The Practice of System and Network Administration

For over a decade, The Practice of System and Network Administration has been the industry's definitive guide to managing computer systems and networks. Now, its award-winning authors have thoroughly updated this classic for the latest real-world challenges. You'll find extensive new coverage of crucial new topics such as managing BYOD and implementing new security approaches. All this new coverage is smoothly interwoven with the authors' proven framework for effective IT administration, focused on six core principles: simplicity, clarity, generality, automation, communication, and the basics first.

Each chapter is divided into two main sections: 'The Basics' every sysadmin needs to get right, in order to avoid problems and added work later; and 'The Icing' -- the cool things you can do to be spectacular, but only after you've nailed the basics. Coverage includes:

• Key elements your networks and systems need to make all other services run better
• Building and running reliable, scalable services, from web and storage to remote access
• How to create and enforce modern security policies
• How to upgrade multiple hosts concurrently without creating havoc
• How to plan and perform flawless scheduled maintenance
• How to manage superior helpdesks and customer care services
• How to avoid the "temporary fix" trap
• How to build data centers that improve server uptime
• How to design networks for speed and reliability
• How to scale and secure web services
• How to monitor what you have, and predict what you'll need
• How technically oriented workers can maintain their job's technical focus (and avoid unwanted management roles)
• How admins who want to move into management can master the crucial skills they'll need
• Secrets for getting more done each day, managing your boss, loving your job, and negotiating salary

This edition's chapter format has been updated for even better usability. Chapter summaries, future speculations sections, and further reading sections have been added, and all end-of-chapter questions have been updated. The authors' lively, witty style and their use of anecdotes and case studies drawn from personal experience all make this book as entertaining as it is useful.

Note: The forthcoming companion Volume 2 will cover DevOps and cloud computing paradigms, showing how to be a sysadmin in the age of cloud computing, and how to architect, scale, and run cloud services.

Thomas A. Limoncelli is an internationally recognized author, speaker, and system administrator with more than twenty years of experience at companies like Google, Bell Labs, and StackOverflow.com.

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Christina J. Hogan has more than twenty years of experience in system administration and network engineering, from Silicon Valley to Italy and Switzerland. She has a master’s degree in computer science, a doctorate in aeronautical engineering, and has been part of a Formula 1 racing team.

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