Server+ Exam Prep Book

So this technician, who's worked out in the field for a while, comes over to your house to help you pass the Server+ exam. And there you have the premise of Server+ Exam Prep. Being a techie, he lapses into bursts of dense technospeak once in awhile but most of the time he explains things in a chatty, easy-to-understand manner, peppered with real-life experience and political pitfalls, pausing occasionally to gripe about a program error or a common mistake that people make--but it's a friendly talk, informative and it's at your level. Firstly, we should deal with the strength of this book: the writing. The writing is top-notch, explaining the concepts with a minimum of fuss and a maximum of clarity. The organisation, however, is a little spotty, and is likely to confuse some readers. The book also assumes that the reader knows some important concepts. And some topics are compacted into a dense black hole of technobabble that may require rereading several times. Still, these are minor kvetches with a book that has solid features that others lack--a good, solid section on troubleshooting, a fine disaster-prevention chapter, and a very in-depth discussion on what factors go into making a good server environment. What is troubling, however, is the paucity and quality of the sample test questions. The questions given are cotton candy compared to what you can expect to see on the actual exam. Practically no "scenario" questions are given, and the book commits the cardinal sin of allowing multiple answers on certain questions without making it clear that you're supposed to choose more than one. In short, this is an excellent introductory book and will probably get you through the exam without a hitch. The weakness of the questions is overcome by the overall strength of the writing and the clarity with which it hammers concepts home. At the price, it's hard to go wrong with this book. --William SteinmetzRead More