Any server made in the last five years or so is going to have at least a dual-core CPU. Linux has a nifty tool to assign specific tasks to a particular core, taskset.
/proc is a virtual filesystem generated at boot and updated regularly by the kernel. With /proc you can investigate exactly what hardware your Linux kernel sees, what processes it is running, boot options, and also manipulate kernel events.
You know the basics of how to find out what an errant process is doing. But what do you do when the basics aren't enough?
Scapy is a flexible tool for both capturing and generating network traffic, and performing whatever type of analysis you want. In Part 2 Paul Ferrill goes deeper into designing custom tests with just a few lines of code.
Scheduled jobs are a basic server administrator task. Joe Brockmeier shows an easy way to use crontab, the Linux job scheduler.
You thought you had it all working, didn't you? But then your users report slowdowns, or your logfiles are empty, or jobs don't run-- so how do you find out what's going on?
strace is a useful little debugging utility for both developers and server admins that exposes what a program is doing by tracing the system calls. Juliet Kemp introduces us to using strace to see what a program is doing under the hood.
In part 3 of this series we learn how to use WOL, Wake-on-LAN, and the finer points of shutting a system down.
Linux is chock-full of excellent system and network administration tools, and today Brian Proffitt introduces vnStat, the kernel-level network monitor and analyzer.
The best server and network security tools come from Linux and FOSS. Paul Ferrill introduces Scapy, a powerful Python-based networking protocol analysis and testing tool.
You want a good end-user live CD? Go with Knoppix. You want a server admin's toolbox with minimal fluff and maximum usability? Go with grml, a Debian-based live CD/USB that packs in more than 1,700 applications and utilities.
Does OpenOffice get stuck in Document Recovery and drive you crazy? Here is how I got out.
In Part 1 Gimp guru Akkana Peck showed us how to cut arbitrary objects out of images. Today we learn advanced techniques for seamless blending into new images.
You read the "Fastest Flash" article so you already know Ext4 can turbocharge your thumb drive. Using GPT (GUID Partition Table) will rocketize your thumb drive even more.
Linux server admins need good scripting skills and command-line chops, but who says they can't be fun? Learn Bash Karaoke with 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall, quickly find disk hogs, and display used/free disk space.
Discover how to start developing for the Android platform with this extensive guide, which provides a reference to the Android platform as well as a look at developing your first Android application. You'll explore the top 10 features for developers as well as learn design and development tips that go beyond the phone and target tablet development as well.