This topic is very needed! I predicted that we'd be implementing Windows 2000 without AD in October of 1999. The book wasn't quite organized how I had hoped - but it is solid. This book covers the planning of the many technologies of Windows 2000 in the absence of Active Directory. It's no secret that AD adoption has been slow for a variety of financial, political and operational reasons. The book does a good job of outlining some of the overview areas where AD affects the Windows 2000 technologies.
I had hoped the book would simply cover those areas and give work arounds for achieving similar functionality in non-AD environments - especially since I've done a lot of study on what the technologies are capable of and just need to know what doesn't work with AD. Instead the book covers most of the W2K technologies within the context of not having AD. The capabilities of each technology are explained and implementation recommendations are given - the bulk of the No-AD Qualifiers are at the beginning and end of each technology section or chapter. This is an excellent approach for folks who haven't bothered to get to know W2K's technologies because they will not have AD in their environment anytime soon - but it puts a drag on you if you're looking for the quick start version. One other item was the lack of Intellimirror content. The book states that it will not be covering this topic. There are so many issues with trying to plan a software distribution strategy for Windows Installer that rely on W2K technologies (DFS, FRS and GPO) that I had hoped more coverage would be given - at least to software distribution.
That's OK - if you need this knowledge, be sure to check out DesktopEngineer.coms Windows Installer Training for Administrators to find out how to build Windows Installer infrastructure without Active Directory! Visit http://desktopengineeer.com/msitraining/ for more information. This book does have a good section on using the security configuration and analysis tool (secedit) to approximate some Group Policy functionality. If you're already a Windows 2000 expert, be prepared to dig around a little to find the gems. If you've held off on learning Windows 2000 technologies because of delayed Active Directory deployments, this is a great way to get started.
Buy @ Amazon
Buy @ Half.com
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