Product Description
Whether you are an experienced Security or System Administrator or a Newbie to the industry, you will learn how to use native, "out-of-the-box", operating system capabilities to secure your UNIX environment. No need for third-party software or freeware tools to be and stay secure!This book will help you ensure that your system is protected from unauthorized users and conduct intrusion traces to identify the intruders if this does occur.It provides you with practical information to use of the native OS security capabilities without the need for a third party security software application.Also included are hundreds of security tips, tricks, ready-to-use scripts and configuration files that will be a valuable resource in your endeavor to secure your UNIX systems. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A practical review
I think that it's a good book. Straight to apply the main concepts of Solaris's security. Has been very helpful, especially for designing and implementing a security policy

Very Useful
It is practically impossible to find a good book with hands-on approach on information security. This book is one of the few that will show you HOW-TO secure your system and not just why you should do this! Also, security forensics chapter is my favorite... I recommend this book for anybody who is interested in UNIX and wants to know what could be done to protect the box using only OS bundled capabilities. As a security administrator for a company on a budget I get used to only rely on freeware or open-source tools to protect the enterprise.This book showed me that it is possible to use only out of the box solutions to achieve the same results! I would recommend it for everybody who is prohibited to use freeware and open-source tools for information security. Great book!

Tons of practical information!
This book is one of the best I've read about UNIX security. Dr. Loza provides hundreds of hands-on, practical solutions for how to investigate suspicious hackers' activities, secure the system, or protect you on the Internet by using only "native" UNIX capabilities. This book is very unique in the approach that shows you how one can do absolutely the same things to secure your UNIX box that freeware or open-source tools offer - if you are creative and hove some scripting skills. Using freeware and open-source applications is prohibited in many companies. This is why this book is absolutely the best! Especially I loved the Forensics chapter. Once again, I would recommend this book for all hackers and system administrators alike! ... Read more

Product Description
The Computer Forensic Series by EC-Council provides the knowledge and skills to identify, track, and prosecute the cyber-criminal. The series is comprised of five books covering a broad base of topics in Computer Hacking Forensic Investigation, designed to expose the reader to the process of detecting attacks and collecting evidence in a forensically sound manner with the intent to report crime and prevent future attacks. Learners are introduced to advanced techniques in computer investigation and analysis with interest in generating potential legal evidence. In full, this and the other four books provide preparation to identify evidence in computer related crime and abuse cases as well as track the intrusive hacker's path through a client system. The series and accompanying labs help prepare the security student or professional to profile an intruder's footprint and gather all necessary information and evidence to support prosecution in a court of law.Hard Disks, File and Operating Systems provides a basic understanding of file systems, hard disks and digital media devices. Boot processes, Windows and Linux Forensics and application of password crackers are all discussed. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Very good computer forensic book
The book is very well written and I was surprised about its topics. I recommended. ... Read more

Product Description
A+ Operating Systems for Technicians is designed for the users to receive experience with multiple operating systems. Meadors and Schmidt place a major emphasis on these topics and many more: The Operating System Environment, Basic Operating System Theory, DOS and DOS Command Line, Windows and Networking.Utilizing A+ Operating Systems for Technicians can provide a technician with the leading edge of most operating systems. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Easy as 1-2-3
The book was shipped in a timely manner and was in good condition upon arrival. ... Read more

Product Description
As any application running on a computer makes use of the operating system, the potential impact of improving areas such as memory management, process scheduling, file systems, and device drivers is tremendous. The Handbook of Research on Advanced Operating Systems and Kernel Applications: Techniques and Technologies discusses non-distributed operating systems that benefit researchers, academicians, and practitioners desiring to delve into this subject area and learn more on this important field of study. This innovative publication includes an overview of topical issues, methods, and advancements in the field of one-processor operating systems. ... Read more

Product Description
The Linux TCP/IP Stack: Networking for Embedded Systems 2/E provides an updated, in-depth guide to implementing and using the Linux TCP/IP stack in embedded systems projects. It begins with a general overview of TCP/IP networking, with background information on applicable networking standards. From there, it details the TCP/IP implementation in Linux by following a packet of data as it flows through the stack from the sending system, out the wire, and back through the input side of the stack in the receiving machine. This unique approach gives programmers an inside look at the entire process. Throughout the text, topics of particular interest to engineers implementing embedded systems are discussed, such as sockets, network interfaces, application layer protocols, and practical considerations. This is a great resource for embedded systems programmers and engineers, as well as networking professionals interested in learning more about the implementation of Linux TCP/IP. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Not bad, not perfect
This book is really nothing about embedded systems and all about the Linux networking stack. There is the offhanded remark about how something that is mentioned might apply to an embedded system, but the title of the book is really misleading. The book covers the network stack from device driver up to the socket layer and does a fair job with more details than any other current book on the subject matter (i've looked at them all as of Dec 07).

Reading the book it does seem like there wasn't much editing: It's easy to spot a typo every couple of pages (some times there is a completely duplicated paragraph); I've seen a couple of mistakes and the writing is quite repetitive at times. Additionally, it seems like some content was shifted around at the very last minute which is odd for the second edition of the book.

Even with it's flaws I think it does a better job than most. The only real contender is Linux Networking Architecture which in my opinion is better written and clearer, however in some areas (notably the transport layer) it's more brief. I would rather have an expanded edition of that book that went into more details, but this does a reasonable job.

TCP part is over-simplied
I have been working in OS TCP stack over 6 years and I am very disappointed about the TCP part of this book. TCP is a complex protocol with tens of optimization extensions and tweaks. Different OS implementations vary significantly. It is essential to at least describe what RFCs Linux implements and its variations from the standards. I.e., give a global picture of the design and implementation philosophy of Linux TCP. For example, Linux implements the forward RTO RFC, but the author does not even mention it or cite the technical papers in TCP retransmissions. If you want to know indepth knowledge of Linux TCP, check the slight-outdated 10 page Linux Congestion Control paper, it provides more information than this book.

found 2 errors in the first day I got this book.
1, pg. 318. figure 7.2 - tcp_send_skb has been removed since 2.6.6, but it still appears in a book, which the author claims that it's based kernel 2.6.16.

2, pg. 485. paragraph 2 - "this processing is done by tcp_v4_hnd_req" is not right, actually tcp_v4_hnd_req expects a SYN-ACK. If SYN comes, it does nothing.

The Definitive Book on the Subject
This is an in-depth guide to implementing and using the Linux TCP/IP stack. It begins with a general overview of TCP/IP networking, with background information on applicable networking standards. From there, it details the TCP/IP implementation in Linux by following a pack of data as it flows through the stack from the sending system, out the wire, and back through the input side of the stack in the receiving machine. This unique approach gives programmers an inside look at the entire process.

The book is aimed at the engineers and programmers implementing dedicated or embedded systems including sockets, network interfaces, application protocols and practical considerations. This is an intermediate level book. Some programming experience is all but required, as is some background in Linux

The CD included with the book includes the source code developed in the book, much of which can be modified to fit many quasi-standard applications, and a considerable amount of additional technical information on Linux and the particular aspects of TCP/IP. It also includes an implementation of a sample NADA protocol suite. ... Read more

Product Description
Never HIGHLIGHT a Book Again!Virtually all testable terms, concepts, persons, places, and events are included. Cram101 Textbook Outlines gives all of the outlines, highlights, notes for your textbook with optional online practice tests. Only Cram101 Outlines are Textbook Specific. Cram101 is NOT the Textbook. ... Read more

Product Description
This helpful guide is designed to build upon an intermediate programmer's knowledge and explain how to design and develop a feature rich, full operating system. Among the topics discussed are tasking models, memory management, hardware interfaces, systems programming, and much more. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (21)

What you need to Consider
There is something that one needs to consider before purchasing a book of this type: for what platform was it designed. This particular book is an excellent and comprehensive guide to creating your own 32-bit operating system. The catch is the 32 bit part. The operating system which one is taught to build will be designed to run on the 386 and 486 platforms. These systems are not as widely used today as they once were. Today's platform is the 64-bit, which was virtually unheard of in the 1980's to early 90's when this book was written. This book does teach you the basics, and will whet your appetite to program better things. For this, I highly recommend the book.

I like it!
I bought this book used, have it in my hot little hands, and no, guys, it's not for sale. I have to admit that I haven't read very far into it, but I love what I see so far. Which is to say, Burgess writes a lot like me, giving more of a personal journal than a textbook.

Some reviewers seem to think that this approach disqualifies the book.It doesn't.Burgess wasn't _TRYING_ to write a textbook -- he says that up front. To complain because it isn't one misses the point entirely.

Another reviewer didn't like MMURTL because it's not competitive with Windows.

Huh?

Yet others didn't like it because it's not Linux.What can I say?For some people, Linux _IS_ their religion.

Let's get it straight:Burgess never claimed to be writing the next great commercial OS, the successor to Windows or Linux. He never claimed to be writing an OS that had only C or C wrappers; he never claimed that he was writing an OS that would be portable across platforms.He gave his goals at the very outset:To learn to write OS's by doing it; to eschew backwards compatibility to other versions, other OS's, or other designs. And to put in only the things he needed.He delivers all those things in spades. Anyone who doesn't like those goals, bought the wrong book and should have read the flyleaf first.

One reviewer has said that he didn't like Burgess' assembly language style or quality.I can't comment on that -- haven't gotten that far yet.But be assured that if I also don't like it, I won't write a bad review.What I'll do is what Burgess has urged us to do from the get-go, which is to change it and personalize it to taste.

Lots of reviewers missing the point

The thing most of the reviews seem to be missing is that this was written in 1995 (when Linux didn't even -function-) and OSS was in reality, barely off the ground.Most reviews carp about how this os/book is a "no show" - that's not really the point. It shows all of the bits necessary to write an OS from scratch.

Apparently, few of the readers have actually worked in industry.

Not an educational textbook
Some reviewers may fall back on the sorry excuse that this book is intended for educational purposes (because it does not examine a system being used by IT professionals). But my guess would be that these same reviewers must have ulterior motives ...because this book is, by no means, and educational textbook.

What Burgess does, throughout the book, is basically dump code in your lap. There is no discussion of background theory, which is an absolute necessity when dealing with complicated topics like Intel Protected Mode and the 8259 Programmable Interrupt Controller (PIC). Instead, what he does is throw a bunch of source code at you (to pad the book's size) and then expect you to sift through everything line-by-line, with the expectation that you already know how PIC interrupt control words work, and that you understand how x386 segment descriptors work.

There are a number of books on the Linux Kernel that do not suffer from these shortcomings. Specifically, the book by Bovet and Cesati does an amazing job of explaining all the little details (and don't think that this doesn't make a big difference, the devil is in the details). Check out Bovet's explanation of how Linux uses protected mode memory on Intel, it's well done.

You can tell that PHDs like Bovet actually take pride in their work (unlike some two-dollar ex-technical school instructor who just expects you to learn by osmosis).

Instructional text books are about lowering the learning threshold. The goal is to make a subject as easy to understand as possible. Burgess has not done that in this book. He hands you his code and then expects you to do the requisite foot-work. In this sense, this book is more of a poorly documented journal rather than something that an engineer would use to learn from.

Documentation? Ha, that's a good one. If you're lucky, you might get cryptic one-line comments. The author admits, in certain points in the book, that his lack of documentation came back to haunt him (i.e. "I went back months later, only to realize that I forgot what I had done"). If Burgess worked for me writing software, I would have fired him.

The reality of this book is that Burgess wrote an operating system because he had nothing better to do (he was retired). Retired people are like that; let's climb a mountain because it's there (what else am I going to do? Build a ship in a bottle? Watch TV?). However, once he completed the first cut, I suspect that he lost heart and decided to get a life. This book is his attempt to re-coup on the time he spent writing his own OS. Unfortunately, that's really all this book is. He took what he had and haphazardly crammed it into book format.

Haste makes waste
The one thing that seems to stand out in my mind is how the code seems to be thrown together without any regard for long term maintenance (i.e. assembly code isn't wrapped in C, most of the kernel is in x86 assembly code, doesn't seem to be any sort of structural design underpinning the different components, etc.). This is evident by the fact that the author often admits that he had problems remembering what he had done. If an overall design blueprints/metaphors had existed, he wouldn't have had this problem.

I assume that the author decided he would tackle his OS project and then get on with his life. In other words, let's get this done and then never, NEVER, look back (history seems to have verified this: the author wrote the OS in the early 1990s and then left MMURTL at the station with bus fair in the mid 1990s). There was no home-page on the internet, nor promoter outside of SAMs publishing.

MMURTL did not take off. The hundreds of hours that the author spent building tools and wading around in the dark have been, for all intensive purposes, lost. All that remains is a jumbled book, as a testimony to one man's urge to climb a mountain "because it's there."

Had Richard involved other people and Open-Sourced his creation, the man-power necessary to take MMURTL out of its confusing infantile state may have been available. Instead, Richard decided to build MMURTL utilizing a software team consisting of one person, and the rest is history.

Those readers who want to dig into OS internals should defer to Linux. Unlike MMURTL, Linux is a "live" system (which admins actually use) with all the features you would expect in an enterprise OS. Linux has a sane design, does a sufficient job of isolating hardware specifics, and information/support can be located at dozens of web-sites. Best of all, Linus and his cast of thousands have wrapped the assembly code and given it a structural underpinning.

At the end of the day, this book is a nice concept whose execution never really followed through. There may be one or two useful snippets of code, but I wouldn't invest 6 months of my life to become a MMURTL fanatic. History and evolution were the judges and Linux is the winner. ... Read more

Product Description

“If you’re writing a native Win32 program or just want to know what the OS is really doing underneath, you need John’s book. He covers the stuff that real systems programmers absolutely must know. Recommended.”

–Chris Sells, Microsoft Corporation

“This fourth edition does a great job of incorporating new features in the Vista, Windows 2008, and Windows 7 API, but also stays true to teaching the foundational elements of building applications that target the Windows OS.”

–Jason Beres, Product Management, Infragistics

The Definitive Guide to Windows API Programming, Fully Updated for Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Vista

Windows System Programming, Fourth Edition, now contains extensive new coverage of 64-bit programming, parallelism, multicore systems, and many other crucial topics. Johnson Hart’s robust code examples have been updated and streamlined throughout. They have been debugged and tested in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, on single and multiprocessor systems, and under Windows 7, Vista, Server 2008, and Windows XP. To clarify program operation, sample programs are now illustrated with dozens of screenshots.

Hart systematically covers Windows externals at the API level, presenting practical coverage of all the services Windows programmers need, and emphasizing how Windows functions actually behave and interact in real-world applications. Hart begins with features used in single-process applications and gradually progresses to more sophisticated functions and multithreaded environments. Topics covered include file systems, memory management, exceptions, processes, threads, synchronization, interprocess communication, Windows services, and security.

New coverage in this edition includes

• Leveraging parallelism and maximizing performance in multicore systems
• Promoting source code portability and application interoperability across Windows, Linux, and UNIX
• Using 64-bit address spaces and ensuring 64-bit/32-bit portability
• Improving performance and scalability using threads, thread pools, and completion ports
• Techniques to improve program reliability and performance in all systems
• Windows performance-enhancing API features available starting with Windows Vista, such as slim reader/writer locks and condition variables

A companion Web site, jmhartsoftware.com, contains all sample code, Visual Studio projects, additional examples, errata, reader comments, and Windows commentary and discussion.

Customer Reviews (22)

A Concise Guide to Essential Windows Programming Concepts
The first thing I noticed when opening this book is that I could open the book to any section I was interested and find the information in a format that is easy to read and understand. The author clearly describes each concept and then supports the information with generous code samples (supplemented by the author's website in case the samples in the book are not enough). Within each topic, he does a good job of building up the concept, first explaining the basic principles, and then extending those basics to real world use.

This book is perfect for a web programmer like me. I have been using ASP.Net as long as it has been around, but I have only started doing Windows programming this year. I often find myself inferring how the Windows Operating System works based on my interaction with it through my code. This book provides a definitive guide that helps me to understand the underlying systems. I am a C# programmer and I was surprised to see that I am able to read and understand the examples in the book (given in C) with no problem.

I think this book is ideal either for someone looking to switch from web programming, or non-windows programming. It is also good for a programming student who wants to get into Windows programming. It would be better if the reader already has some basic programming foundation. However, the book does give enough basic description of even the most rudimentary concepts that if an initiate programmer encounters an unfamiliar concept, the book will give enough information to lead the reader in the right direction.

This book is a nice addition to my knowledge library. I would recommend it to anyone who is learning or practicing windows system programming.

Excellent book for Windows System Programming
If anybody is looking for a good technical resource to learn Windows programming "Windows System Programming by Jonathan Hart" is the best source for him. The author has clearly and cleverly joined each blocks and provided a good resouce for non experienced and experienced learner. It takes into a great detail coverage of what Windows is doing at a lower level. It is the only resource where I found practical and complete examples on real-world programming tasks, such as Named Pipes using IO Completion ports, file handling etc. Me being a hardcore .Net guy who has left C programming more than 10 yrs back, found it very helpful to understand how things work in back when you use Windows API.

The best thing is extensive code with great detail of explaination. Example code in the book are pretty good (though there were few minor issues which can be ignored).

Multiple chapters on multithreaded programming have been extremely insightful, indispensable and helpful. Johnson has done a wonderful job by providing enough information on each topic, while not loosing the main thread of thought. Overall, I pretty impressed by author deep understnading of System Programming.

I recommend this book for any serious Windows developer.

Excellent reference for Windows development beyond the .NET API
I was pleased with what I have read in this book. It is difficult to find books that cover the technical aspects of Windows programming, even harder to find a good one. This is not a book for most of the drag and drop Visual Basic crowd but if you want to extend yourself beyond the .NET environemnt then this book will be of great value to you.

Windows System Programming by Jonathan Hart is an excellent source of information
Windows System Programming by Jonathan Hart is an excellent source of information about programming against the core system services provided by the windows API.Hart does an excellent job of detailing the numerous features provided by the API, their uses, and various pros and cons of using one over another.He also details the various changes in the windows API from older versions of the operating system up to its present incarnations as Windows 7and Windows 2008.It fulfills its objectives of explaining what Windows is, how to use it in realistic situations, and not burdening the reader with unnecessary detail.The comparison of various functionality with its Unix equivalents in an effort to increase program portability was an aspect of the book I enjoyed and made me feel would be a good companion book to one of the more traditional, operating system components books that go in depth into Unix functioning.As a companion book, it could be used to give the student a feel for programming against the Windows API as well as various Unix system functions as well.
The book covers how to develop against the various operating system services provided by the API and various issues that may arise with modern day technology.The 64-bit extensions to the API and programming in a multiprocessor environment are extensively covered and the points of confusion and consideration are recognized.The method of mitigating the risks involved with using all of these enhancements are also elaborated on which provides the reader with an in-depth understanding of the issues that may possibly be encountered when using these technologies.
One of the things I found most enjoyable about this book is the level of detail the author went in to with creating the exercises and their ability to increase the understanding of the topics covered in their companion chapter. I found these problems challenging, enjoyable, and not overly difficult.One could definitely use this as part of a curriculum in a class covering these operating system concepts.

A Very Positive Experience
I read this book from the perspective of an experienced .NET developer with very little knowledge of the Windows API. I liked the author's pace; the initial introduction to the Windows API structure and conventions was detailed enough for me to understand everything without causing me to lose interest through repetition or over-simplification. The examples throughout the book were clear and concise, and illustrated the subject matter well. The reading lists were germane and referenced high quality texts - some of which have made their way onto either my bookshelf or wish list. I find it much easier to grasp concepts by "doing" rather than merely reading, so I was extremely pleased with the exercises - these were well thought out and helpful, and certainly accelerated my learning.

Many of the concepts addressed in this text are familiar to me (multi-threading, security, etc), but only as implemented through the .NET framework. Even if I never write any production code in these areas, it's made me a better .NET developer now that I have a more in-depth understanding of the Windows API. I would absolutely recommend this book to .NET software engineers - even if you never write a line of code against the Windows API directly, it will give you a much broader understanding of what Windows is doing at a lower level. Just ensure that you have at least a basic understanding of C first - this is a prerequisite. ... Read more

Product Description

Provides a broad and up-to-date account of the principles and practice of distributed system design.

Customer Reviews (13)

A satisfied customer
Hey, I just got the 2 products including this book. I must say I am happy, everything went well and I am a satisfied customer. As for the book , it has lot's of theory and explains the concepts quite well but it lacks exercises and code (that's why I bought the other book as well).

Anyway, I really like the service and the products, everything is as I expected. 5 starts for a happy customer, keep up the good work.

Good book for one looking for an introduction to distributed systems
This book useful for one who is wanting an introduction to distributed systems. The book covers a lot of topics and can be a very long read. The earlier chapters on networking and long and verbose. The later chapters give a good description of distributed systems concepts but doesn't dive in to deep.

I won't suggest - superficial treatment of the subject
I'm a software developer and avid reader of math and tech books.
This book seems to cover a wide variety of topics in a very superficial way.
A good author will keep the readers imagining and solving problems before they learn the specific topic from the book itself and the author will also have the answers for imaginative readers' probable questions (might be in the subsequent chapters).

The authors of this book failed to achieve that. I'm buying "Distributed Algorithms" by Nancy A. Lynch

It's alright...
The best review I can give for this book is this:it's OK.

It's not terribly thorough, but it's easy to read.You're going to need some supplementary publications in order to fill in the gaps it leaves or just to answer the questions you will probably have popping up in your head.

I'd recommend reading this before anything else, though.All the other books are so immensely difficult to actually force yourself through that this provides a great "starter" so you're better prepared for what everyone else is going to throw at you.

Bedtime reading!
I bought the book in few months but already knew. These book is excelente and a best seller, the concepts are shows and have several examples about distributed systems such CORBA, WEB services, RMI, etc. I really have it by my side ever. Such a distributed systems software enginerring is very good to know theirs concepts abroad this area. ... Read more

Product Description
This Is Just "A Little Taste" At What You'll
Discover With Operating Systems
Uncovered: The Inside Scoops Are Revealed.

Discover the dominant OS.

Learn what an OS is.

Find out how they work.

Learn about the classifications of an OS.

Discover what a bootstrap loader is.

Discover what needs specific systems can meet.

Find out how process management affects your system.

Discover the advantages and disadvantages with each OS.

Learn how security fits in.

Will more RAM help?

Learn about installing an OS.

Discover computer terminology!

Learn how your system resources can help you.

Plus much MUCH More! ... Read more

Product Description
Essential System Administration,3rd Edition is the definitive guide for Unix system administration, covering all the fundamental and essential tasks required to run such divergent Unix systems as AIX, FreeBSD, HP-UX, Linux, Solaris, Tru64 and more. Essential System Administration provides a clear, concise, practical guide to the real world issues that anyone responsible for a Unix system faces daily.The new edition of this indispensable reference has been fully updated for all the latest operating systems. Even more importantly, it has been extensively revised and expanded to consider the current system administrative topics that administrators need most. Essential System Administration,3rd Edition covers: DHCP, USB devices, the latest automation tools, SNMP and network management, LDAP, PAM, and recent security tools and techniques. Whether you use a standalone Unix system, routinely provide administrative support for a larger shared system, or just want an understanding of basic administrative functions, Essential System Administration is for you. This comprehensive and invaluable book combines the author's years of practical experience with technical expertise to help you manage Unix systems as productively and painlessly as possible. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (78)

Very well structured, clear, and helpful
As a veteran software developer who has found himself suddenly in a system administrator role for multiple Solaris and Red Hat systems, this book has been my salvation. It uses a very practical, structured approach that deals with "first things first". For me, it has been exactly on target. It is easy to read and explores the application of each administrative task to any unique aspects of the individual operating systems. This is one of the few technical books that I actually look forward to having time to read. I recommend it highly.

Best Buy ever
I'm fairly new to Unix but have been using Linux for 2 to 3 years and have to say that from my extensive collection of Unix/Linux books this one stands tall above the others.
This is a big book and is crammed with relevent and timely information, easy to read but concise and to the point. Lots of good examples are used to explain the topics and it has saved my life more than once. To put it simply you will not regret buying this book.

Good Book...
Good Book if you have to live in a multiple OS environment. If you don't get the solution at least you know what to do next.

There is a confused creature by the name of "Old Book Worm" who has been throwing light into some of my reviews. I wonder whether he/she is a street-person? Seems to me that he/she is frustrated, divorced, semi-educated (with deplorable knowledge of history), overweight and, I am afraid, is a mad old coot. Looks he/she is a member of Aryan Brotherhood or Motherhood or whatever of the same ilk and portfolio. Had his/her reviews been hilarious or made fun of me I wouldn't have bothered to reply, but this is a replayof intense racism that is supposed to have waned in USA. Wonder if this creature had been a part of a conspiracy to murder Obama. Really, Amazon should review into the kind of riff-raff they would allow to express their stupidities in a public forum. Pathetic!

A little dated....
The first thing to understand is that my 3 star rating isn't for the book itself, but for the edition. This book is well written and contains many good principles, but the material is dated and could use some touching up. For example, the network monitoring section still covers NetSaint.

I bought and read this book prior to starting my first job as a system administrator. I learned a bit, but as I wasn't a rank beginner, it wasn't really all that much. Besides the fact that the material is dated, I found the multi-vendor approach to be somewhat detrimental. As I was going to work for a Debian-based shop, the material for the commercial versions of Unix did me no good, resulting in what is essentially, wasted space.

For someone who is brand new to unix and is going to be thrown to the wolves as a system administrator, this book would be worth reading, and given that target audience, this is an excellent book. But if you're already somewhat familiar with the concepts of running and managing a unix based system, your time and money are better spent on other products

Great Overview
Used this book as a starter for Unix, already armed with basic knowledge and concepts this book helped me better understand the inner workings of UNIX. ... Read more

Product Description
This practical guide contains a detailed set of C standards and UNIX system comparisons for the construction of highly portable software. Professionals will learn the underlying causes of portability problems as well as the techniques for creating portable UNIX system software. It shortens the software development and test cycle and enables the user to reduce the cost of long-term support. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Clarification on authorship
Cowan's only half-right. The "E" in "J.E.Lapin" is for "Eric" (as in "Eric Raymond"). The "J" is for "Jon" (as in
"Jon Tulk").The book was actually a team effort undertaken by several software engineers working at Rabbit Software in the 80s.

This book should be far better known
In addition to being everything the previous reviewer said it was, its true author is Eric S. Raymond, rather better known in the community now than he was then. ("Lapin" is French for "rabbit", as in Rabbit Software, the publishers.)So it should really be filed along with "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" and "The New Hacker's Dictionary".

Somewhat dated now, but still very worthy ideas.
First off, the composite authors name is Lapin, not Laping.

I used this book back around 1990 to develop a large software suite.The first 5 chapters are an excellent intro to portable C coding.We used the beginning chapters to design and develop our common platform headers, libraries and Make system.We did not take their examples unchanged, but used them as starting points for a our needs, which was a somewhat more comprehensive system.My team gives the book credit for helping us get us some of our 10x improvements.Still have not seen the likes of this book even today, in terms of the quality of data to use.

The last half of the book is a summary of different API calls and /bin functions available on different Unixes of the day. Interesting now, from a historical perspective. ... Read more

Product Description
An ideal tutorial and reference for both novice and experienced UNIX users, this new edition brings Sobell's bestseller up-to-date in several key areas, including graphical user interfaces and networking with electronic mail. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

book is in really good shape, only paper is very thick -so book is heavy
book is in really good shape, only paper is very thick -so book is heavy

Unix textbook
An excellent textbook. Clear explanations and then many real world examples. It was recommended by a friend and I, too, recommend it

This will be on my bookshelf for life
This book will no doubt be on the shelf next to my desk for the rest of my life. I have been a Unix/Linux user since 1999 and this is by far the best reference book available. I have specifically bookmarked the SED/AWK, Background, Uniq, and Word Count pages. In fact this book is so cheap when purchased used you could afford to give one as a gift to almost every "computer person" you know. Anyone getting started in Unix/Linux should certainly read this book. Time and time again I pull this book off the shelf for 10 minutes to solve a problem. This is essentially the swiss army knife of IT books.

PGUS saved my life
I was transferred to a remote location and, because help was at least a day away, I became the de facto system manager for a UNIX workstation, with zero UNIX experience.The book saved my life through all kinds of minor and major crises, including three reinstalls of the OS.As soon as the second edition came out, I bought it.I plan to buy the third edition, also, even though I now work in a location where we have good support.
As the other reviewers have said, the book nurses you along in the beginning, and continues to be useful as you learn.

Still my favorite reference
I agree with many of the reviewers (esprpclark), in saying that this is a wonderful introductory book. I can further add that I have owned this book for 5+ years and it is still the reference I refer to most often. I believe, a particular strength of Sobell's book is that it was useful to a newbie and is still useful at the sys admin level. ... Read more

Product Description
Offering a broad survey of operating systems, this text provides an advanced survey of seven different operating systems from an administrative standpoint. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Wonderful Experience with no problems
The transaction was easy.The seller responded to my questions in a timely manner and the product was in excellent condition although it was listed as "good".I would recommend this seller! ... Read more

Product Description
Written by a leading authority on parallel processing system software design, this volume describes the logical design of state-of-the-art operating systems for both massively parallel computer architectures and massively parallel applications. It focuses on the systems software for organizing and structuring such large scale architectures, rather than on algorithms that implement specific system features. ... Read more

Product Description
This book is one that any Solaris systems programmer will want on their shelf. Sun Microsystems' Solaris Operating Environment boasts a significant installed base, but the intricacies of programming in this UNIX environment have been previously unaddressed in book format. In this thorough new book, the author provides context that allows the reader to better understand the subtleties of the Solaris Operating Environment. He explains not only the "how's" but also the "why's" of Solaris programming, complete with a brief history of the operating system. The result is a comprehensive text that Solaris practitioners will refer to time and again as they face and overcome the significant challenges of their everyday work. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Good Only Because
The only reason this book is a good Unix systems book is because it is a nearly section by section rip of Advanced Programming in the Unix Environment by Stevens. If you have a choice between Teer's book or Stevens book you must take Stevens' book. Stevens' 2nd edition is much more comprehensive and contains important content that Teer's book lacks, such as threads.

A very, very good book
For anyone that would like to code C in Solaris, this is a book that is a must. Provides a very complete overview of 64bit coding, secure coding practices, a c library and more.

The ultimate UNIX text. Updates or replaces six other text books.
This book may be easily read page after page. Teer has a very subtle wit and actually places numerical jokes in his code examples. It is very much like older UNIX texts in that it covers off well documented material but does the great justice of bringing it all under one roof.He presents the information with complete code examples not merely fragments or pseudo code.Teer illustrates the concepts and walks the reader carefully through the learning process.One may easily replace six other UNIX text books from the past and gain updated knowledge while losing nothing.

I have had this text on my desktop for nearly a year.Over a year in fact and I use it often.It is precious for anyone that must look closely at UNIX.One may place the Kernighan & Pike "The Practice of Programming" along with "The C Programming Language" by Kernighan & Ritchie on that same desktop and rest assured you are well covered.

It should be noted that I had the opportunity to preview and edit the text before publication and I have withheld my public comments until now.I wanted the opportunity for the OpenSolaris project to be born and for this text to establish itself without the possibility of prejudiced opinion.

This is an essential text.It is fit for any university computer science student or professional software engineer.

Dennis Clarke
[...]

Excellentsource of information specific to Solaris systems programming
System programming with reference to a specific operating system involves the proper usage of C program function calls that the operating system has available so that programmers can hook into the internals of the operating system itself and influence and utilize such things as the file system, the date and time functions, and process control. 13 years ago when I first began UNIX system programming on Sun computers, they came with reference books that had this material. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case.

Richard Stevens' book "Advanced Programming in the Unix Environment" has been a great book on generic UNIX systems programming since it was first published. However, there are so many facets of system programming that are unique to Solaris that this is an essential book. The book is logically laid out and discusses all of the hooks available to you via Solaris system programming function calls. There are plenty of code examples, detailed explanations of function parameters, and even some exercises with some solutions available. In conjunction with "Solaris Internals", just recently released in its second edition, there is a wealth of information available on how the system programmer can monitor Solaris, or perhaps add some features of their own.

The first two chapters are an introduction to operating system components in general and the history of Solaris through Solaris 9- the current version being Solaris 10. The book is then divided into system programming topics. The first of these is "fundamental topics", which basically starts with manipulating strings using the C programming language and then goes through the basic resources available to the Solaris system programmer. Next, each topic that was covered in the introductory fundamental topics section now gets its own section in the book - input/output, process control, interprocess communication, and pseudo-terminals.

I highly recommend this book to any C programmer that needs to write programs to interface to the Solaris operating system. I notice the table of contents is not shown, so I present that next:
Part 1 INTRODUCTION
Chapter 1Introduction 3
Chapter 2A Brief History of Solaris 45

Part 2FUNDAMENTAL TOPICS 57
Chapter 3Utility Functions 59
Chapter 4Basic File I/O 123
Chapter 5The Standard I/O Library 159
Chapter 6Date and Time Operations 201
Chapter 7Users and Groups 223
Chapter 8System Information and Resource Limits 275
Chapter 9Secure C Programming 337

Part 3INPUT/OUTPUT 351
Chapter 10Files and Directories 353
Chapter 11Working with File Systems 417
Chapter 12Terminal I/O 461
Chapter 13Advanced I/O 507

Part 4PROCESSES AND PROCESS CONTROL 601
Chapter 14The Environment of a UNIX Process 603
Chapter 15Process Control 629
Chapter 16Process Relationships 677
Chapter 17Signals 703
Chapter 18Daemon Processes 805

Part 5INTERPROCESS COMMUNICATION 827
Chapter 19Interprocess Communication Using Pipes and FIFOs 829
Chapter 20The System V Interprocess Communication Facility 867
Chapter 21Advanced Interprocess Communication 927
Chapter 22Doors 951

Part 6PSEUDO TERMINALS 995
Chapter 23Pseudo Terminals 997

Appendix AAn Internationalization and Localization Primer 1035
Appendix BThe BSD Source Compatibility Package 1047
Appendix CFunction Summary 1057
Appendix DMiscellaneous Source Code 1117
Appendix ESolutions to Selected Exercises

excellent source of solaris information in clear form
This book is true bible of solaris knowledge and, what is importand too - written using very simply and clear language - that (unfortunately rare) property of technical book makes it very good and useful manual. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (13)

It used to be listed here
This book hit number 7 on Amazon's Bestseller list. For some reason, my books have been stripped from the profile.

Great for quick overview
I got this to get me more acclimated with our Linux systems. I have only had very limited exposure to Linux and the apps you run on it. This is a great book for giving a technical person a good understanding of basic administration. I would recommend based on the book description and who the intended audience is for.

Poorly organized
I stumbled on this O'Reilly volume in the bookstore and immediately bought it, but my high expectations were not met. As of 2009 the book is already hopelessly out-of-date even though its publication date is only March 2007. Partly this is due to the tumultous, fast-moving Linux landscape, but most of the blame rests with the authors, who rely too much on specific commands and config files rather than on explaining general concepts. As a result, many of the examples in the book don't work at all. Experienced admins will find this merely annoying, whereas novices are likely to be thoroughly baffled and frustrated.

In Chapter 2, Setting Up a Linux Multifunction Server, we install Apache, Postfix, BIND, and various other services on a Debian server. The authors explain that this chapter is based on "Debian's stable version," but fail to alert the reader that "Debian's stable version" is a moving target that changes every couple years. Beginners who dutifully install "Debian stable" and follow the directions in this chapter will be in for quite a rough time, since the authors appear to be using Debian 3.1 (although they don't say), and the current stable version is 5.0. The chapter starts by updating and restarting inetd, an obsolete package that Debian no longer uses. There are many other problems and annoyances in this chapter. The authors set up rdate as a cron job and point it at a specific NTP server at CMU in order to synchronize time on the server. They fail to mention that hosted virtual servers (which I'm sure many readers will be using) will not have to do this since NTP will already be running on the host server. They install fetchmail which seems pointless since a few pages later they install an entire mail server (Postfix), complete with a self-generated SSL certificate. They install BIND9 in a chroot environment. To me it seems ludicrous to introduce chroot jails and self-generated SSL certificates in an *introductory* chapter on Linux system administration.

The organization of the book is bizarre.Chapter 10, the second-to-last chapter, covers extremely basic Unix topics like file permissions, I/O redirection, and shell scripting. The final chapter is on backups. It's as if the book were written backwards, moving from advanced topics to basic ones.

Experienced sysadmins will be able to glean some valuable tips from this book, but newbies who want a general overview of Linux system administration should stay away.

Configure and deploy debian servers
This book explains step by step how to properly configure basic network services for a corporation.
The text describes most used open source applications and it is focused on Debian Linux distribution ( Ubuntu is based on Debian).
The content of the book is very detailed and the quality of the resulting server configuration really works in a productive environment.
You should be aware that you need some Linux/UNIX background because basic Linux commands are not explained.
If you want to deploy a Debian server with basic functionality or want to become an acceptable Linux system administrator, this book is really useful.

Great reference
This Linux system administration book has been very handy for me over the last 6 months.I found the information on high availability and virtualization very helpful since I am deploying this in my domain.This book is also a great command line reference for me.The security recommendations also came in very handy.This book also gave me guidance on other books to purchase for more indepth information certain topics.I recommend this book for new system administrators! ... Read more

Product Description
Embedded Microcomputer Systems: Real Time Interfacing provides an in-depth discussion of the design of real-time embedded systems using the Freescale 6811 and 9S12 microcontrollers. This book covers the hardware aspects of interfacing, advanced software topics (including interrupts), and a systems approach to typical embedded applications. This text stands out from other microcomputer systems books because of its balanced, in-depth treatment of both hardware and software issues important in real time embedded systems design. It features a wealth of detailed case studies that demonstrate basic concepts in the context of actual working examples of systems. It also features a unique simulation software package on the bound-in CD-ROM (called Test Execute and Simulate, or TexaS, for short) - that provides a self-contained software environment for designing, writing, implementing, and testing both the hardware and software components of embedded systems. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Ghost written by a monkey with a typewriter
This book is the single worst book I have every read on a subject relating to engineering of any kind.The examples in the book, especially code examples, are so cryptic and unexplained that you would be better off searching for tutorials on google than wasting your time trying to read this garbage.I wish there was a rating below 1 star, this book deserves it.

A good software with a not-so-good book
The 4 stars that I have used is a sort of average of 5 stars for the software accompanying the book, and 2 stars for the book itself. If you are new to the world of embedded systems and yet to work on a real project, then the simulator provided with this book is simply superb. It lets you simulate external I/O devices like LED, switches, CRT, Motors in a pretty realistic way. It also allows input captures. Also, it has an excellent online help. Indeed, if you find the main text of the book rather disconnected and cryptic, then better read the online help of the software. It is MUCH more than a mere online help. It provides lots of examples, detailed explanations and suggested modes of actions all in a hypertext environment, much more lucid than the main book. However, this is a software for LEARNING, and is by no means comprehensive a program development/debugging utility. There are quite a few such utilities out there on the web, but they usually require the user to know a lot. Also, the software is still undergoing upgrading, it seems, the upgrade patches being freely available on the author's webpage (URL in the book). I personally used Peter Spasov's book "Microcontroller Technology" as the main text to supplement the software.

Valvano's book is somewhat rambling in nature, and he skips certain details in a way that is confusing to a beginner. Also he is always trying to explain 4 microcontrollers simultaneously which puts strain on a novice reader.

If you can somehow grab a copy of the software, I would never recommend that you buy the book.

real-time interfacing
this book is an exceptionally good book for both new comers to real-time interfacing and experienced programmers. It treats both the engineering and hands-on design of embedded systems using the Motorola microcontroller units. It comes with a simulator that is simple to use and lets you know how your design would work in these units. what it misses though as a suggestion is a chapter that would guide users to specific portions of the book for the various actuators it provides as an example.

Bad Data Sheet Book at Very High Price
You can get all information from Motorla data sheet free. Save your money and buy a kit from any SemiHouse and you would learn a lot more aobut interfacing. Its CD-ROM is almost useless.

Very Bad Data Sheet book at very high price
You can get all information from Motorla data sheet that is free on webpage and the software is almost useless for serious works. I would not recommend this book at all. ... Read more

Product Description
Fundamental principles that will keep you on the cutting edge!

Most computer  architecture books are just too technical and complex. Focusing on specific technology, they often bypass the basics and are outdated as quickly as technology advances. Now, Irv Englander's gentle-but-thorough introduction to computer architecture and systems software provides just the right amount of technical detail you'll need to make successful decisions in your future career.

The text covers all the basics in an accessible, easy-to-understand way. Organized in a form that parallels an actual computer system, entire sections are devoted to principles of data, hardware, and software, with computer interconnection, clustering, and networking integrated into the material to emphasize the importance of computer and system structure. Assuming only basic knowledge, these sections build up to an in-depth understanding of each topic and how they interrelate to make up a computer system.

With this Third Edition's outstanding features, you'll be able to build a solid foundation for success on the job.

• All chapters have been thoroughly updated to reflect current technology.
• Revised with even clearer discussions of virtual storage, the operation of memory, and modern CPU architectures.
• Programming examples are written in a C++/Java-like pseudocode.
• Emphasizes the computer aspects of clustering and networking, rather than the data communication aspects.
• Provide an understanding of underlying, non-changing basics of computers, so that you can make knowledgeable decisions about systems.
• Introduce new technological concepts without overwhelming you with too much detail.
• Examples cover a broad spectrum of hardware and software systems, from personal computers to mainframes.
• Integrates discussions of hardware and software throughout, and explores the symbiosis between them.

Customer Reviews (13)

exactly what I needed
Exactly what I needed. They gave what they said I would get. Very satisified with my purchase and the service.

Fairly helpful, but who is it aimed at?
Okay, first the good news. This is a weighty book with a lot of well presented information. As one of the previous reviewers noted, you can only simplify this kind of technical information so much. I agree with that reviewer that Englander has done a good job in covering such topics as data and computer mathematics, hardware architecture and operation, and software components. The diagrams are generally helpful and well done, and though there is a large volume of text here, the author keeps the pros flowing pretty well.

The bad news is that this is not particularly helpful for those approaching this subject for the first time. On many occasions Englander refers to "your previous programing experience" and similar presumptions about the readers technical background and knowledge level. Yes, I agree not all books are aimed beginners, but I read this text for a third year undergraduate course in IT and was often a bit baffled by the author's assumption that I was a computer programmer. Perhaps this fact says more about the lack of introductory texts available on the subject of hardware and software architecture than about this particular text, but I only found this book "fairly" helpful.

The strange thing is that I can't imagine intermediate or advanced IT student or professionals not knowing the subjects covered in this book already, and so I am left with the question "who is this text actually aimed at"?

Overall, I would rate this book as fairly helpful, but not really aimed at the readership well.

Not good for learning
This was required reading for an online IT college course.I'm an experienced IT professional and I had a very hard time with this book.the language is very difficult to follow and the examples/illustrations only made sense after I learned the concept from other texts/websites.This isn't a book from which to learn, if you do not already understand these concepts.I did not complete the book, as it only caused frustration.

Seriously Lacking - Buy a different book if you can
This was a required text for a computer science course I am taking. I've gone through half the book already and I get more and more confused as I go.

There are a lot of nice pictures that I assume are meant to be funny, but other than that, you're not getting much.

This book lacks clear explanations for each topic. While there is a lot of text, you'll be hard pressed to find anything you can make sense out of.

This book lacks quality examples. Though the examples it does have are helpful, there are not enough. When you get to the exercises at the end of each chapter you find that the questions seek answers to ideas that often were not covered or not covered well enough or lacked examples.

This book is so bad, there have been emails going around among almost all of my classmates, and even the professor had his 2 cents, and hopefully the course will use a different textbook for the next semester.

Don't waste your money on it!

Confusing and hard to understand
As others have pointed out, this is definitely not a book for beginners. But what's worse is that its not very well written. The phrases and sentences are sometimes confusing. While some appear to be good examples, usually they are not well explained. I hate to be this harsh, but the book often has sentences for the sake of having sentences! I would not recommend this book to anyone other than someone who wants a quick reference of IS architecture. There are other books that do a better job of explaining this subject. ... Read more

Product Description
Custom Text Strayer University Students ... Read more