[.ca] Setting up a Web Server (ISBN 1555581749)

Useful and informative publication:
As a relative newcomer to server setups, I found this book to be very helpful, exactly what I needed when starting out as a web server administrator. It is an excellent overview and a good introduction to the type of hardware and software required to run a web server.

To Old To Be Useful!:
This would be a really nice book if it was still 1960, however it's 2001 and things have changed ALLOT! It's not the books fault but save your money and find something newer. If you're still running old hardware and software this book may be perfect for you. END

Setting up a LAN web server:
A very informative book. However, the title should read "Setting up a LAN web server". This book explains how to set up your company directly to the web THROUGH an ISP. Not how to set up a web server to be an ISP, or to provide ISP service for your company directly.

Not what you might expect:
This book is NOT a detailed step-by-step guide on how to set up a web server as it's name or summary might suggest. While it provides a good overview on some of the features that make up a web server, the way the material is presented leaves much to be desired. If you don't already have at least some idea of what each of the topics being presented are about, this book will not help you understand them conceptually. In my opinion, this book is poorly written, incomplete, inconsistent, superficial, biased, and repetitive in style, making it almost painful to read. The summary states that it "is the complete reference book..." Don't believe it. This book will be in the recycle bin before it finds a permanent place on my bookshelf as a reference guide.

A useful reference book.:
This is not a HOW-TO, rather a how-to if you get my meaning. I enjoyed this book. Coming from a position of not knowing (but wanting) to set up a web server, I found it very informative. It helped me to decide on what line and PC equipment I would need to go for, or rather it confirmed what I already had in mind. The information is useful without being practical, and a lot of the cloudy issues concerning client-side/server-side were well discussed. In general, the book aims at telling you what you need to do without getting into the specifics. As a HOW-TO is is well short of its title, but if you want a 5000ft flyover over what web servers require it is a very useful guide. I would think the audience level is the beginner level. The book assumes you know what the technical terms are. In fact, if you don't, then you should not be considering looking at hosting you own web server. I enjoyed it, and unlike another authors review, it will find a place on my bookshelf once I've read it.