Absolute FreeBSD, 2nd Edition
The Complete Guide to FreeBSD
by Michael W. Lucas

November 2007, 744 pp.
ISBN: 978-1-59327-151-0

View Chapter 8: Disks and Filesystems

FreeBSD—the powerful, flexible, and free Unix-like operating system—is the preferred server for many enterprises. But it can be even trickier to use than either Unix or Linux, and harder still to master.

Absolute FreeBSD, 2nd Edition is your complete guide to FreeBSD, written by FreeBSD committer Michael W. Lucas. Lucas considers this completely revised and rewritten second edition of his landmark work to be his best work ever; a true product of his love for FreeBSD and the support of the FreeBSD community. Absolute FreeBSD, 2nd Edition covers installation, networking, security, network services, system performance, kernel tweaking, filesystems, SMP, upgrading, crash debugging, and much more, including coverage of how to:

  • Use advanced security features like packet filtering, virtual machines, and host-based intrusion detection
  • Build custom live FreeBSD CDs and bootable flash
  • Manage network services and filesystems
  • Use DNS and set up email, IMAP, web, and FTP services for both servers and clients
  • Monitor your system with performance-testing and troubleshooting tools
  • Run diskless systems
  • Manage schedulers, remap shared libraries, and optimize your system for your hardware and your workload
  • Build custom network appliances with embedded FreeBSD
  • Implement redundant disks, even without special hardware
  • Integrate FreeBSD-specific SNMP into your network management system.

Whether you're just getting started with FreeBSD or you've been using it for years, you'll find this book to be the definitive guide to FreeBSD that you've been waiting for.

About the Author

Michael W. Lucas is a network/security engineer with extensive experience working with high-availability systems. He is the author of the critically acclaimed Absolute BSD, Absolute OpenBSD, Cisco Routers for the Desperate, and PGP & GPG, all from No Starch Press.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Robert N.M. Watson
Acknowledgments
Introduction

Chapter 1: Getting More Help
Chapter 2: Installing FreeBSD
Chapter 3: Start Me Up! The Boot Process
Chapter 4: Read This Before You Break Something Else! (Backup and Recovery)
Chapter 5: Kernel Games
Chapter 6: The Network
Chapter 7: Securing Your System
Chapter 8: Disks and Filesystems
Chapter 9: Advanced Security Features
Chapter 10: Exploring /etc
Chapter 11: Making Your System Useful
Chapter 12: Advanced Software Management
Chapter 13: Upgrading FreeBSD
Chapter 14: The Internet Road Map: DNS
Chapter 15: Small System Services
Chapter 16: Spam, Worms, and Viruses (Plus Email, If You Insist)
Chapter 17: Web and FTP Services
Chapter 18: Disk Tricks with GEOM
Chapter 19: System Performance and Monitoring
Chapter 20: The Fringe of FreeBSD
Chapter 21: System (and Sysadmin) Panics and Crashes

Afterword
Appendix: Some Interesting sysctl MIBs
Index

View the detailed Table of Contents(PDF).

View the Index (PDF).

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Reviews

"Just go out and buy the book. It's worth every penny and more."
—Linux/BSD: Sharing Experiences (Read More)

"Michael Lucas is probably the best system administration author I've read. I am amazed that he can communicate top-notch content with a sense of humor, while not offending the reader or sounding stupid. When was the last time you could physically feel yourself getting smarter while reading a book? If you are a beginning to average FreeBSD user, Absolute FreeBSD 2nd Ed (AF2E) will deliver that sensation in spades. Even more advanced users will find plenty to enjoy."
—Richard Bejtlich, Tao Security (Read More)

"By far the best FreeBSD book I have ever owned is Absolute FreeBSD, 2nd Edition by No Starch Press."
—BSD Zealot

"Master practitioner Lucas organizes features and functions to make sense in the development environment, and so provides aid and comfort to new users, novices, and those with significant experience alike."
—SciTech Book News

"This book adds another layer of understanding to your FreeBSD experience. The author put a lot of effort gathering and articulating the information in this book. I enjoyed it and it makes a great addition to my growing FreeBSD library."
—Daemon News (Read More)

Absolute FreeBSD, 2nd Edition "reads well as the author has a very conversational tone, while giving you more than enough information on the topic at hand. He drops in jokes and honest truths, as if you were talking to him in a bar."
—Technology and Me Blog (Read More)

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