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Windows Server 2003 Network Administration Review by Richard T. Kingslan
The Meat is in the last half of the book
Mr. Hunt and Ms. Bragg have produced a very acceptable book on Microsoft Networking Technologies. However, if you are looking for depth in TCP/IP (the protocol suite) on the Microsoft platform of OSes, this isn't the book for you. Craig and Roberta spend enough time and go to just enough depth to allow the reader to get the value of the 'real meat' of this book - the second half that deals with the installable services and servers, as well as those that are available natively in the OS. If you are looking for real 'nuts and bolts' depth on TCP/IP on the Microsoft platform, the best on that I have found (Sorry, Thomas and Joe...) is Niall Mansfield's "Practical TCP/IP" by another publisher. (Do a quick search - you'll find it.)
That being said, Hunt and Bragg dive deep into operation and best practice on:
Routing and Remote Access Service
Windows Host Firewalls
RADIUS using IAS
IPSec
These above 4 subjects are worth the price of the book. I'm less impressed with the treatment of DNS and IIS. These are huge subjects, and just can't be dealt with effectively in 50 - 60 pages. I suppose that this is the reason why the book "DNS on Windows Server 2003" by Cricket Liu, Matt Larson, and Robbie Allen - also published by O'Reilly - exists. And, too - this is likely why there are whole books dedicated partially or completely to IIS 6.0.
All in all - Craig and Roberta do a fine job with this book. Roberta, being the preeminent mistress of Security geek on Windows, and Craig having years and years of experience in communications and TCP/IP - both can be considered experts in the subject area of this book. This book is a good one for the average to more advanced Administrator that is looking to excel in the field of Network services - and add that Network Design Engineer moniker, as they will likely only need a primer on TCP/IP and DNS. This book will get them on the road to the practical experience that will help one attain the status of Network Services engineer.