The Solaris operating system, along with related Sun products like Java, is one of the most reliable and scalable platforms on which to build e-commerce products, and on which to support all networked services. Yet, one problem that potential users face is finding out more information about what Solaris offers. In a sense, they want to know how much technical work is involved in migrating to Solaris, and what kind of philosophy Solaris is based on. To answer these questions, Solaris 8 Administrator's Guide covers all aspects of deploying Solaris as a network server, including both basic and advanced network services. Given newfound interest in Solaris as an enterprise network operating system, this guide is aimed squarely at supporting enterprise-level services. It's written for experienced network administrators who want an objective guide to networking with Solaris, and covers installation on both the Intel and Sparc platforms. With it, you will learn how to setup Solaris as a file server, application server, and database server. In its coverage of advanced topics, Solaris 8 Administrator's Guide offers examples of configuration files and the installation of third-party software packages. This comprehensive book also contains more conceptual and difficult material that is absent from other Solaris reference manuals. At all points, emphasis is placed on issues like evaluating the security, scalability, and reliability of specific software packages--at the expense of providing detailed coverage of every available package. The book covers the practical experience and new skills needed to understand the impact of new services and new software products on existing server systems. Author Paul Watters--a recognized authority on Solaris--avoids so-called "historical" services, like UUCP, which can easily fill chapters but are not commonly found in today's production environments. Indeed, he doesn't bother to provide an in-depth history of Solaris or UNIX at all, assuming that you can find this material elsewhere. Instead, the practical focus is on supporting relevant contemporary networking technologies. Solaris 8 Administrator's Guide provides you with a third-party view that not only praises Solaris, but is critical and realistic in its assessment. This book is for experienced Solaris Administrators as well as and those looking to migrate to this operating system.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 17 Ratings

This book covers lots of ground quickly - 2003-04-15
Reviewer Rating:
Some people are trashing the book for a few insignificant flaws. Personally, I think he spends too much time on Java, doesn't cover PAM, RBAC or other new features to Solaris 8. On the whole, though, the book covers alot of good ground for intermediate level system adminstrators - those who have some experience with Solaris, but want to know what features are relevant to Solaris 8 and Solaris networking.

The author summarizes his aims in the preface: "This book illustrates how Solaris services are used to build networks." This focus mirrors SUNs focus for Solaris 8 expressed by the slogan 'The Network is the Computer'.

The book covers the following in enough depth to be useful, while not getting bogged down in too much detail:
* networking - theory and practical setup
* installing solaris, configuring network cards
* Solaris services: dns, nfs - file sharing, email, interacting with NT, nis, nis+, ldap
* backups
* security
* hints on troubleshooting and best practice sysadmin work.

It isn't a good introduction to Solaris, nor a comprehensive reference book, but it has alot of useful information, especially about networking Solaris version 8.

One of weaker O'Reilly's books - 2003-08-22
Reviewer Rating:
I wonder who the targeted reader of this book is:
Beginner will not find nearly enough technical information to learn
any of the tipics mentioned and book by no means can be used as
a shelf reference for more advanced user.
Cannot recommend it to anybody.

Uninformative, superficial, harmful! - 2003-07-05
Reviewer Rating:
This must be the worst O'Reilly book I have ever read and I have read atleast 20!The author reproduces much of the information from his other books "Solaris Complete Reference" which has much the same inforamtion as his "Solaris Administration -A Beginner's Guide".His coverage of important topics like E-mail consists of showing how to download sendmail through anonymous ftp.His discussion on the inetd super daemon consists of a three page listing of /etc/services file and so on.Incredible, really!I remember O'Reilly once withdrew a title on Beowulf Clusters stating that the quality was not upto reader expectations!I submit this as a definite candidate.

Overview without deep information - 2003-06-18
Reviewer Rating:
I'm quite disappointed from this O'Reilly book. I expected technical information for a professional system administrator but got a fast overview. The author tries to cover everything form networking to Java in just 300 pages.

Not a good beginner book - 2003-03-13
Reviewer Rating:
Have to agree with version7x - the book's more about network admin for Solaris 8 than it is about Solaris 8 itself. Don't be fooled by the title or the editorial review. If you are as new to Solaris 8 as I am, buy Solaris Operating Environment Boot Camp (ISBN: 0130342874) instead. Two stars for a misleading title!

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