Reviews (4)

Pretty good kit
I've been working with SQL2000 for a few years (but no MS Cert), but really interested in getting my MSTS cert in SQL2005. I've started this kit/book, and so far seems to be a pretty good system overall. Good hands-on excercises, and if you have the resources to do so, be sure to set up a good test/play system to work with during this course. I don't really care for the practice test software that is in this kit (and no, not just because I missed a couple questions!), and have always used Transcender exams for material like this. Just seems a little awkward, and even though I've tried a couple of times, I've found it difficult to test just on certain subjects, such as Chapters 1 & 3 for example. The software would generate a test with a few items covered in later material - - but then again, this testing software was new to me. With that said, I'll will probably get the Transcender to suppliment this kit.

Good for reference and for the exam
This is one of the best Microsoft Press Training kits that I have seen. It has good overall coverage of the administrative features of SQL Server 2005 in addition to covering the exam objectives. It also has some useful dynamic management view (DMV) queries. It has a good lesson on how table partitioning works, which is very useful. Overall, a very valuable book.

Good book
Taking the test which this study guide is focus to is a very important step before give any content's feedback (i'm still preparing myself for the test) But i will give my 1st impression about the book anyway.
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Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - General    2. Computer Books: Database    3. Computers    4. Computers - General Information    5. Database Engineering    6. Database Management - General    7. General    8. Programming Languages - SQL    9. Computers / General    10. Databases & data structures    11. SQL   

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - General    2. Computer Books: Languages    3. Computers    4. Computers - General Information    5. Database Engineering    6. Database Management - General    7. General    8. Programming - Software Development    9. Software Design    10. Computers / General    11. Database software    12. SQL   

Reviews (10)

Do not bother
This book is a joke. It is poorly written, the grammar is crazy and wrong, and it dwells too much on events that are not important (click next, and click next, then click ok, and then next...). You would be well-advised to read another book, as well as BOL, before attempting 70-228.
passed first ime.... but....
I just passed 70-228 first time using just this book and BOL as guides. I found the first half of this book a waste of time.Way too much attention to how-to examples of performing steps in the GUI (Click this, click next, click OK).The second half, however, was much more useful.One thing though.It is useful in that it offers a failry concise, objective by objective, summary of what you will need to know for the exam and then points to BOL for the actual information.It is short on providing information in and of itself.
A complete waste of time and money!
Luckily I am already an Oracle DBA or I would not have been able to make real-world sense of the material presented in this book. In my opinion, it is pretty much worthless if you are preparing for the 70-228 exam or if you are wanting to work with SQL Server on the job. However, it is a great doorstopper/paperweight (which is why it is worth one star). Yes, I have passed the 70-228 exam, but I can guarantee you my passing had absolutely nothing to do with this book! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - General    3. Certification Guides - Msce    4. Computer Books And Software    5. Computers    6. Computers - Data Base Management    7. Database Management - General    8. Electronic data processing per    9. Electronic data processing personnel    10. Examinations    11. Microsoft software    12. Programming - General    13. Programming Languages - C++    14. Programming Languages - SQL    15. Relational Databases    16. SQL server    17. Sql (Programming Language)    18. Study guides    19. Computers / Programming Languages / C++   

Reviews (16)

Simply badly designed for exams
I believe that the writers made some bad choices when they first began to write this book. First of all, unlike most other certification books the exam goals are not together in one section. Instead there are whole chapters for queries, indexes, views, etc with all of the information about each topic in that chapter. So if you wanted to read about 'query optimization' you would have to read the sections within that chapter about query optimation from the queries chapter, from the index chapter, some from the views chapter, etc. So if you want to review a specific topic that you are not as good at you will be doing a lot of page flipping.
This Won't Prepare You For 70-229 But a Good Starting Point.
This book is a very easy read, explains concepts clearly, but lacks the kind of detail necessary for passing the 70-229 exam, especially if you are taking this as an elective on the developer track. It will get you through most of what you need to know at 10,000 feet, but it will not take you to a passing score. It taught me things I had never used and for that it is well worth the time investment. I also love the fact that you can install the "e-book" on a laptop and a desktop at home and never carry the hard cover book around.
Book for SQL novice
This book is good for a person whom does not know any thing about SQL and Database Designing. If you are an Experience whom trying to get ready for the exam. then save your money and look for different one. This book will just wast your time. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - General    3. Certification Guides - MCSD    4. Certification Guides - Msce    5. Computer Books: General    6. Computers    7. Computers - Data Base Management    8. Database Management - General    9. Database Management - SQL Server    10. Databases    11. Design    12. Electronic data processing per    13. Electronic data processing personnel    14. Examinations    15. Microsoft software    16. Programming Languages - SQL    17. Relational Databases    18. Sql (Programming Language)    19. Study guides    20. Computers / Database Management / General    21. Database software   

Reviews (3)

useful, but has factual errors (partly Microsoft's fault)
OK, I'm modifying this since some of the RAID confusion seems to have originated in the MSDN docs, rather than with the author.
Use as a Sudy Guide
This is a lightweight book designed to be easily carried with you. The size is such that your palm can almost fit the whole book. It uses cheap newsprints for its pages which make it lighter than it would normally have. It has a little more than 330 pages but the main part has 220 pages, the rest are for the practice tests and answers.
A Pretty Good Introduction and Sample Exams
This is a book designed purely to get you a passing grade on the Microsoft Certified Technical Specialist 70-431 test on Implementing and Maintaining Microsoft SQL Server 2005. Note that this test is not concerned with the use of a database, there's nothing on areas like programming in T-SQL. Instead it's oriented more to the database administrator.
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Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - General    3. Computer Books: Database    4. Computers    5. Computers - Certification    6. Database Engineering    7. Database Management - General    8. Database Management - SQL Server    9. Database design    10. Electronic data processing personnel    11. Examinations    12. Microsoft software    13. Sql (Programming Language)    14. Study guides    15. Tests    16. Computers / Technical Skills    17. Databases & data structures    18. SQL   

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - General    2. Computer Books: Languages    3. Computers    4. Computers - General Information    5. Database Management - General    6. General    7. Programming - Software Development    8. Relational Databases    9. Software Design    10. Computers / General    11. Computing and Information Technology    12. Database software    13. SQL   

Reviews (7)

Good For Revision, But u need to Couple it with Another Reference

Average exam review
A good review book explains all the topics in a consise fasion this book does explain the topics that well is a bit disorganized and has topics missing. There are better review books out the for SQL 2K

Good but not enough
This book is a good, general introduction to the 70-229 exam concepts - but I had to couple it with the Transcender practice exam before I felt comfortable taking the exam.The exam topics are so broad that the book doesn't do enough to emphasize when to use what.It also skips some important topics (sp_cursoropen) and its practice tests include Full Text Searches which the book notes are unlikely to be on the exam.To the editors: A 'databases' index entry with three pages of sub-entries is redundant in a book about databases.I love the Exam Cram series, but this was the poorest book of the bunch. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - General    2. Certification Guides - MCSE    3. Computer Books: Database    4. Computer Books: General    5. Computers    6. Computers - Languages / Programming    7. Database Engineering    8. Database Management - General    9. Programming Languages - SQL    10. Tests    11. Computers / Technical Skills    12. Databases & data structures    13. SQL    14. Study guides, home study & revision notes   

Reviews (19)

Oblivion and Perdition
I purchased this book with the expectation that it would help me prepare for the exam. The CD provides practice exams and other resources to give one the impression they are on their way to certification. However, there are numerous errors in the book as well as on the CD, particularly with the "Edge Test" software, which incorrectly grades tests and does not allow users to select the right answers. This issue is actually moot, since the practice tests actually do not address problems presented in the certification exam. I recommend using the on-line resources affiliated with the testing organizations. They also provide discounted vouchers.

A very useful book despite all the errors!
Let me just get it out of the way by mentioning first that this book contains many errors - perhaps more than an average technical book.However, most are typographical and do not degrade the value of the book that much.
The best book to start
This book was a good way to start studying for the exam. After finishing the book you are almost ready.
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Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - MCSE    3. Computer Books: Operating Systems    4. Computers    5. Computers - Certification    6. Database Management - General    7. Database Management - SQL Server    8. Electronic data processing per    9. Electronic data processing personnel    10. Examinations    11. Microsoft software    12. Programming Languages - SQL    13. Relational Databases    14. Sql (Programming Language)    15. Study guides    16. Computers / Technical Skills    17. Database software    18. Databases & data structures    19. SQL   

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - General    2. Computer Books: Database    3. Computers    4. Computers - Certification    5. Database Engineering    6. Database Management - General    7. Database Management - SQL Server    8. Tests    9. Computers / Technical Skills    10. Databases & data structures    11. SQL    12. Study guides, home study & revision notes   

Reviews (17)

MCDBA, MCSE, MCSD, MCAD Training Guide
The book met the requirements of the course it was being used for... it was how ever a little bit lax on the code portion...when it came to doing the project it left a bit to be desired in clarity of how to build a data base in SQL...

Horrible!!
Why can't authors ever flow through a book in an ordely manner?What is the point of jumping from chapter to chapter?For example, many times through out this book references are being made to up coming chapters about specific topics in chapters that don't belong there.Why do you tell the reader about an up coming topic in a chapter that doesn't belong there and then ask a question about it in the chapter test.Why even make a chapter about that specific topic if your going to include it in a chapter that doesn't belong there?Thats a little redundent!!Also the author likes to give you examples on how to do certain things the right way, and then tests you on something he never covered in the chapter.If the topic has nothing to do with the chapter, do not include in the chapter.If you do include it into a chapter in which it doesn' belong, don't include it into the chapter test.How do you expect the reader to completely understand and answer the question if he or she knows nothing about it?Unless, your wanting the reader to stop what there doing, flip to the chapter and read it, then go back to the previous chapter your testing on just for that one little question that doesn't belong.Rediculous!!

Good, but not as dead on as others in the series
I just passed the 70-229 exam this morning with an 862. My study strategy involved reading this book cover to cover over a 2 week period and taking some uCertify practice exams.
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Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - General    3. Certification Guides - MCSE    4. Computer Books: Database    5. Computers    6. Computers - Certification    7. Database Management - General    8. Database Management - SQL Server    9. Database design    10. Electronic data processing per    11. Electronic data processing personnel    12. Examinations    13. Microsoft software    14. Relational Databases    15. Study Guides    16. Computers / Technical Skills    17. Database software    18. Databases & data structures    19. SQL   

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - MCSE    2. Computer Bks - Certification    3. Computer Books: Web Programming    4. Computers - Certification    5. Database Management - SQL Server    6. Computers / Networking / General    7. Education   

Reviews (6)

Easy to read, but ...
I've not decided to get this one before because i already had a couple of SQL books for the 70-228 (Unleashed, 70-228 for Dummies and SQL in 10 min from Ben Forta) book's reviews were not so good either. But ... i went to a major book store last night and i was able to hold the book on my own hands and read some chapters. My 1st impression, after read a few pages quickly, was a good one. Nice explanations...a lot of graphics (i love that, it helped me a lot when i'm studying)It's the kind of book you like to read and you enjoy the lecture at same time. But ... but ... it is not complete and it just gave a quick brief on most of topics.
DEFINITELY Incomplete Information
I bought this book because 1)I have absolutely ZERO experience with Microsoft SQL 2000 and 2)I have used Sybex books in the past to help me gain knowledge of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, of which I have passed all exams.
Good Contents
Coming from Oracle background I am currently using this book to prepare for my MCDBA certification. I would not rate myself as beginner because I have dealt with MS SQL Server on many occasions but not heavily. I am pacing myself with one chapter a day. So far I read about 5 chapters and I would admit that the content is good. Like any other technical book, this one also has some mistakes. In my case I started seeing the mistake on pages 145 and 146. On those pages the authors stated that to see the file id you need to run in the SQL Analyzer the stored procedure sp_helpdb. That is not true at all it should be sp_helpfile. I caught that mistake quickly because I really understood the previous information given and related to file, and I also tested the stored procedures listed in the book. I did check the errata on sybex website nothing is listed concerning that mistake but there are some other corrected mistakes though on the website.
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Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - General    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computers    4. Computers - Certification    5. Database Management - General    6. Programming Languages - SQL    7. Relational Databases    8. Sql (Programming Language)    9. Computers / Technical Skills    10. Database software    11. SQL   

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - General    2. Computer Books: Database    3. Computers    4. Computers - Certification    5. Database Engineering    6. Database Management - General    7. Tests    8. Computers / Technical Skills    9. Database software    10. SQL   

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - General    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computers    4. Computers - Certification    5. Database Engineering    6. Database Management - General    7. Database Management - SQL Server    8. Tests    9. Computers / Technical Skills    10. Database software    11. SQL   

Reviews (9)

Consice and Comprehensive at That
Well, I was learning MS SQL with this book after I had some development experience with MySQL. This actually was the right book for me and I was able to quickly study those aspects of MS SQL that are different from MySQL. I was not only able to pass the exam but also acquired skills that I am currenty using on my job.
What isproof reading
I think the author did good but it all went to pot at the proofreaders. A typo, error, or omission in 1 out of 15 pages.I had to write stuff in and cross stuff out. It would throw the novice SQL person off on XML alone because of the thouroughly botched job between XML auto and XML raw and claiming that the ELEMENT phrase can be used with XML RAW which it can not. One of many errors.Buy the MS training book, read BOL, get transcenders, but stay clear of this unless you are a seasoned pro that can pick out the mistakes from the good stuff

Terrible Book
Of all the technical books I have read, this is probably by far the worst. There are many typos; errors where the book uses the wrong word and throws you off; and inconsistencies where the text says something then the answer to the practice question says something different. But additionally, the book covers some materials insufficiently to be at all useful, in other words it is too condensed. This book is not enough to pass the exam. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification - General    3. Certification - MCSE    4. Certification Guides - General    5. Certification Guides - MCSE    6. Computer Bks - Certification    7. Computer Books: General    8. Computers    9. Computers - Certification    10. Database Management - SQL Server    11. Electronic data processing personnel    12. Examinations    13. Microsoft software    14. Operating Systems - Windows    15. Programming Languages - SQL    16. Relational Databases    17. SQL (Computer program language)    18. Sql (Programming Language)    19. Study guides    20. Database management    21. Database software    22. Electronic books    23. SQL   

Reviews (10)

Not Quite Enough
The book doesn't cover all the topics I had on the exam, and what it does cover it does without much depth.That's OK, I know how to use BOL.I never used the practice question in the book so I can't speak to those.You can get by with this book for the exam if you have some practical experience (imagine that!), use the BOL and most importantly (for me at least), a good practice exam.

Good, but not enought
This book explain difficult concepts in a easy way. It is very well organized but lacks of in depth coverage; most T-SQL commands are just covered briefly with no examples at all (Sybex book has more Exercises). I suggest to buy this one with Sybex 70-228 study guide or any other study guide of your choice. This one alone (if you have no previous experience with SQL 2000) will guide you to "failed" screen message when you reach the end of the test.

Needs Some Error Checking
There are too many mistakes in this book. You have to read fairly carefully to not get caught by them. For example, one of the "Prep Test" questions for chapter 14 is, "How do you create a temporary backup device?". In the answers it refers the reader to the "Performing Backups" section, which does not contain the specific answer that they're looking for. This is one example out of many where the text does not prepare you at all for a question.Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - MCSE    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computers    5. Computers - Certification    6. Database Management - SQL Server    7. Electronic data processing per    8. Electronic data processing personnel    9. Examinations    10. Microsoft software    11. Programming Languages - SQL    12. SQL (Computer program language)    13. Study guides    14. Computers / Technical Skills    15. Database software    16. SQL   

Reviews (12)

Incomplete book for the 70-228 exam
I started studying for the exam with this book and I noticed that this book has poor information for the following areas:
Great buy!
Though I have not yet taken any exam (aiming for mcdba), I find this book really good. I am one of those who wants to learn a bit a theory as well, not just the practical parts. And I find this book to cover all of my expetations... A little minus for the boring chapters about upgrading Sql-s 6.5 and 7.0 though:), I hope that when I get to the age when I am supposed to find me a work (and hopefully something that has with sql-s to do) that they have done the upgrading before I arrive:D

Good book
I just recently started my SQL class, so I don't know everything, but I do know that as far as books go, this one isn't bad. For people who just want to get a paper certifiction as soon as possible...and then get fired job after job after job because they still don't know..., I suppose it isn't so hot....maybe that's why these kind of books get a lot of bad reviews. Here's a hint: I think it was meant to be used in a course with an actual instructor, and yes, you just might have to think and put some time in on it. SQL takes a good year to get down anyways, this book is just meant to introduce concepts, terms, and other information. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - General    3. Certification Guides - MCSE    4. Computer Books And Software    5. Computer Engineering    6. Computers    7. Computers - Certification    8. Database Management - SQL Server    9. Electronic data processing per    10. Electronic data processing personnel    11. Examinations    12. Microsoft software    13. Professional - General    14. Programming Languages - SQL    15. Relational Databases    16. SQL server    17. Sql (Programming Language)    18. Study guides    19. Computers / General   

Reviews (1)

A good Lab Book, but not even close for test-prep
Let's say that they gave it a try. Labs are fine, just less than about 20 typos. Just like all other test-prep books, this one also have copied a lot out of MOCs and since MOC did not help with the certfiication, at least for SQL exams, this book did not come out good either. Even Sybex, Microsoft Press seem to follow the same trend. I gave it four stars, because labs are at least ordered and somewhat relate to the basic SQL admin skill. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Bks - General Information    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computers - General Information    4. General   

Reviews (21)

A terrible book, full of mistakes
DON'T BUY THIS BOOK! It is full of mistakes, and I don't mean typos. There are outright incorrect statemetnts, for instance:
Needs Improvement
If you are new to SQL server and want to know the basics of the application then this books if your you. If you want to pass the exam however then I suggest you look else where. The material is too simplistic and there are too much typo errors. I read the book twice before turning to other materials like the Transcenders and Self Test software and I must say had it not beenforthe other materials that I used I would have failed the exam.

Because zero stars isn't an option
This book is terrible.Period.The writing is dry, probably only 25% of the material is applicable to the exam itself, and the book is filled with inaccuracies.I sincerely doubt the author even took the 70-228 exam before writing this book, ...A complete waste of money, avoid this book like the plague. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - General    3. Computer Books: Languages    4. Computers    5. Computers - Certification    6. Database Management - SQL Server    7. Electronic data processing per    8. Electronic data processing personnel    9. Examinations    10. Microsoft software    11. Programming - General    12. Programming Languages - SQL    13. SQL server    14. Study guides    15. Unix (Operating System)    16. Computers / Technical Skills    17. Database software    18. Internet    19. SQL   

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computers    3. General    4. Database software