What should a novice Linux network admin know?

Strongly would not separate the Linux administrator and the administrator. Networks are usually mixed (especially in Russia they love Windows for its “free” :-)).

Above said that for practical work you need to know the team. But in order to apply them, you need a little theory on general administration and on Linux administration .

Optional need to know:

1. Fundamentals of local area networks.

   Types of networks in size and purpose. Topology: classification, application, distribution. Standardization of local networks.

2. Technical equipment of the local network.

   Network adapters: wired and wireless. Repeaters, hubs, switches, routers. IP cameras, IP phones, IP printers, access points. Gateways, bridges, firewalls, NAS and RAID arrays.

3. Lines of communication.

   Shielded and unshielded twisted pair. Fiber-optic communication line. Radio frequency devices. Practical work: installation of the communication line.

4. The logical structure of the network.

   Logical interaction protocols in the local network. TCP / IP v4 and v6. Class and classless addressing, subnet mask.

5. Build an ad hoc network.

   The main methods of building a network. From workgroups to homegroups. Manage user list. Sharing resources in a peer-to-peer network.

6. Disk subsystem and print subsystem.

   Work with hard drives. Work with printers. Differentiation of access to network resources.

7. Building a wireless network.

   The main methods of building wireless networks. Formation of a wireless access point. Security protocols when forming a wireless network.

8. DNS.

   General information about DNS. The formation of the domain zone connection. DNS server monitoring. Practical work: Setting up a DNS server.

9. DHCP.

   General information about DHCP. Install and configure a DHCP server. Manage DHCP, pool, lease and reservation areas.

For Linux for novice administrators give the following program:

1. Introduction

   1. A brief history of UNIX and Linux. GNU Project.
   2. General information about the Linux system architecture.
   3. Basic concepts - operating system, shell, console, terminal.
   4. Overview of existing Linux distributions.

2. Installation and start of work.

   1. What you need to know before installation.
   2. Installing Debian GNU / Linux.
   3. Getting started in Linux.
   4. Local login. Virtual terminals.

3. The basics of management in Linux.

   1. Command line interface
   2. Basics of Bourne Shell ( sh ).
   3. Bash: interactive shell.
   4. What are shell scripts.
   5. Management of processes and tasks.

4. Beginning of work.

   1. How to get help - man and info .
   2. Files and directories.
   3. Search files.
   4. Word processing. Text editor vi .
   5. File management via Midnight Commander.

5. The installing and deleting of programms.

   1. Utilities make , diff , patch .
   2. Installing programs from source codes.
   3. RPM package management system and empowerment with YUM.
   4. Package Management System apt.

6. Work with disks and file systems.

   1. Disk drives in Linux.
   2. Creating disk partitions: fdisk , cfdisk .
   3. File systems in file: loop device.
   4. Virtual memory (swap).
   5. Linux file systems: Ext2, Ext3, Ext4, ReiserFS, XFS.
   6. Support for "non-native" file systems NTFS, FAT.
   7. Virtual file systems.

7. Administer user accounts and groups. Authorization in Linux.

   1. Access rights.
   2. Authorization of users.
   3. Administer users.
   4. Password Management: passwd .

8. Logging and the Linux kernel.

   1. Logs, their location, registration of system messages and events.
   2. Interaction with a working kernel - kernel configuration.
   3. Access to equipment.
   4. LILO, GRUB systems loaders.
   5. Managing kernel modules: modprobe , rmmod , lsmod, and modinfo .

9. Backup and restore.

   1. General issues. Terminology.
   2. Backup strategies.
   3. Tar archiver.
   4. Direct Device Access - dd .
   5. Packers gzip , bzip2 .

10. The Linux boot process and the X Window System graphic system.

    1. Loading sequence The init program and its functions.
    2. Rc script and systemv init system.
    3. The concept of service. Service Management.
    4. GUI architecture.
    5. Configure X.org.
    6. Run X.
    7. Access to remote X servers.

11. Basics of building networks.

    1. Equipment and network topology.
    2. Hierarchy of network protocols. ISO / OSI reference model.
    3. The TCP / IP.11.4 protocol family. Basics of IP addressing, routing, classes and subnet masks.

12. Linux networking tools.

    1. Configure network interfaces.
    2. Configure static routing
    3. Diagnostic tools: ping , traceroute , netstat , tcpdump , lsof .
    4. Remote access - secure shell (OpenSSH).
    5. Synchronize files using the RSync utility.

Anyway, take the program of the educational course and read on these topics on the Internet. You can also watch a couple of webinars.

Let me be peppered by copperheads, but this must be known from and to: unixtoolbox .

What are they for? That's all right, I just could not express it so capaciously. Yes, and the RFC for a beginner - comrade goes wide Basic commands, built a kernel for themselves, installing mc - and more. The main thing is to understand what it is for. If it’s purely for self-education, then, to begin with, it’s probably easier to build a network of 2-3 machines, even on a virtualbox. For the novice administrator, it’s still important to understand how the network works — what a mask, gateway, DNS, nat, bridge, firewall proxy

From my experience I will say, tc need to know, because it will be desirable to cut traffic. Samba, because no one has canceled the file server, and backing up there is safer. Many people want to post, but everything is simple there. I usually raise SNMP for my subnet. And the above for comrades - we read everything about IPTABLES and SQUID. And most importantly - firmly know the phone, ICQ and mail of a friend who is willing to help figure out, spend your time and energy. For books, this is good, but a direct transfer of experience (supported by books) is indispensable.

All of the above, especially about the book with the teams - offset. To become a network admin you need to start with Linux enikeyschika. The command line is the main tool, then you get tired of doing everything with your hands, you start writing scripts and automating. There are a lot of services and projects, the complexity can grow endlessly (for example, the clustering of some services). Collect the type of virtual lab so that you can break everything and not get upset. About a companion - very accurately, it will greatly help not to walk on a rake. The more convenient and good free systems are, the more dangerous they are - what you ask, it will do it. The threshold of entry is rather big.