LINUX® Network Toolkit - Softcover

Sery, Paul G.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0764531468 ISBN 13: 9780764531460

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 1998

Synopsis

The Linux operating system is a free product and a derivation of UNIX. This text provides software products and hands-on answers needed to build a Linux network. It shows how to implement, configure, manage and maintain a network without breaking the bank.

About this title

From the Author

Use Linux as a Windows 95 file/print and firewall server.
Linux is a superior platform for providing file and print services to Windows 95 computers. It is also an excellent system for securely connecting networks to the Internet. Linux Network Toolkit describes how to do those things.

I like to learn by example. I prefer to start out with simple ones and see them work before moving forward. To that end, the first chapter shows you how to build a two-computer, Linux/Windows 95 client-server network. Detailed, step-by-step instructions are given for installing Red Hat 5.0 Linux (included on a companion CD-ROM) on a PC and then using Samba to provide file and print services to a Windows 95 computer. Samba, which allows the Linux computer to "speak" the same language as Microsoft Windows, is used as the glue to allow the computers speak to each other.

After you construct the simple, yet effective network in chapter 1 the remainder of the book's first half is spent introducing you to general topics such as troub! leshooting, the basic Linux internals, some history and how to access and use the many Linux resources. This is intended to give you an overview of Linux and the necessary background to successfully manage a small network. For instance, the art of troubleshooting is discussed in such a way as to not only introduce the difficult subject but also help with some of the actual problems that you might encounter when creating a Linux/Windows 95 network.

The second half of the book guides you systematically towards the goal of constructing a well-managed, business-ready network that is securely connected to the Internet. The initial two-computer network is used as the basis for all subsequent ones. Detailed, step-by-step instructions are given for topics such as modifying Samba, connecting a network to the Internet and protecting it with an IP packet filtering and masquerading firewall. (Packet filtering gives you con trol over the basic types of network communication that can en! ter and exit your private network. Masquerading allows you ! to immediately connect your entire private network to the Internet without having to obtain an official network address.) The end result is a system that you should be able to run a small business or organization with and also use as a base for building bigger and more complex systems.

Linux Network Toolkit's intended audience is the intermediate to advanced computer user who wants to construct a reliable and inexpensive network. Linux and/or UNIX experience is certainly very helpful but my intention is that the detailed instructions will help the novice construct a Linux network quickly and then get a step up on the learning curve by implementing the examples. (The reader will benefit from having a reference book or two at hand and synopses are given for the ones that I have used.) If you are an experienced Linux/UNIX user then you should still benefit from the examples because they address key networking and security topics and functions. I frequently refer to the exampl! es myself when constructing Linux-based networks.

Edition details

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0764531468
• ISBN 13: 9780764531460
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 624