Acknowledgments

Michael Noel It most certainly is the case that an author does not write alone. Many other people work behind the scenes to make a book of this size and complexity a reality. As an author, the least I can do is try to thank the people who helped make this book a reality.

First and foremost, I want to thank my wife, Marina, my daughter, Julia, and my in-laws, Val and Liza, for all of their emotional support during the late nights when things looked like they would never return to normal. You guys are amazing, and I could not have done this without you!

Thanks as well to my co-author, Colin Spence, who slaved over this one for months on end, producing some wonderful content in the process. It is a joy and pleasure to work with you again on another one of these crazy books, even if we lose ourselves and our sanity in the process!

Thanks to the technical resources and personnel of Convergent Computing, especially Rand Morimoto, an inspiration and mentor to me. Thanks to the other consultants and staff at CCO, especially the contributing writers for this book: Ross Mistry, Shirmattie Seenarine, and Tyson Kopzynski. You guys really helped out with some excellent content and some killer scripts!

And finally, thanks to Neil Rowe at Sams Publishing for all your help getting this one out the door and for the great relationship you’ve developed with me over the years. You are a great guy and a tenacious editor.

Colin Spence I must start by thanking my wife for once again agreeing to become a “book widow” and putting up with 5 solid months of 100-hour weeks and occasional grumpiness. Fortunately, you now have your husband back, and we can go to Hawaii for awhile. Also thanks to Michael Noel, who went many extra yards in helping me with final edits when the mental tank was empty, which I greatly appreciate.

I also want to thank Jeroen Struik, who impressed me so much with his overall SharePoint skills that I strong-armed him into being our technical editor. Other positive influences in producing this tome include Anthony Adona, Derek Ryan, and Dirk Wassenaar from Network Appliance, who each helped me understand the intricacies of fully integrating SharePoint technologies in a complex corporate culture.