Windows IT Library UPDATE, April 16, 2003

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April 16, 2003--In this issue:

1. BOOK REVIEW
- MCSE Windows XP Professional Exam Cram2

2. ANNOUNCEMENT
- Couldn't Make the Microsoft Mobility Tour Event?

3. NEW FROM WINDOWS IT LIBRARY
- Windows NT Troubleshooting - Windows 2000 Authentication

4. NEW BOOKS IN PRINT
- .NET Web Services: Architecture and Implementation - XML Data Management: Native XML and XML-Enabled Database Systems

5. NEW EBOOKS
- CodeNotes for VB.NET - The Insider's Guide to IT Certification

6. WINDOWS IT LIBRARY TOP FIVE
- Microsoft Windows NT Server Administrator's Bible: Option Pack Edition - A+ Certification: How to Pass Your Exams - Microsoft Windows NT Secrets: Option Pack Edition - The Microsoft Outlook E-mail and Fax Guide - Undocumented Windows NT

7. TECHNICAL TIP
- Local Procedure Calls in Windows NT

8. CONTACT US
See this section for a list of ways to contact us.

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1. ==== BOOK REVIEW ====

* MCSE Windows XP Professional Exam Cram2

Authors: Dan Balter and Derek Melber
Publisher: Que Certification
Published: November 2002
ISBN: 0789728745 Paperback, 512 pages plus companion CD-ROM
Price: $29.99

If you want to attain Microsoft certification to help your career prospects, but you're not sure how to get started, one potential source of help is the "Exam Cram" series of books ( http://www.examcram.com ). One of these books, and the concentration of this review, is "MCSE Windows XP Professional Exam Cram2." This book is for IT professionals who want to pass the first of Microsoft's four core OS exams: Exam 70-270 Installing, Configuring, and Administering Microsoft Windows XP Professional.

If you've never taken a Microsoft certification exam, I recommend that you read the book's introduction first. The introduction discusses what the Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) system entails and provides overviews of the certifications that are currently available: the MCP certification; the Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA) certification; the MCSE certification; the MCSD certification; and the Microsoft Certified DBA (MCDBA) certification. For more details about these different certifications, visit the official Microsoft Training & Certification site (http://www.microsoft.com/trainingandservices).

The book's introduction also lists additional materials and resources that can help you prepare for the exam. The list of resources includes Microsoft training kits, the monthly Microsoft TechNet CD-ROM, other relevant study guides, and formal classroom training that Microsoft Certified Technical Education Centers (CTECs) or third-party training companies offer. The book's introduction concludes with advice about how to register with a testing center and how to track your MCP status after you've passed a certification exam.

Be aware that the authors didn't intend that the book cover everything you'll need to know about Windows XP Professional Edition to pass the certification exam. The authors had two major goals for the book: to "present and dissect the questions and problems we've found that you're likely to encounter on a test" and to "bring together as much information as possible about Microsoft certification exams." I believe that the authors have achieved both of those goals. To get the most out of this book, you should use it for test preparation and review, not to learn the concepts you'll need to know to pass the exam.

After you've read the introduction, the authors suggest that you take the accompanying self-assessment test. This self-assessment will help you determine how ready you are to take the XP Pro certification exam. Taking a certification exam isn't cheap, so you need to be well prepared if you hope to pass the first time.

"MCSE Windows XP Professional Exam Cram2" contains 12 chapters, including "Installing, Configuring, and Troubleshooting Hardware Devices and Drivers," "Implementing, Managing, and Troubleshooting Network Protocols and Services," and "System Monitoring, Performance Optimization, and Recovery Features." You can find out more about the book's contents by visiting the Que Publishing Web site ( http://www.quepublishing.com ). To find the book's Web page, initiate a search by using the ISBN number (0789728745). You'll be able to read a sample chapter, "Establishing, Configuring, and Managing Resources." The sample chapter doesn't include the chapter title. To find the sample chapter, you have to first click on the "Managing Access to Shared Folders" link. Links to sections in the chapter are included: "Managing Access to Shared Folders"; "Monitoring, Managing, and Troubleshooting Access to Files and Folders"; "Managing and Troubleshooting Web Server Resources"; "Managing Local and Network Print Devices"; "Practice Questions"; and "Need to Know More?" This book's Web pages could have been presented better.

Each of the book's chapters follows a similar structure and is comprised of the following components:

- Opening hotlists--These lists contain terms and phrases that you should understand, as well as a list of techniques that you need to master. For example, to install and deploy XP Pro, you should be familiar with dynamic updates, the Sysprep tool, and the User State Migration Tool (USMT), and you should know how to use Sysprep to create an image.
- Topical coverage--The bulk of each chapter concentrates on the various topics associated with that chapter's subject matter. For example, in the chapter about implementing and managing user and desktop settings, topics include fast user switching, synchronizing offline files and folders, and the Control Panel Sounds and Audio Devices applet.
- Practice questions--So that you can test your knowledge after reading a chapter, each chapter ends with a series of relevant questions.
- Details and resources--To point you in the right direction for additional study material, each chapter contains a useful "Need to Know More?" section. This section lists the details of both Microsoft and third-party resources and typically includes Web site addresses and the titles of books and CD-ROMs.

The book's authors, Dan Balter and Derek Melber, are experienced technical trainers and consultants. You can learn more about Melber by visiting the BrainCore.Net site ( http://www.braincore.net ); you can learn more about Balter on the InfoTechnology Partners site (http://www.infotechnologypartners.com). The editor of the "Exam Cram" series, Ed Tittel, is also an accomplished IT author, with more than 20 years of experience in the computing industry.

The book's companion CD-ROM contains a preview edition of a practice test for the Microsoft Windows XP Professional certification exam from PrepLogic ( http://www.preplogic.com ), a provider of certification training tools and practice exam software. As you progress through the sample questions, you'll see how well you perform under exam conditions by watching the time count down. Or you might prefer to work through each test question and check your answer immediately. After you've completed the questions, you can have the test exam graded. The CD-ROM lists details of how to purchase the full version of the practice exam. The CD-ROM also contains the entire contents of the book in PDF format.

As a bonus, "MCSE Windows XP Professional Exam Cram2" includes a removable cram sheet. The cram sheet is a collection of key facts about XP Pro that have been assembled from different parts of the book. The cram sheet is a useful tool for reviewing vital information before you take the certification exam.

You can browse through the complete list of books in the "Exam Cram" series by going to the Exam Cram Web site. While there, you can also take advantage of the site's other certification aids and resources. For example, you can stay focused on your certification goals by signing up for an "Exam Cram 2 question of the day." If you do, you'll receive email messages containing questions that pertain only to the exam or exams for which you're currently preparing. Another helpful resource on the Exam Cram site is the Certification Center, in which you can read articles and engage in discussions about the different aspects of certification.

As you prepare for your exam, you should acknowledge that earning the XP Pro certification would require more than simply showing up for the exam. In fact, Balter and Melber strongly suggest that you be "keenly aware that it does take time, involves some expense, and requires real effort to get through the process." Their book represents an excellent resource to help you reach your goal of becoming a Microsoft-certified XP professional.

Tony Stevenson
mkdsoftware@trump.net.au
Windows IT Library Guest Reviewer

For more book reviews, visit the Windows IT Library Web site.
http://www.WindowsITlibrary.com/bookreviews

2. ==== ANNOUNCEMENT ====

* COULDN'T MAKE THE MICROSOFT MOBILITY TOUR EVENT? If you were too busy to catch our Microsoft Mobility Tour event in person, now you can view the Webcast archives for free! You'll learn more about the available solutions for PC and mobile devices and discover the direction the mobility marketplace is headed. http://www.winnetmag.com/seminars/mobility

3. ==== NEW FROM WINDOWS IT LIBRARY ====

* WINDOWS NT TROUBLESHOOTING
Learn all the tweaks, tips, and administration shortcuts necessary to keep a Windows NT environment trouble-free. This reference contains detailed solutions and preventive techniques for the most common NT hotspots.
http://www.WindowsITlibrary.com/documents/book.cfm?documentid=638

* WINDOWS 2000 AUTHENTICATION
This chapter looks at the most important OS security service--authentication--and how Windows 2000 implements it. Learn about the Win2K authentication architecture and the nuts and bolts of the Kerberos authentication protocol, such as how it compares with Windows NT LAN Manager (NTLM) and how you can use it as a single sign-on (SSO) solution between different OSs.
http://www.WindowsITlibrary.com/content/617/06/toc.html

4. ==== NEW BOOKS IN PRINT ====

* .NET WEB SERVICES: ARCHITECTURE AND IMPLEMENTATION
This book is a guide to designing better Web services by using Microsoft technologies. Written by Keith Ballinger, a program manager for XML Web services at Microsoft, this book explains what Web services are, why they exist, and how they work in Microsoft .NET. Readers will gain a thorough understanding of the technologies that allow them to take full advantage of .NET.

http://www.awprofessional.com/isapi/product_id~{7DE400CC-72CF-4F97-9A3D-8B51AE370B9F}/catalog/product.asp

* XML DATA MANAGEMENT: NATIVE XML AND XML-ENABLED DATABASE SYSTEMS
In this book, you'll find discussions about the newest native XML databases, along with information about working with XML-enabled relational database systems. In addition, this book thoroughly examines benchmarks and analysis techniques for performance of XML databases.
http://www.awprofessional.com/catalog

5. ==== NEW EBOOKS ====

* CODENOTES FOR VB.NET
"CodeNotes for VB.NET" illustrates the major changes in the Microsoft .NET edition of Visual Basic (VB), emphasizing the Common Language Runtime (CLR), syntax changes, WinForms, assemblies, new object-oriented (OO) programming features, threading, and a survey of new .NET technologies such as ADO.NET, ASP.NET, and Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP). This book will help VB developers at any level understand the power of Visual Basic .NET and learn the necessary techniques to move from VB 6 to Visual Basic .NET.
http://winnet.bookaisle.com/ebookcover.asp?ebookid=13450

* THE INSIDER'S GUIDE TO IT CERTIFICATION
The "Insider's Guide to IT Certification" is a comprehensive how-to manual that will help you conserve your time and money while you become certified. This book will help you choose the right certification to study for, the right materials and methods to study with, and the proper ways to prepare for the exams.
http://ebooks.winnetmag.com/ebookcover.asp?ebookid=13534

6. ==== WINDOWS IT LIBRARY TOP FIVE ====

* MICROSOFT WINDOWS NT SERVER ADMINISTRATOR'S BIBLE: OPTION PACK EDITION
This book, with specific coverage of the Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack add-ons, can help you plan, install, configure, manage, optimize, and connect NT Server 4.0 to the Internet.
http://www.WindowsITlibrary.com/documents/book.cfm?documentid=405

* A+ CERTIFICATION: HOW TO PASS YOUR EXAMS
This book walks you through all the skills tested in the Computing Technology Industry Association's (CompTIA's) CompTIA A+ certification exam--both the A+ Core Hardware exam and the A+ OS Technologies exam.
http://www.WindowsITlibrary.com/documents/book.cfm?documentid=175

* MICROSOFT WINDOWS NT SECRETS: OPTION PACK EDITION
Packed with the kind of notes, tips, and workarounds that come only from years of working day-in and day-out with a product, this book will help you optimize the performance, reliability, and security of your network. http://www.WindowsITlibrary.com/documents/book.cfm?documentid=329

* THE MICROSOFT OUTLOOK E-MAIL AND FAX GUIDE
Written for Microsoft Outlook end users and the administrators who support them, this volume explains all the real-world tasks that you're likely to encounter when working with Outlook, plus many timesaving techniques that take you beyond the basics.
http://www.WindowsITlibrary.com/documents/book.cfm?documentid=191

* UNDOCUMENTED WINDOWS NT
This book documents what goes on under the covers in Windows NT. Three experts share what they've dug up on NT through years of hands-on research and programming experience. The authors dissect the Win32 interface, deconstruct the underlying APIs, and decipher the Memory Management architecture to help you understand operations, fix flaws, and enhance performance.
http://www.WindowsITlibrary.com/documents/book.cfm?documentid=356

7. ==== TECHNICAL TIP ====

* LOCAL PROCEDURE CALLS IN WINDOWS NT
This tip is excerpted from Prasad Dabak's, Milind Borate's, and Sandeep Phadke's "Undocumented Windows NT" (M&T Books, 1999).
http://www.WindowsITlibrary.com/documents/book.cfm?documentid=356

In Windows NT, client-subsystem communication happens in a fashion similar to that in the MACH operating system. Each subsystem contains a client-side DLL that links with the client executable. The DLL contains stub functions for the subsystem's API. Whenever a client process--an application using the subsystem interface--makes an API call, the corresponding stub function in the DLL passes on the call to the subsystem process. The subsystem process, after the necessary processing, returns the results to the client DLL. The stub function in the DLL waits for the subsystem to return the results and, in turn, passes the results to the caller. The client process simply resembles calling a normal procedure in its own code. In the case of RPC, the client actually calls a procedure sitting in some remote server over the network--hence the name "remote procedure call." In Windows NT, the server runs on the same machine; hence the mechanism is called a "local procedure call."

There are three types of LPC. The first type sends small messages up to 304 bytes. The second type sends larger messages. The third type of LPC is called Quick LPC and is used by the Win32 subsystem in Windows NT 3.51.

The first two types of LPC use port objects for communication. Ports resemble the sockets or named pipes in UNIX. A port is a bidirectional communication channel between two processes. However, unlike sockets, the data passed through ports is not streamed. The ports preserve the message boundaries. Simply put, you can send and receive messages using ports. The subsystems create ports with well-known names. The client processes that need to invoke services from the subsystems open the corresponding port using the well-known name. After opening the port, the client can communicate with the server over the port.

Short Message Communication The client-subsystem communication via a port happens as follows. The server/subsystem creates a port using the NtCreatePort() function. The name of the port is published and known to the clients (or, rather, to the client-side DLL). The NtCreatePort() function returns a port handle used by the subsystem to wait and accept requests using the NtListenPort() function. Any process can send connection requests on this port and get a port handle for communication. The subsystem receives the request messages, processes them, and sends back the replies over the port to the client.

The client sends a connection request to a waiting subsystem using the NtConnectPort() function. When the subsystem receives the connect request, it comes out of the NtListenPort() function and accepts the connection using the NtAcceptConnectPort() function. The NtAcceptConnectPort returns a new port handle specific to the client requesting the connection. The server can break the communication link with the particular client by closing this handle. The subsystem completes the connection protocol using the NtCompleteConnectPort() function. Now, the client also returns from the NtConnectPort() function and gets a handle to the communication port. This handle is private to the client process. The child processes do not inherit the port handles, so the children need to open the subsystem port again.

After completing this connection protocol, the client and the subsystem can start communicating over this port. The client sends a request to the subsystem using the NtRequestPort() function. When the NtRequestPort() function sends datagram messages to the subsystem, the client does not receive any acknowledgment for the sent messages. In case the client expects a reply to its request, the client can use the NtRequestWaitReplyPort() function, which sends the request to the subsystem and waits for a reply from the subsystem. The subsystem receives request messages using the NtReplyWaitReceive() function and sends reply messages using the NtReplyPort() function. The subsystem can optimize by replying to the previous request and waiting for the next request using a single call to the NtReplyWaitReceivePort() function.

A subsystem may receive/reply to messages from more than one client using the same port. The message contains fields, which identify the client process and thread. The kernel fills in the process ID and the thread ID in the messages. Therefore, the subsystems can rely on this information, and the LPC forms a secure and reliable communication mechanism because the sender of the messages can be reliably identified.

Shared Section Communication You can send only short messages--up to 304 bytes--via ports. You need to use a shared region of memory for passing larger messages. If clients want to pass messages via shared memory, they have to do some extra processing before calling NtConnectPort(). A client creates a section object of required size, using CreateFileMapping()--a documented function. The size of the message is restricted only by the size of the section. The client need not map the section onto the address space; the port connection procedure takes care of that. But the client has to pass the section handle to the NtConnectPort() call. The function returns the addresses where the section is mapped in the client's as well as the server's address spaces. Now, whenever the client wants to invoke the server, it simply copies the parameters to the shared section and sends a message over the port. This message simply acts as an indication of the client request because the actual parameters pass via the shared section.

Generally, as a part of the port message, the client specifies the server space address of the shared section and the offset of the copied parameters within the shared section. If the server uses this information, it should first validate it if the client process proves unreliable. After processing the request, the server also sends back the results via the shared section. Apart from the additional processing, the shared section LPC essentially uses the same set of port APIs as the short message communication. The sequence of operations also resembles that of the short message communication with one exception--in addition to handling the message port, the client must create the shared section and perform the parameter copying.

8. ==== CONTACT US ====

Here's how to reach us with your comments and questions:

* COMMENTS ABOUT THE BOOK REVIEW OR THE NEWSLETTER IN GENERAL? Email Dave Bernard at dbernard@winnetmag.com.

* TECHNICAL QUESTIONS? Please post your technical questions to the discussion area. http://www.winnetmag.com/forums

* PRODUCT NEWS? Email press releases to products@winnetmag.com.

* QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR WINDOWS IT LIBRARY UPDATE SUBSCRIPTION? Email Customer Support at WindowsITlibrary@winnetmag.com.

* WANT TO SPONSOR WINDOWS IT LIBRARY UPDATE? Email emedia_opps@winnetmag.com.

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