Ward Rosenberry is a technical writing consultant and author concentrating on distributed computing and computer networking technologies. Ward has distinguished himself writing about the Open Software Foundation's Distributed Computing Environment since 1989 when he helped write Digital Equipment Corporation's original DCE design documents. He has since co-authored two other O'Reilly books about distributed computing -- Understanding DCE and Distributing Applications Across DCE and Windows NT. He continues his close DCE involvement designing and developing DCE information both at Digital and at OSF and now operates a consulting firm, Rosenberry Associates, in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. Ward graduated from the University of Lowell in 1979 with a B.A. in English. Ward, his wife Patricia Pestana, and their two children, William and John, live in North Chelmsford, Massachusetts. In addition to his contribution to the technical side of this book, Jim deserves some credit for keeping Ward alive by sending him an infusion of caffeine from Seattle's premier coffee roaster.