http://www.quinstreet.com Wed, 29 Feb 2012 20:50:02 +0100 en-us Copyright 2012 QuinStreet, Inc. http://www.serverwatch.com/server-tutorials/keep-configs-under-control-with-etckeeper.html Etckeeper makes it easy to keep your /etc directory and its related config files in a revision control system of your choice. Mon, 09 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0100 http://www.serverwatch.com/server-tutorials/work-smarter-with-virtual-assistants.html Assistants are no longer just for execs. With a virtual assistant, you can hand off repetitive tasks and focus on the work that matters. Fancy Hands and Amazon's Mechanical Turk are two examples of affordable assistants, each effective at meeting a different set of needs. Mon, 12 Dec 2011 05:00:00 +0100 http://www.serverwatch.com/server-tutorials/use-s3cmd-for-managing-amazon-s3-storage-from-the-cli.html If you're looking to script backups or other operations, a reliable CLI tool that works with S3 is a must. s3cmd fits the bill. Tue, 25 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.serverwatch.com/server-tutorials/use-httperf-for-server-benchmarking.html Prototyping Web applications? Trying to test and tune your Web servers? httperf makes it easy to test HTTP server workloads. Tue, 18 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.serverwatch.com/server-tutorials/theres-a-new-gnu-fdisk-in-town.html The latest GNU fdisk is now in alpha. Not anywhere ready for production, but ready for the adventurous to take out for a spin. Wed, 12 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.serverwatch.com/server-tutorials/kernel-developers-share-security-tips.html Learn tips for keeping your Linux system safe in this post-kernel.org-breach world. Tue, 04 Oct 2011 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.serverwatch.com/server-tutorials/give-yourself-a-menu-in-vim.html Completing filenames when using Vim in command mode can be tricky. These tips will make it a simpler task. Mon, 26 Sep 2011 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.serverwatch.com/server-tutorials/set-user-limits-with-pamlimits-and-limits.conf.html Linux admins looking for an easy way to set hard and soft limits for users will find much to like about the pam_limits module. With pam_limits, you can set parameters on system resources on a per-user (or per-group) basis for all variables--from the maximum number of files a user can have open to the amount of CPU time. Tue, 20 Sep 2011 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.serverwatch.com/server-tutorials/a-look-at-the-compgen-bash-builtin.html Linux and other Unix-type systems contain a wealth of features under the surface. Oftentimes, however, these features are non-obvious and hard to find. Compgen, a GNU Bash builtin that shows all possible completions, is one such feature. Mon, 12 Sep 2011 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.serverwatch.com/server-tutorials/boost-wordpress-performance-with-w3-total-cache.html Is your hardware inadequate for your site? Throwing more resources at it may not be the best answer. For WordPress sites, W3 Total Cache is an inexpensive way to wring the most out of what you already have. Tue, 06 Sep 2011 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.serverwatch.com/server-tutorials/kill-processes-quickly-with-slay.html Most admins know kill and pkill. But those looking for a quick, clean kill use slay. Tue, 30 Aug 2011 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.serverwatch.com/server-trends/10-secure-linux-distributions-you-need-know-about.html If security is a primary concern for you, and it should be, introduce yourself to 10 secure Linux distributions ready to work in any environment from small to enterprise to cloud. Fri, 26 Aug 2011 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.serverwatch.com/tutorials/article.php/3938586/Check-WordPress-for-Exploits.htm WordPress is one of the most popular CMSes, which means it is among the more commonly exploited. Use the Exploit Scanner plugin to help lock it down. Mon, 15 Aug 2011 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.serverwatch.com/tutorials/article.php/3938356/Rename-and-Copy-Files-Easily-in-Your-Text-Editor.htm Renameutils is aptly named. The easy-to-use collection of utilities makes renaming files as easy as using your favorite text editor. Tue, 09 Aug 2011 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.serverwatch.com/tutorials/article.php/3937996/Try-collectlfor-System-Monitoring.htm When it comes to collecting system status data, sar is a veritable workhorse. It is not, however, without its limitations. If you're in the market for a utility that also handles NFS, Slab data, and sub-second intervals, consider collectl. Mon, 01 Aug 2011 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.serverwatch.com/tutorials/article.php/3937996 When it comes to collecting system status data, sar is a veritable workhorse. It is not, however, without its limitations. If you're in the market for a utility that also handles NFS, Slab data, and sub-second intervals, consider collectl. Mon, 01 Aug 2011 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.serverwatch.com/tutorials/article.php/3937741/Monitor-Progress-with-Pipe-Viewer.htm For sys admins, running a process can feel like driving cross-country without a road map. Pipe Viewer is one way to answer the question, 'are we there yet?' Tue, 26 Jul 2011 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.serverwatch.com/tutorials/article.php/3937741 For sys admins, running a process can feel like driving cross-country without a road map. Pipe Viewer is one way to answer the question, 'are we there yet?' Mon, 25 Jul 2011 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.serverwatch.com/tutorials/article.php/3937476/Recover-and-Preserve-Data-With-GNU-ddrescue.htm With GNU ddrescue you need never worry about the impact of optical media degradation on your data. Tue, 19 Jul 2011 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.serverwatch.com/tutorials/article.php/3937081/Whip-Up-Regular-Expressions-With-Txt2regex.htm Understanding regular expressions is important for anyone who spends time doing system administration or programming. If that describes you and regexes are not your strong suit, txt2regex is an excellent tool to have handy. Mon, 11 Jul 2011 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.serverwatch.com/tutorials/article.php/3936966/Microsofts-System-Center-Virtual-Machine-Manager-2012-Beta--The-User-Experience.htm The initial beta of Microsoft's System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 was released to the MSDN community two months ago. We step through our user experience with and provide some tips to get things working optimally. Thu, 07 Jul 2011 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.serverwatch.com/tutorials/article.php/3936966 The initial beta of Microsoft's System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 was released to the MSDN community two months ago. We step through our user experience with and provide some tips to get things working optimally. Thu, 07 Jul 2011 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.serverwatch.com/tutorials/article.php/3936826/Get-to-Know-Debian-Goodies.htm For admins who work with Debian-based systems, the basics dpkg and APT's tools are old hat. For a richer user experiences, like knowing which packages have release-critical bugs, hog the most disk space and so on, Debian Goodies is a set of utilities that's good to know. Tue, 05 Jul 2011 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.serverwatch.com/tutorials/article.php/3936741/Stop-Software-Attacks-From-Destroying-Your-Servers.htm Stuxnet-style malware that attacks computer hardware, physically destroying servers, networking equipment and storage resources in your data center is easier to create than you might think. Learn how to stop it in its tracks. Fri, 01 Jul 2011 04:00:00 +0100 http://www.serverwatch.com/tutorials/article.php/3936526/Load-Testing-and-Benchmarking-With-Siege.htm Ready to roll out a site, but not sure how it will perform in real-world use? Consider Siege, an open source load-testing and benchmarking utility that will help stress test your setup before exposing it to the world. Mon, 27 Jun 2011 04:00:00 +0100