BKINNTS4.RVW 980321 "Inside Windows NT Server 4", Drew Heywood, 1998, 1-56205-860-6, U$39.99/C$56.95/UK#36.50 %A Drew Heywood %C 201 W. 103rd Street, Indianapolis, IN 46290 %D 1998 %G 1-56205-860-6 %I Macmillan Computer Publishing (MCP) %O U$39.99/C$56.95/UK#36.50 800-858-7674 317-581-3743 info@mcp.com %P 1088 p. %T "Inside Windows NT Server 4, Second Edition" At one point in the introduction, Heywood states that readers should be familiar with computers, the Windows 95 interface, and networking. At another point, he says that the book is directed at both new and experienced network administrators. These statements are not necessarily contradictory, but it is not clear precisely who the intended audience is. Perhaps one can say that readers should be at least intermediate computer users with some networking background. Part one looks at the basic tasks of setting up a network. Chapter one is a useful and realistic look at hardware for a server, and the problems most people have in dealing with hardware. While it cannot be exhaustive, it does provide a lot of information that other books miss. One omission stood out while I was reading: the author does not address the issue of minimum configuration requirements. The installation instructions in chapter two are also well written and annotated, reflecting not merely the installation directions in the documentation, but also problems and information to note along the way. There are some minor problems, such as the fact that the guidance on emergency repair disks is sadly lacking. A general discussion of network protocols starts chapter three, but most of the latter part is spent on IPX. Users, groups, domains, and trusts are explained quite well in chapter four. The management of domains and trusts is dealt with in chapter five, and users and groups are addressed in chapter six. These chapters are not as analytical as earlier ones and tend to copy documentation models more closely. For example, there are no directions for promoting BDCs (Backup Domain Controllers) to Primary, and there is no discussion of disabling or removing the Administrator account. The sharing of drives is covered in chapter seven, along with some tips on the use of Windows Explorer, and the short filename representations of long filenames. There is also the only mention of viruses in the book, and extremely terse piece that is not incorrect, but is hardly helpful. Printer sharing and management is discussed in chapter eight. Aside from the IPX setup addressed earlier, part two pursues practical networking in more depth. Chapter nine looks at client setup for Windows for Workgroups, MS-DOS, Windows 3.1, and Windows 95. Some areas are shy on detail (such as configuration of the PROTOCOL.INI file) and a few passages were not updated as the book moved from NT version 3.5 to 4. Some sections are repeated from earlier chapters, and the same is true for chapter ten, dealing with NT clients. Chapter eleven does a good job both of explaining TCP/IP and showing how to get it working on NT. Management of a network is the largest task, and part three covers most of the aspects. Chapter twelve looks at disk partitioning and RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) functions such as striping. Like the NT backup facility, chapter thirteen is hampered by considering only tape media. The basic management tools are reviewed in chapter fourteen. Chapter fifteen looks at performance monitoring. Both the concepts and use of Remote Access Service are discussed in chapter sixteen, but while dialout is mentioned its use with the Internet is not, and this may give rise to some problems as there are minor differences in usage. Chapter seventeen details routing and the Remote Access Service. Management of directory replication is the topic of chapter eighteen. Integration with Novell NetWare and the Macintosh comes in chapters nineteen and twenty, respectively. The basics of the Internet Information Server are presented in chapter twenty one. Chapter twenty two looks at the Microsoft Proxy Server. A look at clustering finishes off the book in chapter twenty three. Heywood's organization by task and function is helpful, and it is easier to use this book as a reference than many I've reviewed. The explanations, when present, are helpful background for those new to networking. There are a number of areas that would benefit from expanded explanations, and other topics that could definitely use more detail. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1998 BKINNTS4.RVW 980321