Don Poulton
Don Poulton (Burlington, Ontario; A+, Network+, Security+, MCSA, MCSE) is an independent consultant who has been involved with computers since the days of 80-column punch cards. After more than 20 years in environmental science, he switched careers and trained as a Windows NT 4.0 MCSE. He has since written or contributed to several Que titles, including Security+ Lab Manual; MCSA/MCSE 70-299 Exam Cram 2: Implementing and Administering Security in a Windows 2003 Network; and MCTS 70-620 Exam Prep: Microsoft Windows Vista, Configuring.
Don Poulton
Don Poulton (A+, Network+, Security+, MCSA, MCSE) is an independent consultant who has been involved with computers since the days of 80-column punch cards. After a career of more than 20 years in environmental science, Don switched careers and trained as a Windows NT 4.0 MCSE. He has been involved in consulting with a couple of small training providers as a technical writer, during which time he wrote training and exam prep materials for Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, and Windows XP. Don has written or contributed to several titles, including Security+ Lab Manual (Que, 2004); MCSA/MCSE 70-299 Exam Cram 2: Implementing and Administering Security in a Windows 2003 Network (Exam Cram 2) (Que, 2004); MCSE 70-294 Exam Prep: Planning, Implementing, and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Active Directory Infrastructure (Que, 2006); MCTS 70-620 Exam Prep: Microsoft Windows Vista, Configuring (Que, 2008); MCTS 70-680 Cert Guide: Microsoft Windows 7, Configuring (Que, 2011); MCTS 70-640 Cert Guide: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuring (Que, 2011); MCTS 70-642 Cert Guide: Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure, Configuring (Que, 2012); and MCSA 70-687 Cert Guide Configuring Microsoft Windows 8.1 (Que, 2015).
In addition, he has worked on programming projects, both in his days as an environmental scientist and more recently with Visual Basic to update an older statistical package used for multivariate analysis of sediment contaminants.
When not working on computers, Don is an avid amateur photographer who has had his photos displayed in international competitions and published in magazines such as Michigan Natural Resources Magazine and National Geographic Traveler. Don also enjoys traveling and keeping fit.
Don lives in Burlington, Ontario, with his wife, Terry.
Harry Holt started his technology career in the early 1980s while working in trust accounting, where he discovered the advantages of Lotus 1-2-3 over paper spreadsheets, and how much better D:Base was at tracking transactions than a cabinet full of 3×5 index cards. That prompted a career change, and Harry took advantage of the burgeoning IT program at Virginia Commonwealth University’s prestigious School of Business to hone his knowledge.
Harry gained experience over the years in most technical roles in the industry–from computer operator, programmer, and LAN administrator, to network engineer, DBA, and project manager, among others. He has used his skills to improve efficiencies in a range of organizations, including Fortune 500 companies, financial institutions, government agencies, and even small partnerships and sole proprietorships.
Exploring aspects of the computer industry and evolution of technology both professionally, as a hobby, and as a volunteer for various nonprofit organizations, Harry gained a working knowledge of many types of systems from large IBM z/OS mainframes, VAX systems, and UNIX platforms, to Windows, Macintosh, and Linux systems. He can program in a variety of development languages and platforms and enjoys collaborating in open source projects.
Harry has a bachelor’s degree in IT and PMP certification and is currently working as a cyber applications manager in Richmond, Virginia. He lives with his wife, Donna, and enjoys going for meals prepared by his son and Master Chef, Alex, at fine dining restaurants in Richmond, Virginia.
Randy Bellet: After establishing himself as a retailer in Richmond, Virginia, curiosity about the fledgling small computer industry brought Randy Bellet into the IT field in 1981. Beginning with the TRS-DOS operating system on a Radio Shack Model III and “sneaker-net,” he automated his own and other businesses, initially programming spreadsheets using one of the original versions of VisiCalc. Hardware consisted of 32 K of RAM, monochrome monitors, and no hard drives. Data was stored on floppy disks that really flopped. After the PC-XT and its clones arrived, he followed the market and extended his skills into the networking of PCs and XENIX servers and wrote applications for the retail and pager industries.
As PCs became commonplace and their connectivity a necessity, Randy configured Windows client/server networks for small- and medium-sized businesses, and wrote n-tier applications on various Windows platforms ranging from Windows 3.1 through Windows Server 2008 for the medical, insurance, food, and leisure industries. As organizations expanded and scaled their uses of PCs, extracting data from mainframes for use in Windows applications became a specialty.
Since 1999, Mr. Bellet has been on the faculty of ECPI University, delivering and developing curriculum in Network Security and Software Development and writing ancillary instructor materials. Certifications include CompTIA Network +, MCSE, MCSD, and MCDBA. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and marketing from New York University and a master’s degree in IT from Virginia Tech.
Ed Tittel
Dan Balter is the Chief Technology Officer for InfoTechnology Partners, Inc., a Microsoft Certified Partner company. He works as an IT consultant and trainer for both corporate and government clients and has worked with several different network operating systems throughout his 20-year career. Dan takes pride in turning complex, technical topics into easy-to-understand concepts. Dan is a Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician (MCDST), a Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA) on Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003, and a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) on Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, and Windows Server 2003. He specializes in Microsoft networking technologies, firewalls, virtual private networks (VPNs), and other security solutions in addition to designing and implementing messaging and business solutions for large and small organizations.
Dan is the author of Exam Cram 2: Managing and Maintaining a Windows Server 2003 Environment and a co-author for the best-selling books Exam Cram 2: Windows XP Professional and Exam Cram 2: Windows 2000 Professional, all published by Que Publishing. Dan frequently speaks at conferences across North America, including Advisor DevCon conferences and Windows & .NET Magazine Connections conferences. A graduate of USC's School of Business in 1983, Dan has authored more than 300 video-based and CD-ROMߢased computer training courses, including instructional titles on installing, configuring, and administering Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003. He is also a featured video trainer for courses on Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft Outlook, and Intuit's QuickBooks small business accounting software. Dan is the video trainer for ExamBlastߗindows XP Professional and for the QuickBooks Pro training series on video and CD-ROM from BlastThroughLearning.com.
Dan and his family live in the Santa Rosa Valley area in Southern California, near the city of Camarillo. Dan lives with his lovely wife, Alison; their 8-year-old daughter, Alexis; their 5-year-old son, Brendan; and their golden retriever, Brandy. When he's not writing, researching, or consulting, Dan enjoys traveling with his family, swimming, playing racquetball and basketball, rooting for the Los Angeles Galaxy soccer team and the L.A. Lakers, going for long walks, listening to music, and exploring new age spirituality. Dan can be contacted via email at Dan@TechPartners.info.
Philip Wiest is a nationally known professional technical trainer who has presented more than 1,200 Cisco and Microsoft seminars to more than 37,000 students throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia since 1989 for Skillpath Seminars, CompuMaster Seminars, Prime Learning International, and Dun & Bradstreet. He has earned several prominent certifications, including the MCSE; CCNP; CCDA; Network+; Server+; Security+; A+; and, most recently, the new MCDST designation.
He delights audiences by crashing (often with little effort) and then resurrecting (often with much effort) unsuspecting software programs and network applications. His unique, irreverent, solutions-oriented style is at once humorous and insightful.
Philip's clients include The Walt Disney Company, the FBI, American Express, the National Association of Recording Merchandisers, ARCO, Bank of America, KPMG, Sony, EMI Records Group N.A., the National Association of Realtors, Warner Bros., and on and on.
Since graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, he has published more than 200 newspaper and magazine articles, received dozens of national training awards, and completed 15 marathons. He resides in Santa Monica, California, never more than a stone's throw from a keyboard or a microphone.
Ed Tittel
Ed Tittel is a 30-year-plus veteran of the computing industry who has worked as a programmer, a technical manager, a classroom instructor, a network consultant, and a technical evangelist for companies that include Burroughs, Schlumberger, Novell, IBM/Tivoli, and NetQoS. He has written and blogged for numerous publications, including Tom's IT Pro, PearsonITCertification, and GoCertify; and is an author on more than 100 computing books with a special emphasis on information security, Web markup languages and development tools, and Windows operating systems.