Sun (R) Certified System Administrator for Solaris (TM) 10 Study Guide (Exams 310-200 & 310-202)

Sun Certified Security Administrator for Solaris 10 Study Guide (Exam CX-XXX)

Solaris Solutions for System Administrators: Time-Saving Tips, Techniques, and Workarounds, Second Edition

Solaris 10 : The Complete Reference (Complete Reference Series)

Solaris 9 System Administrator Exam Cram 2 (Exam Cram 310-014, Exam Cram 310-015)

Unix

Solaris 10 System Administration Exam Prep 2 (Exam Prep)

Format: Paperback
Author: Bill Calkins
ReleaseDate: 23 December, 2005
Publisher: Que
Rating:

It's really a nice book!
. It's a good book, it contains all details about Solaris 10.& repeating Solaris '10'. . as there're many books claiming it's subject is Solaris 10 but in fact they don't cover any of Solaris 10 new topics. . this book does.

If you intend to pass the SCSA for Solaris 10 exam or not, you may find it a useful book.

Not a Good Exam Book Plus Red Flags All Over...
I have read this book from cover to cover and I have been reading all the reviews on this page, quietly. I have more than 10 years experience with Solaris System adiministration. Now, I feel it's my turn to speak out.
First, note some RED FLAGS:
1. Four reviews which were highly critical of this book have suddenly disappeared. Looks like the publisher has managed to get rid of them. This is a BIG red flag.
2. When a review critical of this book appears, it is opposed with a propaganda sounding positive review.

This makes me think that almost all the positive reviews on this page are either propaganda by the publisher or for the publisher.
Now, about the book:
If you are planning to take the SCSA exams, this book is not going to be very helpful. It's just a dump of lots of information. Scores of options for commands, pages of outputs of commands without explanation, and so on. . .
There is very little effort to help the reader understand the topics and make sense of them. As another reviewer said, the information is being thrown on you from all directions. . . brutal. The book is not called Exam Cram but the presentation style makes it exactly that: exam cram, nevertheless. . . and I doubt it that you can cram 1100 pages. . . So, I agree and sympathize with another reviewer (Dave Mali).

On the other hand, if you just want to read about Solaris 10, or on some selective topics on Soalris 10, sure, go ahead, buy the book. . . There arn't many Soalris 10 books any way. But do not count on this book alone if you want to pass the SCSA exam or if you want to learn Solaris 10 System Administration.

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Note to Author: Don't change the format of this book
It has undervalued certification programs from Microsoft, Sun, and most computer vendors. The problem with most certification programs is that too many people look for a quick "cram for an exam" or a "brain dump" to get their certification.

Dave's review below is a perfect example- he's looking for a "cram for an exam" with lots of visuals and pictures. Readers get disappointed when they pick up a real reference book, with text and command line examples, where they might actually "learn" something about managing a server from a console. I also don't think taking away the screen output generated by commands is a good idea. I need to see the command line as well as the output generated. Dave (a previous reviewer), maybe you should look at Wiley's "Teach Yourself Visually" series of books for a Solaris reference, but don't beat on this book for more graphics.

I DON'T WANT another one of those style books. I appreciate a good Solaris admin reference and appreciate the format that the author/publisher has used in this book. O'Reilly's sys admin books tend to follow the same type of format. The mix of graphics and textual output is perfect. As a Unix Administrator, you need to know command line stuff and not the GUI tools. You need LOTS of examples. You NEED to see the ouput generated by the use of specific command options. I don't want to wade through more pictures of directory hierarchies, or look at graphics of disk drive architecture, or read more on the history of Unix, etc. Who started this stuff in the Unix Admin books? There are other books for that. In a Unix Admin reference book, where we tend to perform tasks from ASCII terminals, telnet, VT100's etc. , the screen output is necessary to learning the task at hand.

As you can see, I don't share Dave Mali's comments and think the format of this book is perfectly fine. I also don't feel it was full of errors- in fact, they are very low for a book of this size and style (errata was complete). (I hate when reviewers say a book is full of errors yet lack to point them out for the benefit of other readers).

I'm not one to typically write a review, but I plead to the publisher - DON'T CHANGE THE FORMAT OF THIS BOOK. This is my Opinion - I really don't know if this is the forum to bring it up. If not- it's ok to strike my review.