Unix System Administration Handbook

This book is by far the best book out there for general UNIX system adminstration. The third edition is even better than the second. Whereas the second edition sometimes got bogged down in trying to mention too many different UNIX flavors, this new addition just concentrates on four main ones (HP-UX, Solaris, Red Hat Linux, and BSD). An excellent decision because it nows has great details and specifics about the four types. An excellent reference and it's entertaining to read too! Highly recommended.

If you have the slightest interest in Unix system administration, you NEED this book... it will either equip you for the job or make you consider a new line of work.The changes in the IT industry over the last five years are reflected in the third edition of this book, as it now focuses only on Solaris, HP-UX, FreeBSD, and RedHat Linux. While this is a good cross-section of all *nixes, users of SunOS, OSF/1, or IRIX looking for platform-specific examples should probably stick with the second edition (and it comes with a CD).Other significant changes to the book include expanded coverage of networking (for example, TCP/IP and Routing are now two separate chapters) and a new chapter on "hosting the satanic banquet" of a mixed Windows/Unix environment (which I find invaluable). Also, topics of diminishing importance (such as Usenet) no longer have their own chapters, but are still covered in appropriate detail.I can not praise this book highly enough, and Linus Torvalds agrees with me. What more convincing do you need? ;-)

A MUST for anyone into UNIX. Covers most of the topics I have found needing info for in the last couple of years, and then some. Not only is it a very, very, very well written book, it is also a joy to read. There are times it becomes even funny. It must be a joy to work with these guys (and gal).A final note: If only it covered more flavours of the beast. UNIX that is :) When I was at a loss nevertheless, I e-mailed the authors seeking for advice. To my surprise, they bothered to reply, promptly and ever graciously. Steal, beg or borrow, but do get this book.

Well, when i started my unix administration and networking studies i,ve got two books "Unix for programmers and users" and "Unix system administration handbook". First time i opened this book i was scared! Wow! 'It's too heavy for me, better i start with "Unix for programmers ..." Wrong! Learning thousends of commands and shell scripting without understanding how the unix systems works is completly useless! "Unix system administration" handbook gives you almost everything you need to build your own unix administartion baseground! It seems to be hard at the beginning but it's worth your pain! It was much easer for me to keep understading scripting and commands when i read this book! And now working on meny different kinds of unix OS and networks i am still comming back to the source. Why almost, beacause i was missing some deeper chapters about nis or nis+ and tcp/ip networking (i mean routing, subneting adn so on...), but anyway i've got my roots grounded and i keep growing! And now i know what i am looking for!

This is the rare book that will be as useful to you in five years as it is now. The authors clearly speak from hard-won experience - if you take their advice you'll be able to avoid many pitfalls with hardware, software, and policy. Much more informative than Aeleen Frisch's _Essential Unix System Administration_, even though it takes up less space on your bookshelf and doesn't have a cute animal on the cover! (Frisch's book is good, mind, but this is a classic.) Don't be put off by the price - I know most bundled CDs are worthless, but this one is indispensible. Finally, author Evi Nemeth is a babe, and her picture should be hung in every machine room.