Learning Exchange Server 2003

This is probably one of the best and most pleasant technical books I have ever read. While not going very deep into details is an excellent source for technical references and it covers most basic administrative tasks in an exchange environment. It even has a tutorial on creating a 2 node exchange cluster using VMWare workstation that is simple to follow and great source for creating a training/testing environment. I have other books in exchange that are much more technical but I find myself going back to this one for help on some issues. It is a must read book for any exchange administrator.

Well written in simple English without a bunch of jargon. I don't think I saw a single instance of the words, "rich" or "robust". Very good book for someone with minimal experience wanting to install Exchange Server for the first time and also an excellent reference guide for those with more experience interested in advanced configurations.

I'd thought that I was free to co-author with Bill to write this book, but ... Anyway, Bill is very good as far as W2k and W2k3 o/s are concerned, but he is also very good with Exchange 2k3. More importantly, Bill is very good to bring those complex issues down to earth with plained-English, explained the whole thing with a great sense of humor. Now, looking back, I think it was a good decision for not to get involved in writing this book with Bill in the first place because there is no way I could match his skill. Very well-done, Bill. I hope I would see the Advanced-Topics on the Exchange 2k3 as well, also written by you, not just installing, performing basic configurations. Bill, I just want to let you know that I have started the time-watch now :)

Admit it, computer books can be very dry, and all to often, so technical that you have to purchase other resources to understand what the author is talking about. Well, that is not the case in "Learning Exchange Server 2003" by Mr. Boswell. He is able to explain concepts of Exchange in a conversational manner that makes going thru the exercises a breeze. You should be able to go thru all the exercises in one afternoon, and then plan on spending any follow-up time on topics you are unsure of. Mr.. Boswell does a great job of teaching concepts so you actually grasp them. Imagine that!! While some may complain that this book does not go in-depth enough on certain topics, I need to point out that this book is designed for the do-ers and not the philosophers.

Books teaching you a Server product always seem to fall into one of two categories; the Cram for the MCSE test (in which you get the information needed to pass the test and not really administer the product), or the Mastering style (in which you are stuck with an 800 page book that assumes you already have an environment and are only interested in over-covering the advanced or obscure features). I was pleasantly surprised to find that this title actually provides hand-held walk-thrus for the uninitiated, and continues the education process to cover basics, intermediate and advanced skills. The author starts the title by ensuring that everyone has the same lab environment by way of an environmental setup walk-thru. This includes not only the Exchange portion itself, but hints and tips on how to minimize the hardware needed and build your environment with mostly trialware so as to keep the costs down for those who are reading the title outside of a corporate environment. From there, time is taken to introduce legacy and modern email protocols and formats in the context of the email client. Once covered you are taken deep inside the Exchange 2003 environment, starting with the service architecture and moving you thru server management, recipient / distribution list management and publishing, private mailbox and public folder health and control, message routing and finally Outlook Web Access. All of these topics are presented without undo references to how it was done in 5.5, which is a pleasant change from so many other titles that attempt the same level of Exchange education. Once you have become comfortable with the Exchange system itself, time is spent teaching you how Exchange is integrated with the parental network. This includes distributed architecture planning, Exchange 5.5 migration (which is separated out as a single chapter and easily skipped if you do not need it), and finally partner services, such as anti-virus and spam control mechanisms. What really sets this title apart, is that time is taken to ensure that the Exchange specific terminology is defined clearly and that you understand what the components are before you find yourself 70 pages in and realizing that what you just read doesn't mean what you thought it did (or if you're like me, you've reached a point where you can no longer just skip over the word pretending that it isn't important). Although covering technical aspects, it is written neither so dryly nor so technical as to put the reader off; the author enjoys the topic and passes the enthusiasm along. If you are looking for a title to teach you to Exchange 2003 administration - pick this up.