SQL Server System Administration

This is by far the best SQL Admin book I have ever read. Bought 2 years ago, and I'm still referencing it. It's not your typical manual-style guide (ie, not Microsoft official books). It assumes you know the very basics, and explain concept behind it. So it's good for beginners, and intermediate levels DBA. Also great because of real-life examples.Lots of so-called guidebooks are merely a rewrite of Books online. And most authors barely know what they're talking about. Not this book.

This book is great for configuring your SQL Server out of the box or cleaning up an installation setup by someone who is less than knowledgable. It walks you around the common pitfalls and security gotchas. It does all of this with minimal fluff. Great for the people thrown to the DBA wolves without training.

I don't know why it is that reviewers tend to "jump on bandwagons" and follow what the previous reviewers say, as if by fear to be "unpopular". This book is great, it covers most of what you need to know about SQL Server 7, if what you want is to get started, and without having to read 1000+ pages full of reference and generic statements.This book is very well written, with a style that is unlike your "typical" technical book, as it is fresher and easy to follow.Perhaps its only downfall was that it lacked detail on certain key areas of interest, and at the same time it didn't cover some key commands and tools, but too few to find this book less than valuable.It is not the only book you want to own and because of that it is not a 5 star book as a super value. It is a 4 start because amongst other things, if you ever come across a tool you need a reference to, this book is not the book you want to have handy, because it is not a full reference.You will enjoy the read if you have no previous or very little SQL Server experience, otherwise it could go either way.

I really don't know what the previous reviewers are talking about. As a former Oracle DBA (one who is interested in the internals) this book gives the reader a great deal of information regarding the architecture of SQL Server 7.0. It is not a 'click here to do this' type of book. You do have to have a reasonable understanding of what a computer is to comprehend most of it. It is always on my desk and I give it a buy recommendation.

This book was not written as an in depth manual for SQL Server 7.0. It was written to cover certain topics that are usually not covered very well in other books. I have been using SQL 6.5 for some time and am in the process of upgrading to 7.0 (and already have on some servers). I found this book very enlightening, well written, and concise. Not a lot of hooplah.The only drawback was I found myself wishing that this author would write an in depth book about SQL 7.0.