Writing Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Administrator’s Pocket Consultant 2nd Edition was a lot of fun—and a lot of work. As you’ll see, Windows Server 2003 is very different from its predecessors, and that meant a lot of research to ensure that the book was as accurate as it could be. When all was said and done with the first edition, I ended up with a book that was nearly 1,000 pages long, and that just isn’t what a Pocket Consultant is meant to be. Pocket Consultants are meant to be portable and readable—the kind of book you use to solve problems and get the job done wherever you might be. With that in mind, I had to go back in and carefully review the text, making sure I focused on the core of Windows Server 2003 administration. Revising the book for the second edition was no less challenging. There’s a wealth of changes for the latest service packs and R2, which meant a lot of research and a lot of digging into the operating system internals. The result is the book you hold in your hand, which I hope you’ll agree is one of the best practical, portable guides to Windows Server 2003.

It’s gratifying to see techniques I’ve used time and again to solve problems put into a printed book so that others may benefit from them. But, no man is an island, and this book couldn’t have been written without help from some very special people. As I’ve stated in Microsoft Windows XP Administrator’s Pocket Consultant 2nd Edition and in Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Administrator’s Pocket Consultant, the team at Microsoft Press is top-notch. Throughout the writing process, Maureen Zimmerman and Denise Bankaitis were instrumental in helping me stay on track and getting the tools I needed to write this book. Both Maureen and Denise did a first-rate job managing the editorial process from the Microsoft Press side. Susan McClung headed up the editorial process for nSight, Inc. Their professionalism, thoroughness, and attention to every detail are much appreciated!

Unfortunately for the writer (but fortunately for readers), writing is only one part of the publishing process. Next came editing and author review. I must say, Microsoft Press has the most thorough editorial and technical review process I’ve seen anywhere—and I’ve written a lot of books for many publishers. Special thanks to Maureen, Denise, and Susan for helping me to meet review deadlines. Rozanne Whalen was the technical editor for the book. It was a great pleasure working with Rozanne. I’d also like to thank Joseph Gustaitis for his careful copyediting of this book. I believe Joe has been the copyeditor for every Pocket Consultant that I’ve written. His work is always top-notch!

I owe many thank yous to Martin DelRe and Lucinda Rowley. Thank you for believing in my work and for supporting my books. Thank you also to Linda Engelman. I truly enjoy working with all of you.

Thank you also to the many SCRB reviewers at Microsoft who reviewed the final copy and to my agents at Studio B, David Rogelberg and Neil Salkind.

Hopefully, I haven’t forgotten anyone, but if I have, it was an oversight. Honest.;-)