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.

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A wonderful addition to my reference library,  July 16 2004
Submitted by Lyz Krumbach - Philadelphia LinuxChix   [Respond | View]

Just a couple days after I had started thumbing through this book my boyfriend picked it up and stole it for 2 weeks. His reaction? "This book rocks."

The book is organized into sections so that it's logical to just read it cover to cover if you felt so inclined. The hacks go from simple to more difficult, and it's certainly not just for Server adminstrators! Most of these hacks are a benefit to any Linux user. I found myself often thinking "Wow, that's so clever!" and "I should have thought of that!" while reading this book. I discovered so many new little ways around doing things, and got a fresh look at how to tackle certain problems, and actually learned quite a bit about programs I use everyday (such as ssh).

It's wonderful that such a collection has been brought together, this is now one of my favorite reference books.


Linux Server Hacks Review,  July 03 2003
Submitted by Alex Belt of the Columbia Java Users Group   [Respond | View]

This is a good book for Linux enthusiasts, and a great book for sys admins. The book covers a wide range of material, and while I’m likely to only use a fraction of the tips in the book, it is a good resource for ideas. The book covers most functions that a server is required to perform, in addition to monitoring the server itself.

The hacks are organized into sections based on the function they are related to, i.e., basics, networking, SSH, etc. The hacks in any given section vary widely, so it is nice to have a general idea where information about particular aspects can be found.

The author clearly has a good grasp of the material, and does a good job in communicating the information. This is not a book for beginners, and those who are fairly new should get more experience with Linux before attempting to read this.




Linux Server Hacks Review,  June 13 2003
Submitted by Ravi   [Respond | View]

This is one of the best books I've laid my hands on. It is small but

the quality and level of technical details in many tips are just too good. Most

notable are the tips on backing up, ssh and various other hacks with perl, shell

scripts, apache etc. Any system administrator with about 1-2 years of experience

would definitely appreciate most of the cool hacks in this book. Great work by the

author.




Linux Server Hacks Review,  March 22 2003
Submitted by Ashok N N   [Respond | View]

Linux Server Hacks is really a very cool book. Some of the hacks are so good that having them would surely save you a lot of time. I particularly liked the chapter on backups. Also the chapter on SSH was very useful. Although you might not use all the hacks, anybody who does system administration surely would benefit by this book.


Linux Server Hacks Review,  February 25 2003
Submitted by Kenneth Wilcox   [Respond | View]

When this book arrived at my door, I was really excited. By page ten I was beginning to think "Damn this is a really good book". While this is geared for the sys admin, general users could still learn from it's examples. This book is very thin, but don't let that fool you. It's 100% meat, not fat of fluff here. (If you're a vegetarian, this is a fresh garden salad!) With 100 tips broken down into eight categories make this book a quick fix for some of the daily problems that can arise. The cross reference between hacks is also appreciated. One thing that annoys me about most books is they will say "We've already discussed how to do that so lets move on" This book flat out tells you, "In hack #50...."

I wan't more of these, they need to do one for "Joe User" as well as developers.


Linux Server Hacks Review,  February 10 2003
Submitted by Zach   [Respond | View]

I've only been using Linux for about a year now and was ready for more of the intriguing possibilities that it had to offer when I came across this book. The ordering is done well where each hack progressively adds a level of complexity and can be read from beginning to end. But it also makes a good quick reference for quick hacks as you need them. It is not based on gui usage and is very distro inspecific. Very well done.


Linux Server Hacks Review,  February 01 2003
Submitted by Jeremiah   [Respond | View]

Looks Good . . .

I saw this briefly in the bookstore the other day and just had to open it. I found an amazing hack; using tar with ssh to put an archive on a remote host. I had never thought of pipingthings through ssh before. Very interesting. This book looks like it could be invaluable.

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