Inside Solaris 9 [Paperback]

Bill Calkins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 17, 2002 | ISBN-10: 0735711011 | ISBN-13: 978-0735711013 | Edition: 1

Inside Solaris 9 gives administrators the information they'll need to upgrade to Solaris 9 and maximize the new features. Author Bill Calkins begins by laying the foundations of Solaris, then explains how to get set up with Solaris 9 (including any potential pitfalls). Next, system maintenance issues are covered such as setting up user accounts, managing file systems and processes, system security, monitoring and tuning, and backup and recovery. Solaris networking and service management issues round out the book, along with some excellent resources and a glossary.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bill Calkins is owner and President of Pyramid Consulting, a computer training and consulting firm located near Grand Rapids, Michigan, specializing in the implementation and administration of open systems. He also is the owner of www.UnixEd.com, a website that provides online UNIX training materials. He has more than 19 years of experience in UNIX system administration, consulting, and training at more than 100 different companies. Bill has authored several UNIX textbooks that are currently best sellers and are used by universities and training organizations worldwide: Solaris 2.6 Administrator Certification Training Guide, Part I (Publisher: New Riders Publishing; ISBN: 157870085X) Solaris 2.6 Administrator Certification Training Guide, Part II (Publisher: New Riders Publishing; ISBN: 1578700868) Solaris 7 Administrator Certification Training Guide, Part I and II (Publisher: New Riders Publishing; ISBN: 1578702496) Solaris 8 System Administration Certification Training Guide (Publisher: New Riders Publishing; ISBN 1578702593) In addition, he has worked with Sun Press as a technical editor and was a major contributor to the following technical manuals: Solaris 7 Reference (Author: Janice Windsor; Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR; ISBN: 0130200484) Solaris 8 System Administrator's Reference Guide (Author: Janice Windsor; Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR; ISBN: 0130277010) Bill's professional interests include consulting, writing, teaching, and developing web-based training materials. Bill has worked as an instructor in both corporate and university settings and has helped thousands of administrators obtain their certification. His experience covers all varieties of UNIX, including Solaris, HP-UX, AIX, IRIX, Linux, and SCO. When he's not working in the field, he writes UNIX books and conducts training and educational seminars on various system administration topics. He is a certified Solaris 9 System Administrator and draws on his many years of experience in system administration and training to provide a unique approach to UNIX training.

Product Details

• Paperback: 936 pages
• Publisher: Que; 1 edition (November 17, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735711011
• ISBN-13: 978-0735711013
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,876,117 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #98 in Books > Computers & Technology > Operating Systems > Solaris

More About the Author

I've been writing Solaris books since 1997 and have been working with Solaris since 1984. I began my career in 1983 as a Unix System Administrator with an office furniture company, Haworth Inc, in Holland MI. My first system was a Sun-1 with a motorola 68010 processor and 1 MB of RAM. I was managing 12 diskless clients networked to a few Sun 68010 servers running some very early version of SunOS- 4.x. Like many Unix Admins back then, I had minimal prior computer experience, my experience was in mechanical design/engineering. I had to go back to school and "re-tool".

After 12 years, I got a bit fed up with the corporate life and decided to break away and go out on my own. I also understood, that to really get good in this field, I had to be exposed to many different environments and flavors of Unix. Therefore, I began my real training when I started Pyramid Consulting in 1994- providing Unix consulting and training services to corporations. Since then, I've worked at over 200 companies providing Unix and Open Systems support on just about every flavor of Unix that's been put into production. Because corporations only call on consultants when there are problems to be solved, the training I've received over the past 12 years has been priceless. Where else do you get paid to learn! I've also trained hundreds of system admionistrators in Solaris, HP-UX, and AIX.

I began writing Solaris books in 1998. Why Solaris? It's not that I favor one version of Unix over another, besides, as a consultant, I need to be unbiased. The publisher was looking to fill the void on Solaris books and I thought "Why not a certification study guide". At the time there were countless books on Microsoft certification, but nothing on Unix. I had also just attempted to pass the Solaris cert exams unsuccessfully. In Solaris, there are countless ways to accomplish a task; many are correct, but Sun was looking for their answer- not mine. The only way to get these answers were to take Sun training courses or buy a course guide in the aftermarket for $500. As a small business owner, this was an expensive proposition. So I decided to write my own training guide. Not a cram book, but a book that really taught you the material. Something that could also serve as a daily reference guide. I remember how it was to learn this topic, so I've made these books as easy to understand as possible. I believe that's the niche I have in this market- I know the material very well, I have a great deal of experience, and I can communicate the material to new users in a way that they can understand it. I consistently receive 5 stars on my training courses because I make the material relevent and understandable.

Over the years readers have written me with what they've liked and disliked about the book. Now, seven revisions later- we have a textbook that is perfect for those wanting to learn Solaris Administration. It's also a great book for those admins that want to learn more about their craft. I guarantee, every experienced admin will learn something from this book. Every time I update this book I learn new things, I'm convinced you will too. It's written in a way that new Admins can understand it. My goal is not to impress the reader with what I know, it's to present the material in clear, easy to understand terms. I provide lots of step by step examples (in my courses I call them mini-labs) that are relevant to daily operations. The material is presented the same way I present it in the classroom, in fact, it's the same material I use in the classroom.

I hope you enjoy my books- some tell me it's one of the only technical manuals they've been able to cuddle up to a fire with. Well, I personally have better things to cuddle up with, but to each their own. Enjoy the read and, whether you decide to pursue certification or not, good luck!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Used it to upgrade my certifcation, February 12, 2003

By 

Douglas Clawson (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Inside Solaris 9 (Paperback)

I used this book to upgrade my certfication to Solaris 9 (I've previously used Solaris 8). I thought the book was a bit more complete than the other Solaris 9 book I had, especially in SVM, SMC, and installation methods (which was tested quite heavily on my exam). The author made good use of examples and "real life" scenerios which made it easier to read than the Sun docs. I'm a bit confused by the previous reader's comments-I thought it was the most up to date Solaris book I've found. My other Solaris 9 book referred to AdminTool and AdminSuite (not SMC) like they were current products, it was in this book I found them to be "end of lifed". I think the reader confused file management with file system management- I thought both had very good coverage. BTW- I use the Korn shell- so what?

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very complete coverage. Good author. A definate "buy"., November 19, 2002

By 

Ron C. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Inside Solaris 9 (Paperback)

Take a careful look at the " table of contents " link.
This book does a VERY thorough job of covering what you need.
It does cover from the basics to advanced. The depth is not
uniform (e.g. NIS+ has just a few pages); it tries to be
everything to everybody. Worth buying.
(BillC's other books are excellent also.)

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Nice Reference, October 20, 2004

By 

UnixAdmin (New Mexico) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Inside Solaris 9 (Paperback)

This book provides a good source of reference for moving to Solaris 9. I especially appreciate the sections on RBAC, JumpStart, and System Monitoring/Tuning. Topics I have not found described well in other books are presented here in a concise manner. The examples throughout the book are "real life" and plentiful. I recommend this book to anyone moving to Solaris 9 that needs an occasional reference while administering their system(s).