The Practice of System and Network Administration, Second Edition

I am currently using this as the textbook for a graduate level system administration course at BYU, where I am teaching as an adjunct professor. It was selected by other professors in a previous semester, and has proven to be a very good overview of system administration for the students. Truth is, I was so impressed by the first two or three chapters that I immediately purchased copied for my manager, who is new to IT, and my director, who is an expert with many years of experience.The text is quite readable, its only flaw being that it is around 1000 pages and a bit overwhelming to look at...and even more so when you heft it. But taken chapter-by-chapter, it covers the bases for many areas of IT quite well. It lacks depth in some areas, but is a good overview, with amazing breadth and very good depth in a surprising number of aspects of system administration and management. I thought that the first chapter was a particularly good way to peek into the depths of the book.

If you've been or are planning to be in the hot seat when it comes to running a orginization's computer systems than this book is for you. I read this after being an SA for 12 years for some of the biggest names in the business (IBM, EDS, NetApp, Sprint) and it still has information that's useful to me. I'm no slouch but the fact is that most of us have learned how to do our jobs by feeling pain and working to make that pain go away. This book lets you learn from *others* pain, as well as taking a step back from the "I NEED IT NOW" we all deal with to look in a logical and comprehensive fashion at the many aspects of system administration. I cannot recommend this highly enough.I don't agree with everything the authors say (I think DDNS is a decent system for most companies for instance), but informed discusion on these topics is a must even if you (as you should) come to your own conclusions. If you're not an SA and you have not read this book chances are you're not doing as good a job as you could be. Seriously.

Nice book. Bought for a college course

Absolutely invaluable when planning a new site, working on an existing site, or explaining things to non-technical employees. This book is filled with practical, succinct and easily understandable advice for all aspects of networking. It is sufficiently vendor neutral to apply to practically any environment. It is also specific enough to be useful in the field. Justifications are readily available for all the tips and pointers given in this book, along with real world examples.Overall this is an incredible value, an excellent reference, and highly recommended. It pulls together information from countless sources and topics into one streamlined resource. If only all networks were as organized and efficient as this book.

If you are new or old to the IT/SysAdmin field this is a great book. It will break down and explain many concepts to those not familiar to the field. Those that are it is a very nice refresher. The book is an easy read and allows for small chunks of reading here and there. I would recommend this to anyone in the SysAdmin/IT field.

I bought this based on the positive Amazon reviews. I am an experienced system administrator and IT Manager and my intent as a reader was to help me assess my own practices and give insight into things I hadn't considered or had overlooked. I would say if you have significant real world experience then this book isn't for you. However, if you are newer to the field and want to get an idea of the type of things systems/network administrators work with, then I don't think I've seen any other book that covers as much ground, nor that does it in a more friendly manner. It's very general so just don't consider the information to be authoritative or to offer you tools that you'd use in the work place after getting some years of experience in the field.I actually found it very hard to review this book. Based on their "resumes", the authors have extensive industry knowledge and perspectives. The frustrating thing is that it doesn't come out in this book. There is no real in-depth look at different options or methodologies, nor do areas of discussion seem comprehensive by any measure. I kept asking myself, "Where's the meat?". True, at times there are actually solid recommendations and new ideas, but it just isn't the nature of the book.On the other hand, when I looked at it as an introduction to the career of system/network administration, I had to admit that the friendly and approachable tone is refreshing and appropriate. The ambition of its scope is laudable. I see it as a high school "overview of this career" book, but written for an older audience. If you are that audience, then this book will be helpful to get you started, and I think you will appreciate it. However, after a few years in the field when you come back to this book you may find that you have outgrown it.

"The Practice of System and Network Administration" is different from most of the other technical books on a professional SA's bookshelf. This book is about how to become a professional system administrator.The profession is about more than knowning obscure options to different commands. To become a professional, a system administrator needs to change mindset from a straight-ahead techie to a member of the team who has specialized expertise.System administration has not always been recognized as a profession. System administrators themselves are partly to blame for that. We have tended to focus strictly on technology and not on how to structure our work to benefit both ourselves and the organizations we work for. Limoncelli, Hogan and Chalup have put togeter a great standard reference for people who are ready to transition to being professional system administrators.