4.2 Concepts, Tools, Tasks, and Notes
Each topic generally begins with a Concepts
section that provides you with the necessary background information
for administering the aspect of WS2003 being discussed.
Comprehensiveness of coverage varies with the subject matter; for
example, the DNS topic includes a fair amount of basic material on
DNS terminology. Readers who are coming from a Unix BIND background
may want to skim through this material to see how
Microsoft's take on DNS may differ from their own,
while those familiar with Windows NT or Windows 2000 Server platforms
can either skip all or portions of this material or use it as a
refresher, depending on their level of expertise in the subject.After Concepts may come a
Tools section, if it's helpful
to summarize the consoles, snap-ins, or other tools used to
administer the topic under consideration. Usually there is a
presentation of the basic features of each tool along with some tips
on how to get the most out of using it. If a tool is covered
elsewhere in the chapter, there may simply be a cross-reference
instead to indicate this.The Tasks section comes next. This section
outlines, in condensed form, various administrative tasks related to
the topic (unless the topic is informational only). In the DNS topic,
for example, you can find out how to perform various tasks such as
installing a DNS server, viewing or flushing the resolver cache,
configuring a forwarder, and so on. The tasks presented are usually a
selection of the most important or most common administrative tasks
relating to the topic. Minor and infrequent tasks are generally
omitted since wise readers can usually figure them out on their own.After Tasks frequently comes
Notes to detail some fine points and provide
tips, gotchas, things that may not be obvious, and strategies for
troubleshooting and administration. I recommend that you always read
the Notes section even if you just look up a
procedure for a simple task.Finally, at the end of most topics is See Also ,
a brief list of cross-references to other sections to which the
reader can turn for additional or related information. Note that
cross-references that are capitalized and italicized, like
Active Directory , DNS , or
Event Logs , point to topics in this chapter,
while those in lowercase and constant width font, like
adprep, dfscmd, or
tasklist, refer to commands described in Chapter 5.