Sunday, February 8, 2009

#5 - Designing a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Active Directory and Network Infrastructure

Whew, that's a long title. I'm not normally a fan of books aimed at a particular certification because they tend to just teach to the test and offer no real insight. I'm similarly not normally a fan of any Microsoft written book on their own products because they tend to do a lot of self-promotion and hide inadequacies while ignoring possible better third-party solutions. Despite all of this I still plunged ahead and took this large tome of geekness on since it is an area of interest to me. I actually liked this book. Sure, some of the network info gets a broad brush and little depth but the overall Active Directory coverage is very good and does a good job of taking a pretty nebulous concept and making it concrete. If you would like to learn about Active Directory or support it in your daily life this is a solid low to mid-level book on the topic. Recommended.

#4 - Linux Bible, 2008 Edition

The "Bible" series by Wiley have always provided a large amount of content for the money covering a wide range of products and operating systems. Sometimes they can just be big, for big's sake only and a bit unfocused, however, when I picked up the latest edition on Linux I was pleasantly surprised. There was the usual chapters every Linux book seems to include but there were a ton of new and helpful sections as well as a broad spectrum covering almost all of the top distributions briefly and including them on the DVD that comes packed in. If you are a newbie or a grizzled veteran of the Linux game this is a great pick up. Recommended.

#3 - Asterisk: The Future of Telephony

Asterisk is one of the cooler products to come out of the open source front over the years. Most people don't think much of their telephone in this connected world, you pick it up and there is a dial tone. In America we have also never really had a choice in our phone carrier due to monopolies or large corporations locking down price and features. Asterisk punches through this artificial barrier and allows companies and individuals to regain some control of their phone systems, for free. It is a game breaker and a well written and tested piece of software. It could be a bit more user-friendly though so a book like this is a great companion. Highly Recommended.