Most of Microsoft's training kits are pretty much the same thing:
while they aren't a "one-book stop" for the MCSE candidate, they are
well-written introductions to the basic concepts. This strategy
worked well several years ago, when the MCSEs first came out.
Unfortunately, Microsoft has been ramping up the complexity of its
tests steadily, and the Windows 2000 tests are aimed at professionals
who have at least one year of networking W2K under their belts — which
means that simple concept-based training methods just won't cut it
anymore. You can expect to see elaborate troubleshooting scenarios on
the actual test, involving multiple DNS zones and strange WINS
interactions — and this book simply will not help you there. If you're
starting from scratch and don't know the first thing about DNS or
TCP/IP, this book is a good starting point. But, if you're hoping
actually to get your certification, you'll require probably two, or
possibly three, additional good — and more in-depth — books to pass the
exam. This book is basically an introduction to WINS, TCP/IP, IPX,
and DNS, with a light touch on certificates and keys. It does a good
job of explaining rudimentary TCP/IP addressing — the basic concepts
of host and network portions, the TCP/IP architecture, and the
Windows 2000 IP configuration commands are written fairly well.
You're given a couple of simple exercises ("Installing the TCP/IP
Protocol," for example) to get some hands-on experience. However, the
more complex TCP/IP portions aren't explained particularly well (such
topics as subnetting Class C networks, or the reasons that an admin
would use OSPF over RIP) and might require several rereadings. The
IPX section feels at times like a children's primer, with critical
routing concepts being shorted on information. SAPs, for example, get
a single paragraph and two bullet points — and that's it. That kiddy
feel continues into the Network Analyzer and SNMP sections, which
tell you how to gather tremendous amounts of information on your
network, but not necessarily what to look for when you find it, or
what you should do with it. The DNS chapters go into quite a bit more
detail, and are surprisingly well written, explaining with clean
skill the concepts of DNS zones and records. This is, in fact, one of
the better reasons to purchase this book; if you're hazy on DNS
basics, Windows 2000 Network Infrastructure Administration will
refresh your memory and fill in the gaps with ease. Be warned,
however, that the section on certificates will require several
rereadings to make sense before you get the overall picture. In
general, for what it covers, this is a good book and would work very
well for the book-learning candidate trying to get a grasp on the
essentials. If you already have a grasp on the essentials, however,
it won't propel you into the ranks of the MCSE-certified.