How to Use This Book

To see how useful this book can be, check out the next few sections.

Part I: Transitioning

The first part of this book includes two chapters designed to help ease the pain of NT and W2K administrators as you transition to the new WS2003 platform.

Chapter 1, NT 2003 , is aimed mainly at NT admins and highlights important differences between administering NT and WS2003. The first part of the chapter lists the WS2003 counterparts to NT administrative tools, utilities, and commands. The rest of the chapter describes new features and provides various tips to help make the transition easier.

Chapter 2, 2000 2003 , targets W2K admins and highlights differences between W2K and WS2003. The chapter begins by describing significant changes to administrative tools, utilities, and the GUI. It concludes by summarizing the new features and enhancements that make WS2003 a more secure, powerful, and manageable platform than W2K.

Although Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 are intended for different audiences, I highly recommend that both NT and W2K admins read both chapters to get the most comprehensive view of the changes and enhancements in the new platform.

Part II: Alphabetical Reference

The second part is the meat of the book. It consists of three reference chapters whose topics are arranged in alphabetical order.

Chapter 3, Task Map , lists more than 600 different administrative tasks organized under more than a hundred different headings. Most entries provide task-oriented references to topics in Chapter 4 or commands in Chapter 5 where you can find detailed information. The remaining entries either outline the steps for performing the task or describe a Group Policy setting relating to its administration. Think of Chapter 3 mainly as a quick entry point for the reference material in later chapters, with some extra goodies thrown in for good measure.

Chapter 4, GUI Reference , covers the concepts, tools, and tasks for administering WS2003 from the GUI. The chapter is divided into broad topic areas ranging from Active Directory to WINS and, together with Chapter 5, forms the core of this book. You can either browse a topic in this chapter to learn more about its administration or look up a specific task in it using the Task Map in Chapter 3 or the Index.

Chapter 5, Command Reference , lists more than a hundred different commands and scripts that can be used to administer various aspects of WS2003 from the command line. Almost a third of these commands are new to WS2003. For each command, the syntax is presented together with examples, notes, and cross-references to topics in Chapter 4. The enhancements to commands in WS2003 mean that Windows now rivals Unix in the ability to manage the platform from the command line.

Part III: Resources

An appendix and an acronym list round out the book.

Appendix A, lists some web sites that those administering WS2003 may find useful.

Glossary, helps you navigate the acronym maze for WS2003 from ACL to WPA.