| This book is intended for a technical audience and system administrators who manage Linux servers, but it also includes material for home users and others. It discusses how to install and setup a Red Hat Linux Server with all the necessary security and optimization for a high performance Linux specific machine. Since we speak of optimization and security configuration, we will use a source distribution (tar.gz) program the most available type for critical server software like Apache, BIND/DNS, Samba, Squid, OpenSSL etc. Source packages give us fast upgrades, security updates when necessary, and a better compilation, customization, and optimization for our specific machines that often we can’t have with RPM packages.
When I began writing this book, the first question I asked myself was how to install Linux on a server, and be sure that no one from the outside, or inside, could access it without authorization. Then I wondered if any method similar to the one on windows exists to improve the computer’s performance. Subsequently, I began a search on the Internet and read several books to get the most information on security and performance for my server. After many years of research and studies I had finally found the answer to my questions. Those answers were found all throughout different documents, books, articles, and Internet sites. I created documentation based on my research that could help me through my daily activities. Through the years, my documentation grew and started to look more like a book and less like simple, scattered notes. I decide to publish it on the Internet so that anyone could take advantage of it.
By sharing this information, I felt that I did my part for the community who answered so many of my computing needs with one magical, reliable, strong, powerful, fast and free operating system named Linux. I’d received a lot of feedback and comments about my documentation, which helped to improve it over time. Also, I’d found that a lot of people wanted to see it published for its contents, to get advantages out of it and see the power of this beautiful Linux system in action.
A lot of time and effort went into the making of this book, and to ensure that the results were as accurate as possible. If you find any abnormalities, inconsistent results, errors, omissions or anything else that doesn't look right, please let me know so I that can investigate the problem or correct the error. Suggestions for future versions are also welcome and appreciated. |
