Monday 6 July 2009

Exam 70-298 Designing Security for a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Network by: Tony Northrup

Exam 70-298 Designing Security for a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Network
Tony Northrup
Microsoft Press
ISBN 9780735621237

This book is a great resource. I have enjoyed all the MOAC textbooks I have used in school and in preparing for Computer Certification exams. These books are well laid out and packed full of features to help maximize learning.

The key features in this series are: first, all chapters have a concise learning objectives at the beginning of the chapter. Second, the body of the chapters has practical exercises, and these exercises are further supplemented by a Lab Manual. There are also three reader aids throughout the books that help you dive deeper (to really get to the core of the concepts presented.) They are: Notes - Real world examples, Important - Essential information reinforced, and More Info - Cross reference material for additional resources. Then each chapter has short hands-on exercises, end of chapters review with a variety of exercises and case studies, and the chapter summaries that reinforce and confirm the key concepts of that chapter.

If you take the time to work through all of the material you will have a great start in your preparation to write the exam. Combine that with the practice exams on the student CD and you should be set to go. What I love about the MOAC books is that they come with trial versions of the software, so you can build your own labs either real or virtual to play with the software. It also has a PDF of the textbook on the Student Files CD-Rom. I have built a resource library of all the tech books from writing certification exams and keep it on a thumb drive for easy access at work, or in the field.

A great guide well written, and easy to use. Well done Tony Northrup.

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