Rob Flickenger - Linux Server Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips and Tools

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A running Linux system is a complex interactionof hardware and software where invisible daemons do theuser's bidding, carrying out arcane tasks to thebeat of the drum of the uncompromising task master called the Linuxkernel.

A Linux system can be configured to perform many different kinds oftasks. When running as a desktop machine, the visible portion ofLinux spends much of its time controlling a graphical display,painting windows on the screen, and responding to theuser's every gesture and command. It must generallybe a very flexible (and entertaining) system, where goodresponsiveness and interactivity are the critical goals.

On the other hand, a Linux server generally is designed toperform a couple of tasks, nearly always involving the squeezing ofinformation down a network connection as quickly aspossible. While pretty screen savers and GUI features may be criticalto a successful desktop system, the successful Linux server is a highperformance appliance that provides access to information as quicklyand efficiently as possible. It pulls that information from some sortof storage (like the filesystem, a database, or somewhere else on thenetwork) and delivers that information over the network to whomeverrequested it, be it a human being connected to a web server, a usersitting in a shell, or over a port to another server entirely.