Anyone have any suggestions for webserver administration type books? I'd like to eventually lease a dedicated server, and resell excess space, but want to be well informed before I get it rolling.

TIA,
Justin

I've got a list on my site that knowledgeable administrators have recommended.. It partly depends on what operating system you will be running, along with some other programs. I recall that some of the books are Red Hat Linux Unleashed, BIND, amd I believe there is one about sendmail, among others. You might also check some of the security sites (I have links for them too) and read the pros and cons for different programs and OSs.

Along with reading, I'd suggest you get (or dedicate) a hard drive for the OS you choose, configure it as a server, and use the hands on method in conjunction with reading. You'll learn more and retain more of what you learn that way(it's the nature of the way memory works).

Thanks Duster, and to everyone else, I will be using either Linux or FreeBSD on the server most likely, should it influence your suggestions.

I would recommend Mastering Linux, BIND and often visit http://www.cert.org

I have 2 books that hvae become ever so valuable. One is Linux Administration for Dummies and Perl for the System Administrator. I would recommend the first one, it has come in quite useful.

I found the UNIX System Administrators Bible to be a good starting point. Or this one might help.
UNIX System Administration Handbook

Linux Unleashed or RedHat Linux Unleashed. Excellent books!

I tend to use O'Reilly books. What do other people think about the quality of the information.

But the way I found out how to set-up and manage a Linux Server, was not to read books, but to do the hard work (tinkering), and work from your mistakes. I went from a Advanced Windows Administrator to a Advanced Linux Administrator in less then 3 months working 9-5. Why? The company wanting to build an office internet appliance, on minimal budget.

It works :-) There's nothing like building a Linux Kernal.

Rgds.

Gareth C. Fowler

Originally posted by garethfowler
I tend to use O'Reilly books. What do other people think about the quality of the information.


Tim O'Reilly is a god :). Anything O'Reilly you can get your hands on is going to be superior.

Linux in a Nutshell is a great start. As are their pocket references. The ones you need to have are:

Programming Perl, 3rd Edition
Advanced Perl Programming
CGI Programming with Perl, 2nd Ed
MySQL & mSQL
Apache: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition
Web Security & Commerce
Learning Red Hat Linux
DNS and BIND, 3rd Edition
Sendmail, 2nd Edition
TCP/IP Network Administration

and then you move onto the second week's worth of reading :).

[Edited by uuallan on 03-12-2001 at 11:06 PM]

Wow someone who actually doesnt want to just jump right in but wants to actually research the industry first :) A Rarity!!

I got my first dedicated server in December, and I was a total newbie.

But I have learnt soooo much in this time, helped with books like

Linux Apache Web Server Administration [Paperback]
By: Charles Aulds

Sendmail [Paperback]
By: Bryan Costales, Eric Allman

Red Hat Linux [Paperback]
By: Richard Petersen

DNS and BIND [Paperback]
By: Paul Albitz, Cricket Liu


Now, I am no expert, but I have installed PHP4/MySQL/Perl/Apache etc from scratch, and configured them all.

Sure, I need help at times, but you guys help me a lot.

James

Got three of the previous stated books, except the SendMail one. All very good.

If your a newbie, forget SendMail, go for Exim ( http://www.exim.org ), has the configuration like that of Apache, yes, Plain Text (or near enough!).

Though personaly I'm a bit biased, cause I've used that 95% of the time.

Rgds.

Gareth C. Fowler

I have found the Linux Administrators Security Guide to be handy now and then as well, best of all it's available as a free download at http://packetstorm.securify.com/linux/admin/lasg-0-1-7.pdf

Regards,

Mike

You get the most useful information by going to security sites and sites with the subject of the operating system you're running.

I'd not suggest Exim, as someone else did earlier and Sendmail is difficult for most people to secure and might not be worth bothering or worrying about it, and I'd suggest you use Qmail. FreeBSD is a great choice, but you should get familiar with Linux in general as well. Most things are very similiar, if not the same, but some are pretty different too.

All the Perl and Unix books people mentioned earlier are a good choice, as was the mention of O'Reilly being a good publisher. In fact, I probably own 95% of all computer related books ever published by O'Reilly, to this very date. I might be missing 5 or so I don't have, but I an sort of an O'Reilly book collector.

Anyway, most information can be had by using it, as someone else said, as you go along.. just be careful, and make sure it's a good testing system at home, so you don't screw up your server and have to call in a system repair or reinstall. :-)

Originally posted by Tim_Greer
You get the most useful information by going to security sites and sites with the subject of the operating system you're running.


Tim,

In the General Conversations Forum you said:

Originally posted by Tim_Greer
You can't well research anything online, it's pretty useless.

So which is it, sheesh :D??

Originally posted by uuallan
Originally posted by Tim_Greer
You get the most useful information by going to security sites and sites with the subject of the operating system you're running.


Tim,

In the General Conversations Forum you said:

Originally posted by Tim_Greer
You can't well research anything online, it's pretty useless.

So which is it, sheesh :D??

Oh crap! Foot->mouth. :-) Actually, I had meant research in the subject of medical, science, school, etc. And, how the search engines are bad and how difficult it is to find things. However, I take that back, in it's entirety and clearly apologize for any misleading comment. One thing the Internet is good for, is for researching the Internet and server issues, Internet technical issues, etc. Good luck finding much else useful information though.. well, what I'd consider useful anyway. Thanks for noticing. :-)

Originally posted by Tim_Greer
I'd not suggest Exim, as someone else did earlier and Sendmail is difficult for most people to secure and might not be worth bothering or worrying about it, and I'd suggest you use Qmail. FreeBSD is a great choice, but you should get familiar with Linux in general as well. Most things are very similiar, if not the same, but some are pretty different too.

What's wrong with Exim??? It works very well on my box at home, and at work. A number of the large ISPs, including Demon and Energis use it as well as the Labour Party in the UK. If these companies use it, why shouldn't it be used in this case???

Give me one reason? It's easy to setup, granted there's not much in the way of documentation, but it's still easy enough to build and configure it. It was the first MTA that I used when I hadn't got a clue what Linux really was.

Rgds.

Gareth C. Fowler