Apple Training Series : Mac OS X Server Essentials (Apple Training)

Apple Training Series : Mac OS X v10.4 System Administration Reference, Volume 2 (Apple Training Series)

Apple Training Series: Mac OS X Support Essentials (Apple Training)

Mac OS X Server 10.4 Tiger : Visual QuickPro Guide (Visual Quickpro Guide)

Mac Osx

Apple Training Series : Mac OS X System Administration Reference, Volume 1 (Apple Training)

Format: Paperback
Author: Schoun P. Regan
ReleaseDate: 13 December, 2005
Publisher: Peachpit Press
Rating:

Excellent look under the hood
While that book is good on the GUI interface, this book shows in good detail what is really going on under the hood and behind the scenes. I bought this book along with Mac OS X Server Essentials. I have a much better understanding of Open Directory and LDAP in general as well as Kerberos and Single Sign in logic. Many of the other services offered under OS X Server 10. 4 are also explained well. The command line information is good while not being so in depth as to lose the reader. You should have a basic familiarity with UNIX command line before trying to understand the concepts presented. The section on security is very good and presents a broad range of options to the administrator. .

Great book from a top-notch trainer
It succinctly provides you with an understanding of the basic information needed to attack the certification exams. As another review states, this book is the guide for the relevant Apple ACSA courses.

I do also recommend that you find the time and funds to actually take the classes. The folks in Cupertino have put a lot of work into creating great courses that offer you the crucial opportunity to learn by doing. The content and examples you work through during the courses are relevant to a wide range of applications, from small business to multi-national corporation as well as K-12, higher education, and research.

Schoun himself is one of the top independent providers of Apple training and has had no small hand in the development of the courses. I've had the pleasure of taking classes from him on several occasions and recommend his work highly.

Not for bedtime reading
4 course, the Security Best Practices v10. This book is a one-to-one version of the course material found in the Directory Services Integration and Administration v10.4 course and more. The exercises are well thought out and easy to do. Not so easy to remember are the 800+ pages, but it is not meant to teach you all you need to know about being an SysAdmin. It is enough to get you through these two exams, which give you 7 credits and the ACSA. And it is enough to set you off into a job as Junior SysAdmin or, as in my case, a supporter with server duties.

Ideally, one should visit both official courses - not so much because more is offered in the actual courses than in the book, but rather because one can ask pointed questions of the teacher, that one cannot ask if something in the book is not clear.

As in most such books, it represents a beginning - the rest is a matter of acquiring experience. Do not expect this book to give you all the answers. I doubt if that would be possible. But it will give a whole lot of things to look out for and a whole lot of new input, especially if you have been doing some SysAdmin-ing and now want a look-see as to how the fulltime SysAdmins do it.