BKRWNTS4.RVW   990403

"Running Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0", Charlie Russel/Sharon
Crawford, 1997, 1-57231-333-1, U$39.95/C$54.95/UK#36.99
%A   Charlie Russel crussel@netcom.com
%A   Sharon Crawford 76216.1463@compuserve.com
%C   1 Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA   98052-6399
%D   1997
%G   1-57231-333-1
%I   Microsoft Press
%O   U$39.95/C$54.95/UK#36.99 800-MSPRESS fax: 206-936-7329
%P   615 p.
%T   "Running Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0"

While the introduction does list some groups as a target audience, the
assortments are so broad as to make judging on the basis of
constituency very difficult.

Part one is a pre-installation guide, which would be good if it gave
you more material to plan with.  Chapter one is a general (and
promotional) overview of the operating system.  The domain model, and
trust relationships, are integral to NT networks, so chapter two's
explanation can be quite useful.  Unfortunately, chapter three's
review of hardware planning is of the "make sure you have enough"
variety.  Chapter four gives both an outline and details of
administration and security, but doesn't bring them together.  File
system and network protocol options are presented in chapter five,
but, again, the content emphasizes making the right choice more than
it gives you the information to make that choice possible.

Part two's overview of installation has a decided advantage over most
such guides in that it knows each network is different, and that a lot
of decisions have to be prepared in advance.  Chapter six outlines a
number of approaches to the system installation itself.  Most of the
space in chapter seven, though, is spent explaining bits of TCP/IP
that are not essential to the installation, and leaving out those that
are.  There is a good overview of disk partitions and volumes in
chapter eight.

Part three moves into domain administration.  Chapter nine's look at
user accounts is good on particulars, but doesn't give you a cohesive
picture of how to decide permissions and policies for users.  The
built in accounts and groups are described in chapter ten.  The
mechanics of printer setup are displayed in chapter eleven, and shares
are described in chapter twelve.  Both Microsoft Messaging, in chapter
thirteen, and application service, in chapter fourteen, start off with
explanations of the concepts, but don't provide enough details for
effective use.  Chapter fifteen has a terse summary of some server
tools.

Part four tries to extend some of the material in part two to a wider
arena.  Domains, TCP/IP, and remote access all get some more detail in
chapters sixteen to eighteen.  New content is a description of
Internet Information Server, in chapter nineteen, and clients for
other platforms, in twenty.  Part five extends other material from
parts two and three, such as events and disk maintenance, with
additional content on the registry and disaster recovery.

While a serviceable guide to the system, and better than a large
number of similar texts, this book cannot be recommended unreservedly.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKRWNTS4.RVW   990403