SUSE Linux

Chapter 7. Network Services

In the previous chapter, I discussed what I called the “infrastructure” of a Linux server. This chapter continues the server theme by discussing some key network services in detail. In the first lab, I’ll show how to set up disk quotas to limit the disk space an individual can use. Later labs show how to provide DHCP and DNS services—in many ways the “glue” of the Internet. You’ll also learn how to provide file sharing services using both the native Unix protocol (NFS) and the native Windows protocol (SMB/CIFS). I’ll describe how to share out printers, using CUPS (Common Unix Print System). The final labs show how to set up your own web servers to host multiple sites on a single machine, and how to build a mail server.

Keep in mind that all of these services are available out of the box in a SUSE Linux distribution. In my view, it is the range and quality of these open source network solutions that really establish Linux’s credentials as a world-class operating system.

Set Up Disk Quotas

Question: what does this command do?

$ cp /dev/zero foo

Answer: it will fill up all the free space on whatever partition your home directory is on. Linux does not, by default, limit the amount of disk space that a single user can use. If /home is on its own partition, a single user can starve all other users of disk space. If /home is not on a separate partition, a single user can probably bring the system to its knees by filling up the root partition.

However, Linux supports ...