Interviews

What Can System Administrators Learn from Programmers?
Although we often hear about program bugs and techniques to get rid of them, we seldom see a similar focus in the field of system administration. LinuxPlanet asked Diomidis Spinellis, the author of the book Code Quality: The Open Source Perspective, for tips on what system administrators can learn from programmers.
Friday, July 21, 2006 11:23:50 AM EST

Previews

Leading and Bleeding with XFree86 4.0 and KDE 2 Beta
With KDE 2 and XFree86 4.0 on the horizon, you'll soon need to make some difficult decisions about upgrading your Linux systems. To ease your mind about these important choices, we asked Scott Courtney to tell how he upgraded his Linux system to run both XFree86 4.0 and KDE 2--and show how these hot new technologies will change your Linux usage.
Monday, May 15, 2000 10:11:30 AM EST

Reports

Benchmarking Linux With the Phoronix Test Suite
The Phoronix Test Suite is for testing hardware performance under Linux. It's still very young and incomplete, but it's worth getting acquainted with--it is based on the the scripts developed by the fine folks at Phoronix for hardware testing.
Thursday, April 24, 2008 10:29:29 AM EST

Learn Your Linux Clustering Options
"Cluster" is probably the most heavily abused term in the computing world. In this article we'll talk about what a cluster really is, and give an overview of the Linux technologies that can help you implement various types of clusters. The main focus will of course be on building clusters for highly available services
Tuesday, May 29, 2007 08:32:46 AM EST

Unitrends Adds Linux Hot Snapshotting To Appliance-Based Rapid Recovery
Servers crash. Hard drives die. Users delete files they want back. OS patches don't work. It's possible to recover... if you've got the right files, the right spare hardware, enough time, and enough knowledge. Daniel P. Dern reports on one new product that uses Linux to provide rapid, bare-metal recovery in a snap.
Thursday, April 27, 2006 09:24:02 AM EST

Scali Manage 5 Offers to Tame Linux Cluster Proliferation
As Linux cluster use in the datacenter grows with each passing day, a unique problem has begun to develop, the kind of problem most people like to have: there seems to be just too many Linux clusters out there. Scali has released a new management application that promises to keep all of a company's clusters under control in one place.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006 09:32:33 AM EST

Inside the Novell Linux Migration
It is open knowledge that Novell has been progressing towards migrating their own internal desktops and servers to a pure-Linux play. Details of this migration have been sketchy, but in a public presentation to attendees of Ohio LinuxFest, Novell specialists gave a rare look inside the ongoing move to Linux and laid out ideas for other companies to follow in their own migration plans.
Thursday, October 6, 2005 11:29:56 AM EST

Hang Time for Kernel Real Time
Earlier this month, MontaVista released a proposal to incorporate real-time processing directly in the Linux kernel. The proposal has been met with a decidedly mixed reception, even though MontaVista could stand to lose some business if it goes through.
Monday, October 25, 2004 02:59:51 PM EST

OpenCountry To Update Cross-Distribution Linux Management
If you’re a Linux administrator, most of the tools available to you are either too limited in scope or overly big, complex, and expensive, according to OpenCountry CEO Michael Grove. Naturally, OpenCountry is offering its answer to this particular problem.
Thursday, September 30, 2004 11:12:24 PM EST

Linux Writer Gets Ready For Disaster... Again
When disaster strikes, how does the home and small business computer owner recover? As Orlando-based Rob Reilly prepares for another potential encounter with a hurricane, he lists all the ways a system can be recovered... and protected.
Thursday, September 2, 2004 12:26:58 PM EST

Bacone College Stays Cutting Edge With OpenOffice.org
After 124 years of continuous operation in Oklahoma, Bacone College must know how to do a few things right, especially when it comes to making strategic decisions for the future. It should then come as no surprise that the college would choose to standardize on OpenOffice.org for its writing, spreadsheet, and presentation needs.
Thursday, March 11, 2004 11:28:09 AM EST

VERITAS Continues Linux Push
At the January LinuxWorld Expo 2004, VERITAS made a number of announcements that demonstrate this company's commitment to the Linux space, and the new products have kept coming steadily since then. Dee-Ann LeBlanc recaps VERITAS' Linux product line to date.
Monday, March 1, 2004 10:33:10 AM EST

iSeries Linux Apps Now Total 300, EFT Solution Is The Latest
IBM Monday unveiled S2 Systems' OpeN/2 financial services application as the latest software solution for Linux running on iSeries, which brings the number of Linux apps available for the iSeries midrange server to more than 300. This mid-range Linux system is making a big impact in the enterprise, with more to come.
Tuesday, December 23, 2003 09:55:06 AM EST

Catapult MySQL with Pogo Linux
If you're an enterprise looking to start using open-source and Linux solutions in your company, the hassles of systems configuration and administration might make you hesitate. Pogo Linux has come up with a solution that will take even these minor concerns away: the DataWare 2600--specifically tuned and configured for MySQL database.
Thursday, September 25, 2003 12:21:35 PM EST

Boscov's Inches Into Linux
Massive mainframe migrations, dizzying desktop moves--all a part of the huge effort to move to Linux, right? An all-or-nothing approach to Linux may not be the only path an enterprise has to take. Boscov's Department Stores is learning that slow and steady wins their race to IT savings with Linux.
Thursday, September 4, 2003 10:43:30 AM EST

The Return of PowerCockpit
Turbolinux's departure from the US left some of its toolsets in a state of legal limbo. Now one of the former founders of Turbolinux is bringing one of the more powerful applications back to life: PowerCockpit. Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols reports.
Tuesday, February 25, 2003 11:15:43 AM EST

Red Hat Isn't Alone at the Linux Management Table
Red Hat has released a new management tool that promises a high degree of control over Linux-based servers. But Red Hat doesn't have the only management tool on the block... IBM, UnitedLinux, HP, and Computer Associates also have such tools on the shelf or lined up in development.
Monday, February 3, 2003 11:24:30 AM EST

Hot Rodding Your Slightly Dated Laptop For Fun and Profit
Are you skittish about putting Linux on your laptop because the installation will be hard and it will be tough to find the right drivers? Are you worried that you're going to be limited to command-line based applications, especially on that old corporate laptop that moves like molasses under the weight of XP? Try revving up your beat up old laptop, using Linux to get some serious performance from something that was once obsolete.
Monday, November 18, 2002 10:42:26 AM EST

Using the InterMezzo Distributed Filesystem
Getting connected is one of the more vital goals of any IT shop. But what happens when users can't get connected to the network right away? Are they just cut off altogether from their files? Not necessarily, writes Bill von Hagen, especially if you are using the InterMezzo distributed filesystem. In this next installment of the Distributed Filesystems series, von Hagen examines InterMezzo in detail and shows how to install, configure, and implement this DFS.
Monday, August 12, 2002 11:53:57 AM EST

Hardware Notes: Hard Drive Benchmarking With iozone
Quick... how fast is your shiny new Linux machine? If you answer with the speed of its CPU, you're missing a big part of the equation. In the kickoff edition of his new hardware column on Linux Planet, Lou Grinzo delves into the world of hard drive benchmarking with the versatile iozone, and offers some sane advice on making sense of all the numbers.
Thursday, February 22, 2001 09:00:16 AM EST

Do-It-Yourself Caching: Squid 2.3
This open-source solution is a great low-cost way to get into caching. However, a stable Squid installation calls for some fairly hefty hardware--not to mention considerable tuning effort. Lisa Phifer explains.
Tuesday, February 29, 2000 12:19:06 AM EST

How Linux Boots
James takes time to help you understand how Linux boots and what's running behind the scenes!
Saturday, May 29, 1999 01:36:47 PM EST

Reviews

Power Management on Linux, Part 1
Power management on computers has three parts: selecting devices that are more power-efficient, tuning your systems to run more efficiently, and configuring systems to use less power during periods of inactivity. Servers, desktop machines, and laptops usually need different power management schemes; there isn't a one-size-fits-all.
Thursday, April 10, 2008 01:58:10 PM EST

Splunk 3.1: Log-Monitoring Revisited
Splunk has been gathering accolades for as long as it has been around. The latest version adds even more polish. Learn what's new, and how to work with some of the limitations the non-enterprise version introduces.
Monday, January 28, 2008 11:32:36 AM EST

Custom Linux Kernels with Debian and Fedora
Fedora and Debian make building a custom kernel and packaging it for rollout a simple process. Part 2 of the Linux kernel compilation series examines the unique steps in getting these popular distros' set up with a custom kernel.
Thursday, August 9, 2007 11:45:02 AM EST

Xandros Desktop Management Server Illustrates a Maturing Linux Market
The real key to successful penetration of the desktop space is the availability of administrative tools that make it easy to deploy, update, and manage Linux installations across multiple desktops. In this review, Bill von Hagen explores how the Xandros Desktop Management Server nicely fills this niche.
Thursday, January 6, 2005 10:32:45 AM EST

Off The Shelf And Onto Your Lap(top)
A Linux training company did so well with their laptop giveaways, they're starting to sell new Linux laptops as part of their business. LinuxPlanet recently got their hands on one of these machines, and has a review of LinuxCertified's new product venture.
Thursday, March 4, 2004 10:14:04 AM EST

Top Ten Linux Related Web Sites
Will Weisser gives us an introduction to the Linux web sites you cannot do without. The Internet is so vitally important to the development and usage of Linux that one of the first things a Linux user should do is visit these sites!
Friday, August 20, 1999 01:00:34 PM EST

Tips

See which sockets belong to which processes
lsof | grep -i "program"
Sunday, October 31, 1999 06:11:39 AM EST

Find all the configuration scripts on a system
With this handy perl one liner
Saturday, October 30, 1999 05:59:12 AM EST

Power down from software
Compile in APM kernel options.
Thursday, October 28, 1999 05:59:12 AM EST

Update debian slink to XFree86 version 3.3.5
Install XFree86 version 3.3.5, with Matrox G400 support and other great features.
Friday, October 22, 1999 05:37:28 AM EST

boot an alternate kernel for one reboot only
lilo -v -R old
Wednesday, October 20, 1999 08:11:31 AM EST

Boost EIDE performance on new motherboards
Unusual motherboard? Accelerate your EIDE performance with these experimental kernel patches for 2.2.x .
Monday, October 18, 1999 05:47:26 AM EST

Tutorials

Become A System Rescue Guru With Linux, Part 1
One of Carla Schroder's favorite Linux features is its endless adaptability as a cross-platform rescue tool, and her favorite rescue Linux of all is the excellent Gentoo-based SystemRescueCD. In this series, you'll learn how to set things right when things on your PC go awry.
Thursday, May 15, 2008 11:44:01 AM EST

Font Management In Linux, Part 2
Last week we learned some useful tips about font management in Linux. Today we're going to learn a few more ways to preview fonts, how to view font character maps, how to manage console fonts, and how to design your own fonts.
Thursday, October 25, 2007 09:36:33 AM EST

Custom Linux Kernels Trim Fat and Tune Performance
Your Linux distribution probably arrived with a "kitchen sink" kernel. It doesn't take much to build a better one that's tuned to your hardware's needs.
Monday, August 6, 2007 01:13:26 PM EST

Power Saving for the Workstation, Part 1
Ordinarily, the only place you see these programs are in laptops and the methods should work on laptops, and there are many places to go for information on the specialized laptop tweaks and GNOME and KDE laptop configuration options. But in an age of global warming and increasing costs per KWh, saving power on workstations by putting them to sleep when not in active use is a good idea, too.
Friday, July 27, 2007 01:13:28 PM EST

Virtualization and Linux--A Primer
Virtualized Linux provides you with a way to sandbox critical-but-vulnerable services and reap the benefits of consolidated hardware.
Thursday, December 7, 2006 12:40:38 PM EST

Murder Most Fowl
So there you are, dutifully wading through the documentation for whatever gnarly Linux application you're rassling into submission. You're running commands and editing configuration files and things are working and life is good. Until--yes, you knew the good times weren't going to last--until you hit the dreaded "send the process a SIGHUP" instruction.
Friday, June 16, 2006 12:26:06 PM EST

Synchronizing your Linux Laptop and Desktop
If your laptop computer is a complement to your desktop machine, you're probably well aware of the need to synchronize data between the two. This article from Jem Matzan will show you two ways to accomplish this on GNU/Linux-based machines.
Monday, April 17, 2006 10:45:26 AM EST

Mepis + apt = Working On Easy Street
"My reasoning for combining the traditional Debian apt command with Mepis was speed and efficiency. Also, in the fine tradition of open source, I could choose to use the command line instead of the Kpackage or Mepis System Center package management screen..."
Monday, January 24, 2005 11:15:22 AM EST

Rolling Out Unattended Debian Installations (Part 2)
Last week, Part 1 covered the basic configuration for a Debian FAI (Fully Automatic Installation) server. Today we'll configure the client installations--network server settings, what software is going to be installed, and the client boot methods.
Monday, December 13, 2004 11:07:02 AM EST

Upstream Provider Woes? Point the Ping of Blame
"It's never fun to argue about connectivity issues with your upstream 'net provider, but with this collection of software tools and a Linux laptop, you can make your case (and maybe even get support to listen to you)..."
Thursday, October 28, 2004 11:41:18 AM EST

My First Linux Server, Part 1
Linux is now a lot simpler than you may think. We can provide you with the easiest, simplest, no-problem process for installing Linux on a PC. After going through this simple installation process, you will have a basic machine that you can configure into any kind of server, workstation, or office desktop.
Wednesday, June 9, 2004 10:30:52 PM EST

Controlling Access to Your Services with xinetd
One of the most powerful aspects of Linux is its ability to launch services, or daemons, and run them in the background as needed. But running all of these background services can be an administrative headache when you take into account user access and permissions, too. Dee-Ann LeBlanc walks readers through the basics of xinetd, a tool that lets you securely and effectively lock down services on your Linux machine.
Monday, October 21, 2002 10:33:42 AM EST

Setting Up Your Own Diskless Workstations with LTSP
Schools use them, government agencies too. Diskless workstation networks are one of the best and easiest to use thin-client implementations you can use for your own organization. In this article, Alexander Prohorenko steps through the basics of using the Linux Terminal Server Project tools to build such a network on your own.
Wednesday, October 2, 2002 05:09:46 PM EST

Using RAID in Linux
The concept of RAID, so often put aside in Linux documentation for all those smart systems administrators, is actually not something that takes a lot of special knowledge to understand. As Alexander Prohorenko explains, all you need is a little common sense and a good plan to implement RAID on your systems
Thursday, August 1, 2002 01:52:49 PM EST

An In-Depth Look at Reiserfs
Reiserfs will soon become the first journaled file system to be bundled as part of the standard Linux kernel tree. What is a journaled file system, how does Reiserfs fit into that category, and why should you care that it's about to become part of the Linux core? Scott Courtney explains.
Monday, January 22, 2001 08:42:21 AM EST

Major Tom, This is Job Control
Looking to automate some onerous and boring chores? Then look to the convenient world of job control, where a host of Linux commands (cron, at, batch, nice, renice, et al.) help automate those repetitve chores with a minimum of fuss. Jason Fink guides you through the basics of job control, complete with a slew of handy examples.
Thursday, July 27, 2000 10:03:08 AM EST