Let's start from what I expected of the book. I'm JEE application developer who had some experience with two different JEE application server products. I always got to know different administrating tasks as I needed them. First my colleagues showed me how to handle very basic tasks so I could test my code and further explore administration console on my own. Then as I needed features like application security, access control, shared code, details about particular resource configuration I searched for solutions and tutorials on the web. Finally I decided that I should learn what is there readily available for me and what are the concepts behind it. That is why I decided to read this book.

Unfortunately, the book wasn't the answer. I wish I had it two years ago as I started my adventure with JEE. It is a set of basic step-by-step tutorials concerning main aspects of JEE server administration. The book assumes no prior knowledge of the topic. I would recommend it to a newbie in the area who has to or wants to tackle JEE server by himself. It can serve as a set of tutorials (colleague) that will help you to install GlassFish, show where to find administrative tools, help you navigate administration console, teach basic administration tasks and get you started.

What I liked about the book was that it starts with a chapter on server architecture before introducing any task and that every chapter starts with some kind of a architecture, problem, concepts overview with a diagram if possible. The explanations are very concise. If you didn't know anything about security, container architecture, messaging systems etc. you probably won't be an expert after reading two pages with basic definitions or big-picture components communication diagram but it will give you context to help you understand why does a particular task involve this many steps and why these steps are needed. Another thing I liked was that there was full command-line listings for every task and authors encouraged to use command-line administration console which is not that hard to learn but far more powerful than web-console. I also enjoyed these few tips from authors' experience and that they pointed to the most interesting, according them, open-source projects used in GlassFish server and useful tools for monitoring and troubleshooting.

There were also things I didn't like. In the first chapter there were screenshots of almost every step of the installation process, even if they didn't bring anything. The last chapter with GlassFish 3 overview, except of very little information on what's new in this version, contained detailed instructions on how to install GlassFish 3 and how to deploy applications to it although it was almost copy & paste of the information in previous chapters. For me they were not worth reading. Also there were too little tips from the authors. More advanced topics were only mentioned, which is good for a getting started book, but was a flaw for me.

I would recommend this book to total newbie who needs detailed instruction on how to start and a set of step-by-step tutorials on every topic in GlassFish administration. A person with little more experience will be rather disappointed as the book contains only very detailed (too detailed) instructions on basic tasks with only a few sections just naming more advanced topics.

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