Apple Training Series: Mac OS X Server Essentials v10.6: A Guide to Using and Supporting Mac OS X Server v10.6,   ISBN:9780321635334

Customer Rating: 

"Apple Training Series: Mac OS X Server Essentials v. 10.6" is just what it says it is: a book on how to get Mac OS X 10.6 Server up and running, and how to configure it to support different types of environments and users. It is organized into major topics according to server services (mail services, file services, Web services, etc.), and richly illustrated with screen shots.

As the book is frequently used in classroom settings, every chapter has a classroom-style review section. But the book is not written as a textbook; you can skip around from topic to topic and use it as a "how to" guide.

The book assumes you are familiar with the concept of server services and have either a Mac OS X or Unix/Linux background. None of the topics is covered exhaustively, and some services -- the firewall, for example -- are essentially not covered at all. The emphasis is on getting Mac OS X 10.6 Server up and running quickly and supporting users.

On the whole, it is an excellent introductory volume. I would have preferred a better index, and almost every chapter could easily be expanded into a whole book. But judging the book on its intended audience and purpose, it is a winner.

Customer Rating: 

Passed the test in December. Took a class that was instructed by one of the authors but even without that, the book was very helpful. Very easy to grasp the content.

Customer Rating: 

I recently purchased a Mac Mini Server to replace some old hardware I have running linux. I thought, being a Mac, that this would be a very simple server to use an probably not need any additional documentation to run. I have been used to doing things in a very low level way and I kept trying to use the beautiful interface that Snow Leopard Server offered but then tweek things by hand. My servers I have been running for over 20 years are not very fancy and I had never configured directory services. I messed things up enough to the point where I reinstalled Snow Leopard Server a total of 5 times as I would mess things up again and again in my ignorance. I decided that I needed some help and while reading the Apple Documentation was helpful, I needed more.

This book has been perfect for me. It is very easy to read. It has pictures where they are needed and each chapter has an exercise that can be completed to learn the concepts. Since I had already set up my server and was using it to host several web sites, I could not follow the exercises verbatium but it was easy to transfer the ideas to my live server. This book has made things click for me and the server is humming along now. I am confident that the things I do won't mess it up now as I have a clear idea on what I need to do to accomplish the things I need to do.

I highly recommend this book to folks new to Snow Leopard Server.