July 2010
vi tips and tricks: Ten cool commands
Amaze your friends with cool vi tips and tricks that will improve the efficiency of your file editing. This article takes you through ten of the less well-known vi commands that should form part of any serious vi user's toolkit.
Quick Demo: Ubuntu Linux solution stack implementation
Learn how to download and install a Ubuntu image and then go through some basic shell commands to help you navigate through the Linux environment. This is part 1 of a 4 part demo series to show you how to implement a solution stack (Rational Application Developer, WebSphere Application Server, and DB2 Express-C) on Ubuntu Linux, as well as how to integrate them in a Java application.
June 2010
Capturing screen shots and program interaction on UNIX and Linux systems
Modern UNIX systems provide a number of different tools to capture the text-oriented interaction between a user and a specific program and to capture graphical screens and single windows. This article focuses on different ways to keep a record of the interaction between a user and a command-line application.
Deep-protocol analysis of UNIX networks
Some UNIX protocols need investigation to understand what they are doing and what information they are exchanging. In this article, we will take a look at techniques for performing detailed analysis of the protocols in use on your UNIX network.
Learn Linux, 101: Create and change hard and symbolic links
Learn how to create and manage hard and symbolic links to files on your Linux system. Explore the differences between hard and soft, or symbolic, links and the best ways to link to files, as opposed to copying files.
May 2010
The best-kept secrets of UNIX power users
You don't have to break into a Watergate office to uncover the secrets of UNIX power users. There's an informant, and he's spilling the beans. Learn why Environment Variables, the dot file, and the Secure Shell (SSH)are very important.
Distributed data processing with Hadoop
This article explores the Hadoop framework, including its fundamental elements, such as the Hadoop file system (HDFS), and node types that are commonly used. Learn how to install and configure a single-node Hadoop cluster, and delve into the MapReduce application. Finally, discover ways to monitor and manage Hadoop using its core Web interfaces.
Learn Read Hat RPM and Yellowdog YUM package management
Learn how to install, upgrade and manage packages on your Linux system. This article focuses on the Red Hat Package Manager (RPM) developed by Red Hat, as well as the Yellowdog Updater Modified (YUM). Explore the best ways to add new software and keep your system current.
Ceph: A Linux petabyte-scale distributed file system
A recent addition to Linux's impressive selection of file systems is Ceph, a distributed file system that incorporates replication and fault tolerance while maintaining POSIX compatibility. Explore the architecture of Ceph and learn how it provides fault tolerance and simplifies the management of massive amounts of data.
April 2010
Linux on 4KB-sector disks: Practical advice
This article examines the implications of 4KB-sector disks, including benchmark tests illustrating the likely real-world effects on some common Linux file systems. As disks with 4096-byte sectors become more common throughout 2010 and beyond, strategies for coping with these new disks will become increasingly important.
Anatomy of Linux Kernel Shared Memory
An interesting change in the 2.6.32 kernel is Kernel Shared Memory (KSM). KSM allows the hypervisor to increase the number of concurrent virtual machines by consolidating identical memory pages. Explore the ideas behind KSM (such as storage de-duplication), its implementation, and how you manage it.
Learn inotify efficient Linux file system event-monitoring in the 2.6 kernel
learn how to use inotify functions for a simple monitoring app. Download the sample code and Use inotify when you need efficient, fine-grained, asynchronous monitoring of Linux file system events. Use it for user-space monitoring for security, performance, or other purposes.
October 2009
Getting comfortable with Linux plumbing
If you think streams and pipes make a Linux expert sound like a plumber, here's your chance to learn about them and how to redirect and split them. This article grounds you in the basic Linux techniques for redirecting standard IO streams.
output to both stdout and a file.
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