In the last few years, security has become a hot-button issue for IT organizations of all sizes. Accordingly, many of the security features that were either optional or suspect in Windows 2000 have become solid, effective fixtures in Windows Server 2003-making it the most secure operating system Microsoft has ever produced. That is, if you know how to configure it properly.

The Windows Server 2003 Security Cookbook wants to make sure that you do know how. Picking up right where its predecessor, the Windows Server Cookbook, left off, this desktop companion is focused solely on Windows Server security. It teaches you how to perform important security tasks in the Windows Server 2003 OS using specific and adaptable recipes. Each recipe features a brief description of the problem, a step-by-step solution, and then a discussion of the technology at work. Whenever possible, the authors even tell you where to look for further information on a recipe.

The book is written in a highly modular format, with each chapter devoted to one or more technologies that Windows Server 2003 provides. This approach allows you to look up a task or scenario that you want to accomplish, find that page, and read that particular recipe only. Topics include:

* System preparation and administration
* Protecting the computer at the TCP/IP level
* Applying security options to Active Directory
* Improving security on domain controllers
* Securing DHCP controllers
* Encrypting and signing network traffic using IPSec
* Patch management

If you're an intermediate or advanced system administrator who wants to feel secure when deploying Windows Server 2003 and its related services, then you don't want to be without the Windows Server 2003 Security Cookbook.