A competent system administrator knows that a Linux server is a high performance system for routing large amounts of information through a network connection. Setting up and maintaining a Linux server requires understanding not only the hardware, but the ins and outs of the Linux operating system along with its supporting cast of utilities as well as layers of applications software. There's basic documentation online but there's a lot beyond the basics you have to know, and this only comes from people with hands-on, real-world experience. This kind of "know how" is what we sought to capture in Linux Server Hacks. Linux Server Hacks is a collection of 100 industrial-strength hacks, providing tips and tools that solve practical problems for Linux system administrators. Every hack can be read in just a few minutes but will save hours of searching for the right answer. Some of the hacks are subtle, many of them are non-obvious, and all of them demonstrate the power and flexibility of a Linux system. You'll find hacks devoted to tuning the Linux kernel to make your system run more efficiently, as well as using CVS or RCS to track the revision to system files. You'll learn alternative ways to do backups, how to use system monitoring tools to track system performance and a variety of secure networking solutions. Linux Server Hacks also helps you manage large-scale Web installations running Apache, MySQL, and other open source tools that are typically part of a Linux system. O'Reilly's new Hacks Series proudly reclaims the term "hacking" for the good guys. Hackers use their ingenuity to solve interesting problems. Rob Flickenger is an experienced system administrator, having managed the systems for O'Reilly Network for several years. (He's also into community wireless networking and he's written a book on that subject for O'Reilly.) Rob has also collected the best ideas and tools from a number of other highly skilled contributors. Written for users who already understand the basics, Linux Server Hacks is built upon the expertise of people who really know what they're doing.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 31 Ratings

Good first step into being a Linux Sysadmin - 2007-09-25
Reviewer Rating:
When you're ready to take your Linux expertise from the "desktop" level to the "server" level, this is the right place to start. It avoids trying to teach you everything and instead sprinkles your brain with possibilities. There are some interesting ways to do things and as your skill grows you'll find more uses for what's in the book.

The only downers were the Version Control chapter--everyone has a preference and most methods have decent tutorials, and the use of perl in scripts. If you're good in perl then you can expand the scripts, otherwise it'd be cleaner and better to use Bash for the script examples.

Useful Tips & Tools - 2008-09-17
Reviewer Rating:
The tips are very useful in datacenter, daily.
This tips & tools about the things inside Linux O/S, such as:

Linux administration basic, backup, networking, SSH, Scripting, DNS.

Good Bang for your buck - 2008-01-14
Reviewer Rating:
This series is a great place to start learning the some of the most useful aspects of linux in a networked environment. The examples used in the book are very well laid out and documented. My only gripe is that the subject is a little dated but overall it is still a very good book.

This is a great reference book, power users will find this book helpful as well as the second edition. One can expect to learn some of the fundamentals of linux with this book; backup, network shares, hostkeys, centralizing, and some other nifty one off mini-programs. This won't replace a lot of hard work, but it will make you think how you can work smarter.

Great book for intermediate users - 2007-09-14
Reviewer Rating:
If you are an aspiring Linux hacker/guru, you need this book. Sure, a lot of this information can be found online, but this book is so cheap there's no reason not to have a copy.

I read this book after I'd tinkered a bit with Linux and taken a few online "system administration" courses in it. I knew the basics of operating Linux, but had no clue where to go next. If you've been through the "textbook" courses and want to take your next step, this is a good book to help you get your hands dirty setting up some useful stuff.

Great Hacks, Skimpy on Facts - 2006-12-02
Reviewer Rating:
This O'Reilly title really impressed me with useful tricks, such as running a shell command on multiple hosts or using a Makefile to maintain sendmail map files; however, while it gives you the short cut to do something, it doesn't always explain the syntax of the commands used.

I wanted to use the Makefile to maintain files in my Postfix configuration, but the author didn't explain the entries in the sendmail Makefile enough to customize it to my own needs. It wouldn't taken little time and made the tip more useful to budding sysadmins.

Still, the book is well worth the purchase price, and one can always glean custom techniques off the net.

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