Mastering Windows Server 2012 R2 1st Edition, Kindle Edition

2 stars really, I give it 3 so people might actually read the review instead of discarding it as an outlier or statistically insignificant. I purchased this book because of the awesome reviews such as "the only book you need to Master 2012....."I found this NOT to be the case. There are many typos including typos in scripts, really frustrating if you are not already a vbscript / PowerShell expert that can catch the syntax errors on first sight. By the way I have the physical book and the ebook, and its not formatting errors in publishing that were the issue with scripts, it was actually syntax errors in the example scripts. After 4 hours of wrestling with WinRm or image files and then realizing at midnight it's bad script examples in this book....well....pretty frustrating. It's like my Calc 2 class that was taught by a first year grad student.....you really want your money back, it's really disappointing, you are not getting what you paid for.I found the book disjointed and not ...contiguous. It seems to me that it was written and published in a hurry and it leaves out a lot of detail that, if you are purchasing this book, you will want. There are entire paragraphs that are duplicated back to back, major editing and publishing errors, and it has not been edited for technical accuracy. In addition, like other reviewers have said, the book is not up to date with 2012-R2 technology!!! The authors say as much, they tell you they were half way through writing it for 2012 before they were told to change it to include 2012R2.There is a big disconnect between details in this book on a particular topic and the questions you will get on the 70-410 and 70-411. I don't need detailed instructions on a basic windows install which this book has, but leaves out important details on harder topics such as, zero touch, answer files, .wim, etc. Microsoft isn't going to test you on how to put a CD in your drive and click next a few times but you will be tested on preparing a custom image in entirety including writing custom answer files, activation, and using said images and kits to deploy over the network or "pushing out an installation". The 3 examples I just listed on install and deployment, well, I got two multiple-part questions on the 70-410 in this area and this book has almost no information on them. (To be fair none of the non-Microsoft books have these details.)I buy books so that experts can guide me through the tough topics.....give me an understanding I might not gleam on my own....stuff I can't find in installed help. I just don't see how this book fits into studies for a professional certification; not enough details to get you through the 70-410 or 70-411 and not enough background /theory to be a good intro book. It's not like it's a gap filler either, there's no secrets or tips in this book you won't get elsewhere. I did a Server install pre-2008 a while back with little help and only a 24-hour Sam's guide. This book is at that level but is much longer and not as efficient. It might help you do a simple install and configure for say a real small business, but it will not help you pass the certifications.I expected more from a book with "mastering" in the title that clocks in at 1600 pages - this thing has a ton of filler. It would be a better buy if they: remove filler material; half the price; take mastering out of the title; and maybe Sybex could hire an editor and have them look it over before it is published, just saying, most of us expect a book to have been edited. Also, a 1600 page softcover, not easy to read or handle.You may be thinking, as I was, there aren't really any good books out there on 2012R2... and this one has the most good reviews... so I'll buy this one too because I really want to be thorough...... WRONG.***Use TechNet Instead*** Save your money! In fact some of the material in this book is straight from the TechNet website, which is free and fairly well organized. I'll try to make this more clear....everything in this book is on TechNet but only a fraction of the material on the TechNet website is in this book......you will have to use TechNet anyways. I lost track of how many times the book refers the reader to the TechNet website.....maybe every 10 pages or so.

Since Windows 2003, when I study MCSE or Windows Server, This is the only book I go and pick up, never look at other books. There is very unique style of Mark Minasi's book, which other books don't dare to. He simply puts everything you have to know about Windows Server, but don't make it complicate. You can just read from page 1 to the end without sitting with your PC to try because it has all the screen shots for step-by-step, but also doesn't miss to go deeper to the subject either.But this time, I worried how he would put everything, step-by-step, GUI, Powershell all together in one book, it never disappointed throughout the book.This is the only single book you would ever need to master windows 2012. Some subjects are left, but it guides you how to start studying more about it. It's not like other books I read, 'ok I'm tired, have no paper to put all, probably it's going to be another book to cover'. He covers as much as he can from beginning to end, then if you ever need more detail depending on your interest of subject, you can start researching based on his recommendation point.The book is organized very well;1st part, he explains the technology, why we need it, what it does, whether it's new or upgraded, sometimes history from the origin,2nd part is a summary of step-by-step ordered list, usually 3-5 steps, what you should do to implement in a big picture,then 3rd part is, more detailed actual step-by-step. This is really good breakdown of step-by-step to two parts. Sometimes, even though you follow step-by-step, after you finish it, you easily can't remember the big picture of what you have done because it's too many steps, your memory is limited. This book knows it, so it first gives you the 3-5 ordered list of steps what the next detailed steps are, then cover detailed steps with screenshots deeper and deeper actually to implement it.The 4th part is powershell. You know the technology the chapter covered, actual detailed steps to implement, now you want to do in cmdlet or script. I noticed he also even brings up non-powershell commands equivalent if it's worth, again not in a way mixing up and making you complicate. I could feel that the book is very careful not doing it throughout the book.Final part is, bottomline, it gives you to refresh yourself saying 'don't forget this big picture!'. And thanks for no labs.I hate useless long labs just reordering things and ask me 'prove me you read it!' Actually all labs are already in step-by-step. It's your choice you visualize your testing environment.Also, each subject such as active directory, remote access, VPN, others are covered in advanced at latter chapters, so you can refresh yourself and step up more.It's really well organized book,It won't allow you to forget what you read at the end.

I originally purchased this book because I'm planning our AD migration to Server 2012 and I'm happy with the content that was covered. The chapters feature a step-by-step process through most of the configurations and the real world scenarios and tips help to put things in perspective.After having read the Mastering Vsphere 5.5 book I decided to stick with the same author for Windows Server 2012 [R2] and I have to say that I have no regrets in doing so. The content is clear and easy to follow, which I appreciate greatly, I don't find myself having to re-read sections unless it's about a particular concept or Microsoft term. I don't know what it is with other authors who seem to think that IT Professionals enjoy reading the dense stuff. I also like the fact that they incorporate some humor into the chapters to further make the reading as enjoyable as possible.I definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for some extra research, or brush up on Windows Server 2012. It's nice to have everything in one place and not solely relying on forum posts, etc.

I'm a big fan of Mark Minasi and consider his "Mastering Server" books essential reading since the days of Server 2000. However, this book has a whole team of authors and it shows. The old books were readable from cover to cover - a bit of an unusual thing to do with a reference book admittedly, but Mark's style was so readable I did just that and picked up on some technologies I might have never otherwise known about and then use as a reference in the future.This book suffers from the writing style, or lack of it, from the co-authors - one of whom as an unbelievably annoying habit of using the word "leverage" instead of "use".E.g. rather than a group of disks you'd like to use in a storage pool, you have a group of disks you'd like to "leverage" in a storage pool. Likewise, with multiple networks cards I can "leverage" them together instead of just "using" them together as I have in the past. On and on....So, useful as a reference book still but not a readable tome any more, which is a great shame.

Hi, I prepare for my MCSE exam and this book contain everything what I need. The paper quality is great, nice and thin with a good touch feeling. The book have 1670 pages and is only 56 mm thick. I am disappointed with the fact that the images in the book are black and white. Anyway is a great book.

Not many R2 books about. But I really like this one. The page quality is a little thin, rips easily. But to be honest my IT books always end up tatty and covered in coffee.The detail is good. And seems to cover everything I wanted. Although I did hope for a little more on WDS.If you are thinking this or the unleashed beast, this is better in my opinion.

This is a great reference book to have if you're studying for MS exams or just interested in finding out what is going on behind the scenes. Given its breadth, I'd recommend that exam-takers also purchase a more exam-specific book as well. Anything other than a 'Microsoft Official' book.

Very useful book for studying the MCSE server 2012 and to keep as reference for use at work.The writers seem to be experienced and know what they are talking about.One slight drawback of this book is the quality of paper used to print on, its very thin and the ink is very light.I fell this can make it difficult to read as you can sometimes see the next page through it