In every field, there is a "warrior" who opens up the boundaries. For system management, this person is Evi Nemeth.
Now what you see is the fifth edition of this book, and Evi has been one of the authors of this book for the past 30 years. Although Evi couldn't personally write this edition with us, she never stayed away mentally, and in some cases continues to this day in the form of words and examples. We strive to maintain Eiv's extraordinary style, technical depth and attention to detail.
As an accomplished mathematician and cryptographer, Evi's career (recently) was spent as a professor of computer science at the University of Colorado at Boulder. See the appendix "A Brief History of System Management" in the appendix of this book for how system management appeared and how Evi got involved.
Evi looks forward to sailing the world after retirement. In 2001, her wish finally came true: she bought a sailboat (named Wonderland) and set sail. Over the years, Evi has shared stories of amazing islands, cool new faces and other sailing adventures with us.
When we were writing two editions of this book, Evi was parked as close to the coastline as possible so that it could connect to the local Wi-Fi network and upload draft chapters. No one will refuse a fun-filled adventure. In June 2013, Evi signed a contract as a crew member of the famous brig Nina and began sailing across the Tasman Sea. Soon thereafter, Nina disappeared in a storm, and we haven't heard of Evi since then. She realized her dream.
Evi teaches us much more than system management. Even when she was in her 70s, she was still running around all of us.
She has always been good at building networks, configuring servers, debugging kernels, cutting wood, frying chicken, baking quiches, and occasionally drinking a glass of wine. As long as Evi is by your side, there is nothing impossible to do.
We cannot bring Evi’s wisdom together here, but we always keep in mind the following teachings:
• Be conservative when sending information and be flexible when receiving information;
• Be tolerant of your employees, but expel as soon as possible;
• Don't be vague;
• The undergraduate is an unknown super weapon;
• Do not use too much red ink;
• You can’t really understand something unless you realize it;
• Sushi can’t be less;
• Be willing to try twice;
• Stick to sudo.
We are sure that some readers will leave messages asking for the exact meaning of some of these guidelines. We leave this as an exercise for the reader,
Just as Evi hoped. You can now hear her saying behind you: "Try it yourself. See how it works."
Now take a look at the UNIX/Linux System Management Technical Manual (5th Edition) with the editor
UNIX/Linux System Management Technical Manual (Fifth Edition)
First of all, this is a guidebook. It explains the main management systems, points out the differences between the systems, and explains how they work together. In many cases, there is more than one realization of a concept, and you must make a choice among them. In the book, we describe the pros and cons of some of the most popular options.
Secondly, this is also a quick reference manual, which summarizes the knowledge needed to perform daily tasks in various common UNIX and Linux systems. For example, the ps command, which can display the running status of the process, supports more than 80 command line options. In fact, a few combinations can meet most of the needs of system administrators. We summarized these options in Section 4.3.
Finally, this book focuses on the management of enterprise servers and networks, that is, critical and professional system management. It is not difficult to build a single system, but to ensure the smooth operation of cloud-based distributed platforms in the face of rampant viruses, network partitions, and malicious attacks. This book explains the technology and experience that can help you recover from disasters, and helps you choose solutions that can adapt to the growth of system scale, complexity, and heterogeneity.
We cannot guarantee that all of this is completely objective, but through the lines between the lines, we have clearly expressed our own inclination. In the field of system management, there is a very interesting phenomenon, that is, rational people have very different understandings of what is the most suitable solution. We provide you with subjective opinions as your original reference, and you can make your own decisions based on your environment.
The UNIX/Linux System Management Technical Manual (5th Edition) is divided into four parts: basic management, networking, storage, and operation and maintenance.
The first part (Basic Management) provides an overview of UNIX and Linux from the perspective of a system administrator. Each chapter covers most of the knowledge and techniques required to run a stand-alone system.
The second part (Networking) describes the protocols used on UNIX systems and the technologies used to set up, expand, and maintain networks and Internet-oriented servers. It also introduces the upper-level network software, including domain name system, email, single sign-on, and web hosting.
The third part (Storage) addresses the challenges of data storage and management. This part also includes subsystems that allow file sharing on the network, such as the network file system and the Windows-friendly SMB protocol.
The fourth part (Operation and Maintenance) describes the important topics that system administrators face every day when managing the production environment. These include monitoring, security, performance, interaction with developers, and various issues of organizing the system management team.
What are the roles that overlap with system administrators in terms of skills/services?
1 DevOps
DevOps is not so much a specific function as it is a culture or operation philosophy. It aims to improve the efficiency of software construction and delivery, especially in large sites with a large number of associated services and teams. Organizations that practice DevOps can promote integration between engineering teams, and dilute or erase the boundaries between R&D and operations. Experts working in the field can identify inefficient processes and replace them with small shell scripts or large and bulky Chef repositories.
2 Site Reliability Engineer
Site reliability engineers regard uptime and correctness above all else. Their work includes monitoring the network, deploying product software, receiving repair calls, planning for future expansion, and troubleshooting operational interruptions. A single point of failure can be described as a disaster for website reliability engineers.
3 Security Operation and Maintenance Engineer
Security operation and maintenance engineers are concerned about the daily use of information security procedures. They are responsible for installing and running related tools, finding security flaws, and monitoring network attacks. In addition, they must participate in simulating attacks, testing the effectiveness of protection and detection technologies.
4 network administrator
The network administrator is responsible for the design, installation, configuration, and operation and maintenance of the network. Network administrators are basically indispensable for sites running data centers, because the facilities include various physical switches, routers, firewalls, and other devices that need to be managed. The cloud platform can also provide various networking options, but this does not require a dedicated administrator, because most of the work is done by the service provider.
5 database administrator
A database administrator (sometimes called a DBA) is an expert in database software installation and management. They are responsible for managing database schemas, performing installations and upgrades, configuring clusters, tuning settings to optimize performance, and helping users to conceive effective queries. DBAs are good at one to many query languages and have experience in relational and non-relational (NoSQL) databases.
6 Network Operation and Maintenance Center ( NOC ) Engineer
NOC (Network Operations Center) engineers are responsible for real-time monitoring of the operating status of large sites, tracking emergencies and service interruptions. They have to resolve work orders submitted by users, perform daily upgrades, and coordinate the work of other teams. Most of the time, these people are staring at the monitoring wall that displays various graphics and measurement data.
7 Data Center Technician
Data center technicians deal with hardware. They are responsible for receiving equipment, tracking equipment inventory and life cycle, installing servers in racks, laying cables, maintaining power and air conditioning, and handling the daily operations of the data center. Just like system administrators, be kind to data center technicians and bribe them with coffee, caffeine soft drinks and alcoholic beverages, so that you can get the most benefit.
8 Architect
System architects are deeply involved in many fields. They rely on their own experience to design distributed systems. Its scope of work may include defining security zones and segmentation, eliminating single points of failure, planning for future growth, ensuring connectivity between multiple networks and third parties, and site-level decisions. Good architects are technically skilled and usually prefer to implement and test their own designs.