Book Review
Windows Server 2003 Clustering & Load Balancing
by Robert J. Shimonski
Copyright 2003
Osborne McGraw-Hill
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Find out more about this book, or purchase it, from Amazon.com |
When it comes to clustering, there aren’t a lot of books to choose from, especially on Windows 2003 clustering. So if you are new to clustering, and are considering clustering either Windows 2000 or Windows 2003 (both topics are included), then you will want to consider this book.
The focus of the book is on how to plan, design, and implement both clustering and load balancing. While most of the book covers these topics generically, there is a chapter included in the book specifically on how to cluster SQL Server 2000.
Here’s what the book covers:
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Introduction to High Availability, Clustering, and Load-Balancing Technologies
Designing a Clustered Solution with Windows 2000 Advanced Server
Designing a Clustered Solution with Windows Server 2003
Designing a Clustered and Load-Balanced Solution with Application Center 2000
Designing a Clustered Solution with Windows SQL Server 2000
Designing a Highly Available Solution with Windows Services
Building Advanced Highly Available Load-Balanced Configurations
High Availability, Baselining, Performance Monitoring, and Disaster Recovery Planning
While this book includes material that is very hard to find, it doesn’t necessarily do a very good job at presenting it. The book is high-level in most cases, leaving out a lot of important details. It also includes factual errors. For example, it called the next version of SQL Server, SQL Server 2005 “Longhorn,” not “Yukon.” In addition, the material covering Windows 2003 clustering was based on the beta of the software, not the released version.
Although the book is not perfect, it is still a good place for beginners to start. Once you have read the book, then use other materials, such as that found on this website, and information on Microsoft’s website, to round out your education.
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