Linux Network Servers 24 Seven

This text shows how to achieve continuous availability of services - the goal of every network and systems administrator. It covers: selecting hardware and software that will help avoid installation and reliability problems; planning and executing Linux installation; understanding the Linux boot process, the configuration files and the key startup files; providing remote access to applications through TCP/IP and PPP to applications like rlogin and telnet; configuring BIND version 8 to provide DNS; creating a custom internet mail service with sendmail; implementing mailbox services with POP3 and IMAP; administering the DHCP and BootP servers to provide automatic TCP/IP configuration for clients; sharing files and printers through the Samba server, the NFS server, and the line printer daemon; using route, routed and gated to implement static and dynamic routing, and ipchains for address masquerading; securing Linux server with the system's built-in security features; planning and executing a Red Hat 6.0 Linux installation; upgrading the Linux 2.2 kernel and troubleshooting the Linux network; keeping systems and networks up and running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year, with the 24seven series.

Everyone seems eager to give Linux a shakedown, so publishers have saturated the marketplace with books about installing and initially configuring the operating system. Most of them, however, give only cursory coverage to the software you can run under Linux. Linux Network Servers: 24 Seven does an outstanding job of explaining how to turn a machine running Linux 2.2 (it doesn't pay much attention to the differences among distributions) into a reliable, high-performance provider of network services. You'll learn how to install most any service you could want, including the Web, FTP, e-mail, DNS, printer sharing, and file sharing.

Though this book deals with powerful software, it doesn't assume too much Linux expertise. If you've installed Linux, gotten it to work properly, and played with it a bit, you'll follow along comfortably. The standard approach is an explanation of what a particular service is and which pieces of software implement it, and then a walk through the configuration of one of them. You'll find out what goes into the various configuration files (listing options, where appropriate) and about the behavior of key administration commands. This book will help you build a fire-and-forget network server on the Linux platform. --David Wall

Topics covered: Installing and maintaining reliable, high-performance network servers under the Linux 2.2 operating system. Servers include pppd for PPP service, Apache for Web operations, Berkeley Internet Name Domain 8 (BIND 8) for Domain Name System (DNS) service, sendmail for mail routing, Samba for integration of heterogeneous machines on a network, and the miscellaneous services of the Internet daemon (inetd). There's coverage of Network File System (NFS) and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) servers too.