August 2010
Yeah - Learn Linux: Maintain the integrity of filesystems
Learn how to check the integrity of your Linux filesystems, monitor free space, and fix simple problems. Use the material in this article to study for the Linux Professional Institute (LPI) 101 exam for Linux system administrator certification—or just to check your filesystems and keep them in good working order, especially after a system crash or power loss.
Bazaar: A Powerful, next-generation source control system
Bazaar is used to produce the Ubuntu Linux distribution, which is an enormous software project with thousands of components. If you're using a UNIX or Linux system, chances are that your distribution offers a pre-built Bazaar package. Bazaar is flexible enough to accommodate Subversion - a centralized system and Git - a decentralized system. This article introduces you to Bazaar's many appealing features.
Resizing Linux partitions, Part 1: Basics
Several tools exist to Resizing Linux partitions, but there are a number of potential pitfalls and restrictions that can make the task more difficult than it might at first seem. This article guides you through the task of resizing Linux partitions, beginning with basic preparations and moving on to common resizing scenarios using graphical user interface (GUI) tools.
User space memory access from the Linux kernel
As the kernel and user space exist in different virtual address spaces, there are special considerations for moving data between them. Explore the ideas behind virtual address spaces and the kernel APIs for data movement to and from user space, and learn some of the other mapping techniques used to map memory
High availability with the Linux Distributed Replicated Block Device
The 2.6.33 Linux kernel has introduced a useful new service called the DRBD - Distributed Replicated Block Device. This service mirrors an entire block device to another networked host during run time, permitting the development of high-availability clusters for block data. Explore the ideas behind the DRBD and its implementation in the Linux kernel.
July 2010
Distributed data processing with Hadoop - Part-3: App Build
Leran how to develop applications within the Hadoop infrastructure. This article explores the Hadoop APIs and data flow and demonstrates their use with a simple mapper and reducer application.
Distributed data processing with Hadoop, Part 2: Going further
Learn advanced setup that uses multiple nodes for parallel processing. It demonstrates the various node types required for multinode clusters and explores MapReduce functionality in a parallel environment. This article also digs into the management aspects of Hadoop—both command line and Web based.
June 2010
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.
Enable multipath SAN-boot Linux system on IBM DS8000 Storage
Booting servers from storage area networks with multiple paths can provide significant benefits for the complex, modern data center environment. This article walks you through setting up a SAN-boot Linux system on the IBM System Storage DS8000 with the multipath function supported by the Device-Mapper MultiPath (DMMP) feature.
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.
Transitioning to the new GRUB2 boot loader
The tools used to boot Linux are changing. Specifically, the Grand Unified Bootloader (GRUB) is now officially in maintenance mode only, and GRUB's developers have abandoned the original GRUB in favor of an entirely rewritten package, known as GRUB 2. Discover GRUB 2's new capabilities and how to use 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.
February 2010
Virtio: An I/O virtualization framework for Linux
With all the virtualization schemes running on top of Linux, how do they exploit the underlying kernel for I/O virtualization? The answer is virtio, which provides an efficient abstraction for hypervisors and a common set of I/O virtualization drivers. Discover virtio, and learn why Linux will soon be the hypervisor of choice.
Modify and extend the powerful Vim Scripting editor
Vimscript is a mechanism for reshaping and extending the Vim editor. Scripting allows you to create new tools, simplify common tasks, and even redesign and replace existing editor features. In this article explore Vimscript's support for lists and arrays.
January 2010
Create a KVM-based virtual server in 3 steps
In three relatively simple steps, you can create a virtual server on the Linux KVM hypervisor host using full virtualization. The Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) is free, open source virtualization software for Linux that is based on hardware virtualization extensions (Intel VT-X and AMD-V) and a modified version of QEMU.
October 2009
Virtual appliances and the Open Virtualization Format
virtual appliance fundamentally changes the way software is delivered, configured, and managed. But the power behind virtual appliances lies in the ability to freely share them among different hypervisors. Discover a standard solution for virtual appliance interoperability called the Open Virtualization Format.
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