Init run level:

0 shutdown, 1 and S Single user mode,

2-5 -networking, 6 reboot
Syslog
emerg panic
alert urgent
notice might merit investigation
Change the root password : At least every three months,
Every time someone who knows the password leaves the
site , Whenever you think security may have been
compromised.
Sudo has advantages such as: Command logging, he real
root password can be kept secret.
!estricted processe: Creating device "iles, changing the
system clock, setting the system#s hostname, shutting
down, con"iguring network inter"aces.
logrotate utility implements a variety o" log management
policies. $ts con"iguration "ile has speci"ications "or groups
o" log "iles to be managed.
%or logging, capture: &ser $', Event status(s)"*, Source
address "or network events, 'ate)ime "rom +,,
Sensitive data that was changed, Event details.
Access to log "iles on the central servers should be logged
and restricted. Centrali-ed log collection allows simpli"ied
storage re.uirements, simpler automated analysis and
alerting, and improved security.
wenty servers is a reasonable number "or considering
centrali-ation. /elow that si-e, ensure that logs are rotated
properly and are archived "re.uently enough to avoid
"illing up a disk.
Cron e0amples: 1 1 2 2 1 will e0ecute at 34 am every
month on Sundays.
2 2 53 2 2 will e0ecute on the 53
st
o" every month.
45 45 2 2 2 will e0ecute at 33:45 every day.
!easons "or 6'A,:
$t can act as an in"ormation source about its
users.
Changes take e""ect immediately.
$t makes it easy "or applications to
authenticate users easily.
6'A, data can easily be accessed through
ldapsearch.
$t is widely supported.
Electromagnetic inter"erence and other electrical is7sues
caused reliability concerns "or ,AA, and SAA resulted.
SAA is limited to a .ueue depth o" 54 pending
operations. SCS$ can handle thousands.SAS can handle
many storage devices (hundreds or thousands* on a single
host inter"ace.
hdparm is a way to interact with the "irmware o" SAA,
$'E, and SAS hard disks.
hdparm can set drive power options, enable or disable
noise reduction options, set the read7only "lag, and print
detailed drive in"ormation.
!A$' level 8 stripes both data and parity in"ormation,
adding redundancy while simultaneously improving read
per"ormance. A !A$' 9 array can withstand the complete
"ailure o" two drives without losing data. !A$' 8 is
vulnerable to corruption and accidental deletion o" "iles.
E0t5 adds :ournaling capability. E0t; raises a "ew si-e
limits, increases the per"ormance o" certain operations,
and allows the use o" <e0tents= (disk block
ranges*. une4"s upgrades the "ilesystem.
+%S is the traditional &+$> protocol used "or "ile
sharing.
A kernel is the "irst part o" an operating system that loads.
he kernel provides an inter"ace "or interaction between
system hardware and application so"tware. $t is also
responsible "or disk management, task management and
process management.
A monolithic kernel allows the ?S to run in kernel space
which is a section o" memory reserved "or privileged ?S
"unctions. $n a monolithic kernel, services such as
device drivers, interprocess communication, virtual
memory, and scheduling run in the same address space.
@owever, in a microkernel architechture, services run in
user mode as regular processes. 6inu0 is monolithic.
A device driver is a program that manages the systemAs
interaction with a type o" hardware.
,,, is a protocol used to provide dial7 up $nternet service
over phone lines and serial links.
6ink7state protocols distribute in"ormation in an
unprocessed "orm. ?S,% is the most popular.
Carrier Sense Bultiple Access)Collision 'etection.
&nshielded twisted pair (&,* is the pre"erred cable
medium "or Ethernet. $t is based on a star topology.
'+S de"ines
A hierarchical namespace "or hosts and $, addresses
A distributed database o" hostname and address
in"ormation
A resolver to .uery the database
$mproved routing and sender authentication "or email
A mechanism "or "inding services on a network
o add a new hostname: Choose an unused hostname and
$, address. $denti"y a similar machine on the same subnet.
6og in to the master name server machine. Co to the -one
"ile directory and edit the "orward -one "ile.'uplicate
those records and change them appropriately "or the new
host.
A name server:
Answers .ueries about your siteAs hostnames and $,
addresses.
Asks about both local and remote hosts on behal" o" your
users.
Caches the answers to .ueries so that it can answer "aster
ne0t time.
rans"ers data between your name servers to keep them
synchroni-ed.
+ame servers deal with -ones,.A -one is a domain minus
its subdomains. A recursive server returns only real
answers and error messages.
A <"ully .uali"ied domain name= is the "ull path to a '+S
ob:ect, including a "inal dot.
A <domain= is a subtree o" the '+S naming tree.
+S (name server* records identi"y the servers that are
authoritative "or a -one
(that is, all the master and slave servers* and delegate
subdomains to other organi-ations.
,! (pointer* records map "rom $, addresses back to
hostnames (reverse*
S,% (Sender ,olicy %ramework* records are an attempt to
identi"y email messages with "orged %rom headers, which
are o"ten spam or phishing..
he /$+' distribution has "our ma:or components:
A name server daemon called named that answers .ueries
A resolver library that .ueries '+S servers on behal" o"
users
Command7line inter"aces to '+S: nslookup, dig, and host
A program to remotely control named called rndc
he complete con"iguration "or named consists o" the
con"ig "ile, the -one data "iles that contain address
mappings "or each host, and the root name server hints
"ile.
+$S was the "irst <prime time= administrative data7
base.
he headers are a collection o" property)value pairs as
speci"ied in !%C8544. hey record the :ourney o" the
message.
Simple Bail ransport ,rotocol is used "or most message
hando""s. $t starts with E@6? instead o" @E6?.
'epending on the response, they will negotiate an
e0change among supported e0tensions.
A <mail user agent= (B&A or &A* lets users read and
compose mail, A Bail Submission Agent accepts
outgoing mail and submits it to the A. he ransport
Agent routes messages among machines. he delivery
agent puts the messages in a store. he Access Agent
connects the user agent to a message store.
Sendmail, E0im, ,ost"i0.
+etstat can be used to: inspect inter"ace con"iguration
in"ormation, monitor the status o" network connections,
identi"y listening network services, e0amine the routing
table, view operation statistics "or network protocols.
,acket sni""ers listen to network tra""ic and record or print
packets that meet criteria o" your choice.
A 'BD allows computers behind the "irewall to initiate
re.uests outbound to the 'BD. $t e0poses e0ternal7"acing
services to an untrusted network, "or e0ample, the internet.
he Ba0imum ransmission &nit is the largest physical
packet si-e (measured in bytes* that a network can
transmit. $" the B& is set too high, there will be packet
loss and "ragmentation issues. As a result, high latencies
will be a side e""ect. @owever, a low B& may cause
slow download speeds.
here are many bene"its that can be derived "rom the
"eatures o" a Con"iguration Banagement System. ?ne
such "eature is the "act that such a system makes it
possible to coordinate, track and manage change activities.
his is a ma:or "eature since the entire collection o"
systems can be reviewed, which makes it possible to know
whether changes to one system can have adverse e""ects
on other systems.
Another important "eature is the provision "or !evision
Control. his deals with controlling access to each
item)"ile, and maintaining a history o" changes. his also
makes it possible to recreate "iles to the way they were at
any point in time.
Static routing involves the manual set up o" optimal paths
between source and destination computers. @owever,
dynamic routing involves the use o" dynamic protocols
which update the routing table and attempt to "ind the best
path between source and destination computers.
A disadvantage thar arises "rom the static routing method
is that there is no mechanism to correct "aults that it may
come across in its routing paths. ?n the other hand,
dynamic routers will eliminate the "aulty router and "ind
an alternative path that is more optimal.
Static routing is only suitable "or very small networks,
since it uses very simple routing. $n contrast, dynamic
routing uses comple0 algorithms such as ?S,%, $C!, and
!$,. $n de"ense o" static routing, static routers do not
re.uire a lot o" memory. his can be use"ul since there
would minimal memory overheads.
he superblock contains in"ormation about "ile systems,
such as their type, si-e, mount status, and in"ormation
about other metadata structures. %or e0t "ile systems, it is
located 314; bytes "rom the start o" the "ile system and it
has 314;5 bytes allocated to it.
A symbolic link acts somewhat like a Windows shortcut. $t
is a pointer o" sorts, whereas a hard link re"ers to the
speci"ic location o" physical data. Symbolic links are not
updated, and i" the "ile is moved, the link would be
deemed useless. @owever, with hard links, the original can
be moved or deleted without breaking other hard links to
the same inode.
An advantage o" a symbolic link over a hard link is the
"act that it can point to a directory, or a "ile in a di""erent
"ilesystem.