Genius", by Evan Archilla & Tiffany Songvilay)

We are just finishing up our first SP project and this book was INVALUABLE resource. If you are doing SP work you should get this book!

Sharepoint Designer is not only for SP projects, it is also a great xhtml & javascript editor, with nice intellisense! It is making my life much easier.

I know of no other resource that has so much on SPD and I doubt there is anything in print that has more on it.

When you are buying SPD, buy this book as well - you will thank me later!