Active Directory for Dummies 2nd Edition

I am very proud to say that my second book was published this week. Active Directory for Dummies 2nd Edition is a completely updated version of the book from 2000 that now covers Active Directory in Windows Server 2008.  The book should be shortly available from the online vendors and then in the bookstores around the 2nd week of August. My hope is (other the book making a lot of sales) is that this book will prove to be a useful source of information for anyone that wants to learn about Active Directory either from scratch or is needing an update on what is new in AD 2008.

As I stated in the book, my intention is to continue to maintain this blog as a continuing aggregate source of information on Active Directory (as well as other topics). If you have purchased the book and wish to make comments and suggestions for future updates (I already have a list I have created<g>) please comment to this post and let me know.

Comments

[Kenneth]

Hi Steve,

Just received my copy ... do you have an errata out for the book?

Best,

Kenneth

[Steve Clines]

First, thanks for the purchase. To answer your question, I don't have an errata at this point but I expect that I will be creating one and post it here. Always wish it would be possible to create an error-free book but given that I wrote almost half of this before 2008 was released, I expect some errors. Of course Wiley has a process for minimizing this through technical reviews before publishing.

[Kenneth]

Steve,

I'm about half way through the book ... excellent so far.

FYI: Page 21, last paragraph on the page ... wasn't sure if the Windows 2000 mention was intentional or if it should have been 2003 or 2008.

Best,

Kenneth

[Steve Clines]

You are probably right in that I would have preferred that to say 2008 instead of 2000. But the good thing is that this is still true for AD in Windows 2000 Server. So technically it isn't incorrect.

[Andrew]

I just bought the book. Will the book be helpful for 2003 Server Active Directory? I plan on building some 2008 servers this year, but I need to know about 2003 Server AD as well. -Andrew

[Johny]

Do you intend to release a new version soon?
As I see this one does not really adhere to Server 2008 standards.
2008 recommends one single domain regardless of the company's size, while the book supports a domain for every external office.
A huge difference.

[Steve Clines]

Thanks for the question. I plan to and hope to get to do a third edition of the book. The 2nd edition is selling well. While there has been a number of AD enhancements like web serivces that are not in the current book, my guess is that there won't be a new book edition until the next major OS release.

To answer your question, I am definitely a big proponent of less is more so I would always recommend starting with a single domain forest before ever going to multiple ones. Hopefully I don't have something in the book stating you must separate domains for external offices. There are certainly situations though where this can potentially arise though. For example if you don't have RPC connectivity to an external office from the home office then you must use SMTP replication which in turns forces the need for a separate domain. Not a common scenario these days but the possibility still exists. Other reasons would be to accomodate an administrative model or a unique password policy (assuming you aren't going to use fine-grained password policies).

[Marcus]

Steve,

Enjoying the book but do you have an errata as mentioned in the 2008 post e.g. the text on p151 refers to the arrows in figure 9-7 but none are printed.