peripherals

While I'm pretty new to AD and have database backgrownd, I liked the book for two reasons: 1. AD explained in terms that are clear to me and 2. The author explains WHY's and provides background for features and behaviors

My only substantive criticism of this book is its reluctance to define its audience, and correspondingly, using a title that misrepresents its content.

This is a book for a party that has former hands-on experience with a similar technology (e.g., X.500, NDS, LDAP) and needs to manage a Microsoft implementation. Or for a hands-on technician who is new to the technology in general.

The author is a former Novell employee and this is the third version of the book, so readers can expect some broad insights and no vendor bigotry. In many sections, one can tell that "Server 2003" was added to the text via "search and replace", but it matters little, and Server 2003 was directly addressed in areas where it matters (i.e., global catalog servers, etc.).

Architects and implementers should pass on this one, but managers and consultants should pick it up.

This is, with no doubt in my mind, the worst book on Active Directory I have seen. I can't believe Sybex decided to publish the second edition (let alone the first) with all errors and such superficial coverage of practically every Active Directory topic. I'm under impression that its author had no practical experience in dealing with any real Active Directory deployment. If you are serious about learning Active Directory from experts, check "Mission Critical Active Directory" by Jan De Clercq and Micky Balladelli (Digital Press) or "Windows 2000 Active Directory" by Alistair Lowe-Norris (O'Reilly).