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Summary: Where are the customer reviews?
Review: I wrote a glowing review of this book - where is it?
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Summary: Get the NEW EDITION!
Review: There is a new edition of this excellent book. Go to ISBN number 0130206016.
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Summary: Pricey and not worth.
Review: Just a average book. Topics are not deeply explained.
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Summary: Disappointed with this book
Review: Sorry folks, but I'm not overly thrilled with the book. I had much higher expectations of this book based on other reviews. Perhaps, the book speaks better to a UNIX SA. However, I'm not necessarily convinced of that, either. Granted the book covers most of the important UNIX Admin topics. However, the coverage of various topics is way too shallow. For example, the section on kernel parameters is nil to none. Fortunately, I didn't buy this book as new and bought a used copy so I didn't shell out as much money. I surely wouldn't shell out the full price for a new copy. I don't recommend this book as a sole UNIX SA reference guide. I found the UNIX Power Tools book a much better UNIX reference than this book for my particular needs.
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Summary: The Best of all time
Review: This is the best of all books on UNIX administration. Good all around, nicely formatted, and easy to follow.
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Summary: Even if you are a wizard, this book could be your wand ...
Review: This book can be recommended as one of the top notch Unix books which have ever written. The writing style, meticulous details and the organization of the contents shows the knowledge of the authors regarding the subject. Check out also the other reviews, afaik i couldn't see anybody rating this book below 4 stars.If Evi or any of the other authors are reading this by any chance, Thanks a lot guys and please do keep up the good work! Cheers.
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Summary: Pricey, but best single-source, multi-platform UNIX book
Review: I am a senior engineer for network security operations. I read "UNIX System Administration Handbook, Third Edition" (USAH:3E) to improve my knowledge of UNIX systems from a security analyst perspective. I am not a professional system administrator and I am not qualified to refute USAH:3E's advice. Nevertheless, because I deal with FreeBSD, Linux, and Solaris on a daily basis, I found USAH:3E to be insightful and invaluable.
USAH:3E stands out for three reasons. First, it covers the three most popular UNIX operating systems I know: FreeBSD, Linux, and Solaris. (The authors also support HP-UX, but I have no direct experience with that OS.) By comparing the features and configuration of multiple operating systems, USAH:3E is frequently far more educational than a single-OS book. USAH:3E is the one OS book I would include in my incident response kit, along with "Incident Response" by Mandia/Prosise/Pepe.
Second, USAH:3E is written to inform and entertain, and does both very well. While most OS books are content to explain the "what," and few include the "how," USAH:3E also delivers the "why." USAH:3E peers deep into the workings of the OS, but keeps the discussion clear and concise. For example, pp. 48-51 provide an excellent discussion of signals. Table 4.1 lists 13 'UNIX signals that every administrator should know,' showing whether processes can catch or block each. This chart and the text finally illuminated the difference between 'kill PID' and 'kill -9 PID' at the level of the OS. Furthermore, the writing style is direct, with numerous humorous references and personal opinions. The third unique aspect of USAH:3E is the author's uncanny ability to include relevant hints and trivia. For example, as an intrusion detector, I sometimes see Windows machines appear with self-assigned 169.254.0.0/16 addresses. I also see Windows machines attempt to dynamically "update" DNS entries on uncooperative BIND servers. USAH:3E explains both events, and also how Windows 2000 increased the query load on the root name servers within a week of its release. (Remember, this is a UNIX book!)
As a security professional, I need to be familiar with the common systems and applications I encounter. USAH:3E fulfilled this need admirably. Professional system administrators may prefer to buy single-OS or single-application books. (Disclaimer: I received a free copy from the publisher.)
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Summary: The Best
Review: I've read through probably a dozen Linux and Unix books, and though this book isn't specifically for any one platform, it's got pointers that cover the major ones (and gives you details on platform-specifics when appropriate).It's well-organized, easy (and actually fun) to read, and well worth the money. It's not too superficial that you can get it via osmosis, and not so detailed that it puts you to sleep. Compare it to the other books on the shelf and you'll see what I mean. I wish they had this book out when I was in college 10 years ago. This is your one-stop base Unix / Linux book... If you need more details than this provides, then you should look into O'Reilly's application-specific books -- for geeks only. :)
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Summary: Great Book
Review: I've purchased the second edition about two years ago; it was a very helpfull book, many times I carry it on my briefcase. This new edition is quite comprehensive, if you want a book with lots of information packed on it, this is a must have.
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Summary: Still the one best book on the subject
Review: This is still the one best book for the beginner that comprehensively covers four of the common OS's (Solaris, HPUX, Redhat, FreeBSD) in detail from a non-enterprise (ie academic or small business) perspective. There is emphasis on the fundamentals without overt scholasticism or parotting vendor's test-prep b.s., followed up by real-world war stories and healthily opinionated recommendations (although I still don't understand why they like gated so much.) After doing enterprise and dot-com sysadmin for 6+ years I find myself in a new job supporting an academic environment where the users are running 8 different OS's and have no money. One of the first things I did was reread this book cover to cover.
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