Newcomers as well as experienced system administrators will benefit from reading and referencing this definitive guide to Ubuntu Server. I especially appreciate the significant emphasis given to the examples, which I found very useful.

The first four chapters introduce the basic concepts: disk partitioning and installation in chapter 1, essential system administration (including basic shell commands and boot process steps) in chapter 2, packet management in chapter 3, and automated installs of the operating system in chapter 4.

Chapter 5 covers more advanced topics, such as how to install and configure a number of servers. Specifically, it addresses these servers: domain name system (DNS), including master/server configurations; the full LAMP stack (short for Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP); mail server (POP/IMAP); secure shell (SSH); dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP); database (MySQL and PostgreSQL); file server (Samba and network file system (NFS)); and Linux terminal server project (LTSP). The chapter is not limited to a description or set of commands; it provides specific examples, including a step-by-step guide for configuring WordPress (an example of the LAMP stack) and instructions for setting up two domain name servers configured in a master/server manner.

Chapter 6 deals with an important aspect of system administration: how to protect a Linux machine and how to detect and respond to security breaches. After a brief introduction describing general security principles, the chapter addresses basic topics such as how to configure sudo and how to set up a key-based authentication system. It also addresses more advanced topics, such as how to set up a firewall.

Next, the book addresses large installations. Such environments are completely different from standalone installations, since a number of operations become vital in larger installations. Examples include securing the data via backup and the ability to monitor the system in real time from anywhere. Chapter 7 describes how to perform backups of important data. It presents several scenarios, including drive imaging and backup via database, and discusses how to schedule fully automated backups and how to restore files. Chapter 8 covers monitoring tools, and discusses how to install and configure the Ganglia and Nagios monitoring tools.

Chapter 9 targets a topic that is gaining momentum: virtualization and cloud computing. In the first part of the chapter, the authors describe how to install Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) and VMware Server. In the second part of chapter 9, they explain how to set up a private cloud using a cluster of Ubuntu servers.

Chapter 10 introduces the reader to concepts related to fault tolerance, including principles and tools such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID) and logical volume manager. Advanced topics are also addressed, including how to provide fault tolerance and data availability in a cluster.

Chapters 11, 12, and 13 cover basic troubleshooting, rescue and recovery of broken systems, and help and resources (including how to use the mailing lists and forums). The book concludes with a tutorial on basic system administration (chapter 14) and a set of tips and tricks in the appendix.

The book reads extremely well, and clearly explains every concept in detail. This makes it easy for even less-experienced system administrators to grasp the concepts.