This updated edition of Michael W. Lucas' definitive volume on FreeBSD-based systems adds coverage of modern disks, the ZFS filesystem IPv6, redesigned jail and packaging systems, and virtualization, among dozens of new features added in the last 10 years.

FreeBSD is the muscle behind companies like Netflix and EMC. Any place where someone does heavy lifting on the Internet, you'll find FreeBSD. This newly revised edition of Absolute FreeBSD brings FreeBSD's strengths to bear on your problems and covers FreeBSD's newest features, all in the inimitable style that has made author Michael W. Lucas' system administration books so popular.

Any computer system is only as good as the system administrator's knowledge. Absolute FreeBSD teaches you everything you need to know about managing FreeBSD systems, from installation, configuration, and taking the system from "just working" to "working well." A cohesive focus on service delivery and best practice means that you can apply much of the book to other operating systems.

Absolute FreeBSD dives deep into server management, taking you beyond just making things work and into understanding why they work.

You'll learn:
  •  How to best install FreeBSD to meet your needs
  •  Which filesystem to use in your environment
  •  How to back up and restore critical data
  •  How to tweak the kernel, and when not to
  •  Network configuration, from activating interfaces to selecting congestion control algorithms
  •  How to manage UFS, ZFS, and other critical filesystems
  •  FreeBSD's software packaging system, including how to build your own package repository
  •  How and when to upgrade
  •  Techniques to build your own FreeBSD
  •  Advanced security features like blacklistd and packet filtering
  •  How to monitor and adjust performance
  •  Container-style virtualization with jails
  •  Diskless systems
  •  Panic management and bug reporting

With Absolute FreeBSD you will get the solid introduction you need; and if you're a fan of the earlier editions, you will expand your skills even further.

Michael W. Lucas is a network/security engineer with extensive experience working with high-availability systems. He's a regular speaker and instructor at systems administrator conferences throughout the United States, and is the author of the critically-acclaimed Absolute BSD, Absolute OpenBSD, Cisco Routers for the Desperate, and PGP & GPG, all from No Starch Press.