Sun Certified System Administrator for Solaris 10 Study Guide (Exams CX-310-200 & CX-310-202) (Certification Press)

I'd say this book, is one of the worse SCSA study guides I've read.*So, far I've corrected a good amount of the selftest questions/answers.*VERY limited information about SMF. There's TONS of information that's 9 related. Statements about starting SSHD via /etc/init.d/sshd SORRY Solaris 10 uses 'svcadm -v enable ssh' NOT an init script. Coverage on settng up rlogin/rsh tools with no password. However, NO mention of SSH doing the same over an encrypted line. Talk about misleading! The covering of inetd implies that you can use the 'standard' /etc/inet/inetd.conf script. NO mention of the inetconv only the inetadm. There's also NO mention of the '-r' flag that starts everything that a service needs. Hence, 'svcadm -v enable -r nfs/server'.*What's with 'how to setup NIS'? NIS is DEAD that's POOR material for Solaris 10 (maybe 7/8), how about LDAP setup coverage? Even Sun has dropped support of NIS. They don't provide the ldap client SMF mention in the book. They suggest the client is started with the 'ldapclient' command where it's 'ldap.client'. MOST things he implies are standard init scripts where MOST are wrappers for SMF. This SHOULD be mentioned since most newbies will probably miss it.*SVM coverage doesn't really explain 'how' to create volumes. The tools they mention in a setup (how to do it) use SMC MOST people or seasoned SAs will use the command line tools. There's NO mention to the fact two disk mirror of the root doesn't work right in Solaris 10 (known bug and waiting patch for).*The coverage of Jumptart & Zones are fast and brief. It's more like a 'summary' then an actual insight of the two.Page: 160Question 2.)Correct answer should be A, BUT the device name is incorrect it should be./dev/rdsk/c0d0s0 NOT /dev/rdsk/c0d0s3Page: 161Question 7.) Grammatical error: 'mountall' command should be 'umountall'Page: 178There is NO -D useradd default option for "shell" never has probably never will be.useradd -D -s /bin/ksh does NOT work there IS NO -s command.I'm using Solaris Express Nevada latest release and it doesn't have it either. Someone thinking Linux?Page: 210There is NO /etc/init.d/sshd for Solaris 10 EVER! It's always beensvcadm -v enable sshSomeone was clearly thinking Solaris 9 on this.Page: 229Question 11: The "real" correct answer is B, head will report the 'first three' most recent reboot commands, last will report the 'first' from the creation date of the file.Page: 498Question 4.)Should A,B,C be within /etc/security/ NOT just /etc/?These are the 'quick' skim from the book of notes I made. When I got tired I said I'd go back and make more corrections, but haven't had the chance yet. Probably won't got what I needed out of the book which wasn't much.I can go on and on.Don't waste your time on this book. If you're a 'newbie' to Solaris, great. If you're a seasoned SA looking for "Real 10" material, read all the docs.sun.com Solaris 10 information. However, save your money and attempt the Bill Calkins release (still being delivered to me, hopefully better then this waste of money) or as mentioned docs at Sun. This is a total disappointment for anyone 'really' wanting to know the juice of Solaris 10. Coming for a guy who's wrote a lot of stuff for BigAdmin and what not this is a waste. Contact me if you want 'specifics' on this search for William Pool [email protected]

Nice book, enough to pass the test probably. Very very basic topics on Solaris, how to install, navigate, manage devices, create directories, perform backups, etc. Very good for beginners. Nothing specific on Solaris architecture x86 or SPARC boot process or PROM, or anything on hardware, which is ok because the book is designed for administrators. For stuff like I think Sun books are the best. However, administrators should also be able to perform necessary steps on configuring new devices, mapping and managing external storage. This book barely covers external storage mapping or hardware installation and configuration.Good explanation on installation of Solaris 10, configuring network and file systems. Certainly one of the best books for the beginners.

I had SCSA 7 & 9 certs and tried to use this book for the SCSA 10 upgrade exam. Here are the thoughts I'd like to share, I'd be happy if someone finds them helpful.- First off, there are very few Solaris 10 guides available. So it's hard to be picky.- Yes, I did pass the test using that book. So it is possible and it has enough info to make you through.- I can't be specific about the topics of the real exam but they were pretty close to what the book covered. So the scope of the book is pretty adequate.- Typos and mistakes. This books is notorious for having tons of mistakes and typos. After some critical mass of mistakes you just start losing trust and if something doesn't look right, you never know if it's just a typo or not. That means you have to check Sun docs or login to a running system. It doesn't show much respect to the readers and I think a lot of disappointed reviews have a valid point here.- Style. It's a love or hate thing. The author is trying to make jokes, some people like it, but some people do not, it's a kind of distracting.- The author is trying to give you some info beyond the scope of the exam (Unix history etc). Knowledge is power but not everyone would appreciate reading extra off topics pages when they are trying to focus on the test preparation.Overall, I'd really like authors to drop off offtopics, clean up typos and mistakes and get rid of jokes. Maybe that would leave less room for authors self expression, but that would make a nice clean focused exam study guide. But once again, since there are not too many alternatives, don't be too picky and you'll get enough information (not presented in the best way) to pass the test. Good luck!

The book provides an useful guide focused on the exam, with details on both installation and administration subjects; suitable for those who approaches the subject.

perfect for anyone new to solaris.

I ended up buying the red & yellow "Exam Prep Solaris 10 System Administration" books (Part I & II) instead. I would not recommend this book as a learning aid or as a reference for experienced system administrators. In my opinion, it's worse than unhelpful - it's confusing. Take the practice test on the included CD, for example. In one multiple-choice question, the sample user name is named Boblost and one possible answer references Bobgone. You are left to wonder whether this is a typo or whether the choice should be eliminated. I wasted my money on this book.

Ok

The book has lots of white space on the pages with no text. If I wanted to look at white paper I'd buy a packet from the stationers.The book first discusses the kernel, but then goes back to the very basics, which is not what I personally want. For example, it shows you how to respond tologin:You are told you need to type your username, press RETURN and that the system will respond with a request for your password. The book tells you to enter your password and press RETURN. We are told the password will not be echoed to the screen for security reasons. (There's no mention of logging into remote systems via CDE or Sun Java Desktop).Then the 'cd' command is discussed.If I needed a book at that level, I'd buy a beginners, dummies or idiots guide - not one aimed at Sun's Solaris exams.The coverage is not very deep, which is inevitable given the amount of whitespace and the level it starts at.I also bought the book "Solaris 10 System Administration Exam Prep 2" by Bill Calkins. Despite Bill Calkins' book being 50% more expensive, it is much better value. Since that book is recommended by several Sun employees involved in setting the exam, I can only assume the level is about right, which means this book is far too basic.

Tres bon livre qui reprend toutes les notions des cours SUN SA-200 et SA-202, administration système pour SOLARIS 10. Le livre pointe les éléments importants en vue de l'examen de certification et est également une bonne référence dans la vie de tout les jours si une commande nous echappe.Un excellent support de revision et d'entrainement avec de nombreux exercices.Anglophobe, passez votre chemin puisque ce livre est entièrement en anglais (malheureusement).Bref a posséder absolument si vous voulez vous certifier et que vous avez encore besoin d'entrainement.