Ken Hess Archive
Kenneth Hess is a Linux evangelist and freelance technical writer on a variety of open source topics including Linux, SQL, databases, and web services. Ken can be reached via his website at http://www.kenhess.com. Practical Virtualization Solutions by Kenneth Hess and Amy Newman is available now.
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Crafty System Administrators who want to conserve energy need to learn the fine art of looping.
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Creating shell scripts is the lazy (smart) system administrator's way to automate and build intelligence into repetitive tasks.
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If you're using Maverick Meerkat (Ubuntu 10.10) or an older distribution, Natty Narwhat is a whole new animal.
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If you'd like to try a new twist on virtualization, FAUmachine might be the next cool thing.
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What's better than the command line and Facebook? How about combining the two?
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Video effects walkthru of the desktop webcam application, Cheese. With commentary.
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Drupal is a simple but powerful CMS. However, you'll probably want to configure it. Learn how to tweak Drupal's settings to your liking.
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Need to setup Drupal CMS but don't have the time to learn how? Try this 30 minute quick start guide.
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If you're looking for a way to beat the high cost of application publishing, look no more, 2X has it under control.
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Cheese Webcam Booth will make you smile because it's fun and free and it works.
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There's nothing quite like solving your own problems with Linux. Using Linux-based DD-WRT solved a big one for me.
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Google Desktop is the best personal search engine that money can't buy.
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Learn how to mix sound and voice to create professional and audacious effects for your next audio project.
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The audacity of developers who create, maintain and support an advanced sound editor free of charge is unfathomable but appreciated.
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If you can get past the "Emperor's new clothes," it's the same old Debian.
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Patching and updating have their limitations but, if you want support, you'd better have the latest and greatest.
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Say goodbye OpenOffice.org and say hello to new freedom with LibreOffice.
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After a quick session of Angry Birds, Senior Systems Editor, Ken Hess, gives us a tour of how you can turn your iPad into a handy Linux terminal.
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A look at the good, the bad, and the not-so-ugly of Oracle's latest incarnation of VirtualBox.
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If you like the way snapshots work for virtual machines, you'll love that same physical system functionality with Redo.
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Will the iPad gain acceptance among staunch Linux supporters or will the mere mention of such cross-species contamination stir up thoughts of lighted torches and pitchforks? Truth be told, it's a great device for some administrative tasks.
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Once you go graphical with KVM's Virtual Machine Manager, you might never go back to the command line.
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Continue your dive into KVM virtualization, Ubuntu style.
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KVM, Red Hat's darling enterprise virtualization solution runs on Ubuntu. Let's not tell Red Hat.
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SME Server is a no-nonsense approach to providing advanced network services to a large user base.
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I love coffee, I love tea. I love the Java Jive and it loves me.* If Java is giving you jive, put your fears aside. You'll soon love it sweet and hot. Or maybe not.
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Find out if those TCP streams on your network are filled with C monsters or if it's smooth sailing for your Internet surfers.
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If you love the aroma of network packets, you'll love capturing a snifter full of your favorite network-scented morsels with Wireshark, the world's most popular network protocol analyzer.
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Need an easy and powerful storage solution? Openfiler is one excellent option. Let's check it out.
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If VMFS-3 has you blocked, help has arrived in the form of magic SAN and an attentive Wizard.
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What you do with your disks after you're done with them does matter. Find out how to properly prepare them for the next owner.
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GParted is an essential system administration tool. Learn to use it wisely.
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Every good Linux System Administrator has a set of tools they reach for again-and-again. Here are ten must haves for your virtual utility belt.
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Shell In A Box gives you simple web-based terminal access to your Linux system.
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Forty free, working and relevant turnkey appliances with unbreakable cloud-based backup and restore.
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Ever-changing IP addresses are an annoyance but you can clear up your remote connectivity static with Dynamic DNS services.
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If you use several computers, sharing files between them is a pain but Dropbox takes the pain away--for free.
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Thin provisioning sounds like a good idea in theory, and sometimes it is, but when it goes bad, it really goes bad.
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Your mileage may vary with mpg123 but your MP3 listening enjoyment never will.
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The quest to save labor makes us do some crazy things but when you're expecting, there is an easier way.
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Where does the time go? If you've ever had to ask this question, NTP can give you the answer time and again.
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If your system time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin' into the future -- or the past -- it's time to fix it with NTP.
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Disk space is always at a premium but how do you handle it when you have a disk or filesystem that's full? After today, you'll know how to boldly go into that dark realm.
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You'll always know what time it is with swatch, a real time monitoring tool for your logs.
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Q: What did one lumberjack say to the other lumberjack? A: Watch those logs.
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Can't bring yourself to love logs? You should take a second look.
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The ethtool utility provides ethernet card information and management to die for.
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Know your rights. Protect your rights. Another lesson from the ACLU.
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If user and group management has you in a quandary, it's time to take the advanced filesystem security class at the ACLU.
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System Administrator Dilemma #942: Send a Data Center Service Tech out to pop open the case to tell you what's in your system or use two simple commands.
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Whether you're new to managing users and groups or just need a quick refresher, this tutorial will sharpen your sys admin chops.
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If you think smart is intelligent or if you think yum is tasty, aptitude will expand your thoughts with attitude.
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If you use a Debian-based Linux distribution and you aren't familiar with the apt-get packaging system, you're apt to fall in love with it.
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GoAhead Software, high-availability middleware vendor, shifts to an open source business model.
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When it comes to system security, there's no single correct solution. But with vigilance and these techniques, you will be five steps closer.
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Do you think your systems are secure? Install DenyHosts and you'll realize that you were in denial.
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Download and use Nikto before an attacker reduces your website to a burned-out cinder.
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A confirmed GNOME superfan takes a new look at KDE 4.4 and likes it.
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Psst. Hey, would you like to hear an Ubuntu secret? OK, how about five secrets?
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When 140 characters is all you need, the command line does it better.
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Need a performance boost for your reads from and writes to a database or other dynamic files? A RAM-based filesystem is just what the good system doctor ordered.
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Are you bewildered by disk management in Linux? Don't be. Here are the nuts and bolts of adding a new disk to your system.
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Casual VirtualBox users might not know about the awesome power that lurks just beneath the surface in the Command Line Interface (CLI).
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Contrary to popular belief, virtual machines are no more secure than physical machines. They are also no less so.
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Cloud computing, virtualization and mobile devices take the 'proprietary' out of computing--at least for the consumer. Just think of the possibilities.
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There's a front moving in and it looks like long overdue drought relief. Keep your umbrella handy--it looks like a virtual deluge.
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Do you think that converting your clunky, maintenance-burdened physical desktop OS to a clunky, maintenance-burdened VM will save you some money? Think again.
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Looking back on 2010 and what's ahead for 2011.
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It's time for a little VM recreation and you don't even have to get sweaty in the process.
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Providing a little taste of honey to would-be intruders could save the whole hive from greedy paws.
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What's better than virtualization? How about free virtualization?
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And now for something completely different for Windows: Virtual Hard Drives.
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Windows 7 arrives virtualization enabled. And a free copy of Windows XP to boot and reboot.
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The search for the answer to this ultimate question is a noble yet daunting quest. Licensing obfuscation makes the answer the stuff of Sherlock Holmes novels and fortuneteller quarry.
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An inexpensive classroom is as close as your local hypervisor.
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Put your virtual machine footprint on a diet with appliances.
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When function surpasses form, the operating system drops out of the equation.
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When will someone develop an operating system that's virtualization optimized?
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Will pressure from Microsoft, Citrix and Red Hat prove to be too much opposition for VMware's now precarious lead position?
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Which virtualization technology would you choose if you owned a hosting company? The answer by those who do might surprise you.
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Booting into Hyper-V R2 not exciting enough for you? How about booting it from a USB drive?
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Microsoft's Hyper-V lives comfortably on a USB Flash Drive.
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Is Microsoft's latest Hyper-V incarnation track-ready? We take it for a spin to find out.
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A pocket-sized hypervisor is the stuff of dreams and sometimes dreams do come true.
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Are the days of IT's ultra-geeks are numbered with the introduction of virtual data centers and cloud computing?
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Long shot or sure thing -- what's it like to go "all in" with Hyper-V?
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I have had a dream, past the wit of man to say what dream it was. 'Twas something virtual and free, as in ale or speech, to me.
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Do you need to deliver your appliances in smaller packages or do you have an OVF and don't know how to use it? This how-to unravels the OVF mystery.
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Virtualization is a serious technology solution that might run up a serious tab if you aren't minding your P's and V's.
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Download, install and go to work in less than an hour.
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As Cloud Computing hits the mainstream, people are wondering: How mobile are my VMs?
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Question: Hyper-V, VMware, Citrix -- do any of them have it right? Answer: Only if you could combine all three into a single product.
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Touted as a Cloud OS, vSphere enters the cloud computing fray with a bang.
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Does VMware still win in desktop-level virtualization? Easily, but not without a caveat or two.
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Two Linux desktops step into the ring. But in the end, there can be only one...
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Parallels Workstation: Unparalleled coolness or virtual bust?
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Small, simple, stable and priced right: Is Microsoft's Virtual PC a good introduction to the world of virtualization and a great way to pull Linux into a Windows environment?
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Server virtualization is cool. VDI is not. Desktop virtualization is hot.
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Are OS Templates really worth the trouble and disk cost or is it just hype?
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Putting XenServer 5 through its paces; getting hands-on with Citrix's latest virtualization solution.
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XenServer is now free and Citrix is partnering with Microsoft. What does it all mean?
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Is your distorted view of virtual reality keeping you from adopting virtualization?
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Should you rely on a single virtualization technology or should you diversify?
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What's your level of involvement in the Cloud? Are you a casual observer or do you dig in and develop, taking an active role?
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Combining and separating virtual machine workloads is often frustrating and time-consuming. Here are some tips to help you sort through it and maintain your balance.
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Keep your balance with simple workload analysis and remember that not everything that can be virtualized, should be virtualized.
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Whether you're walking a physical tightrope or maintaining a virtual infrastructure, you need one key element for success: Balance.
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Will Cloud vendors make a hit in 2009 or will we decide that two's a crowd?
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The easiest, quickest, and cheapest virtualization method is at your fingertips -- you'll want to get to know OS-level virtualization.
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Perhaps the most versatile, feature-rich web browser available today is on your Desktop and you may not even know its name.
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Can you do backups on a shoestring without sacrificing their integrity? Do it with the tools you have but be careful -- there are some gotchas.
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What's the easiest way to get more people using Linux? Start them young.
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Virtual appliances deliver focused services in a lightweight package. With all of the talk around virtualization being large system optimization, why single-purpose machines getting so much attention?
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Billed as the "Microsoft Access for Linux," Kexi is an integrated data management application that allows you to easily work with SQLite, MySQL, and PostgreSQL databases.
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Could Microsoft become the next Consolidated Edison? It could happen.
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For as much time as you probably spend in an email client, you should be using an app with the features that help you get your work done and plays well with other (possibly proprietary) applications. Evolution fits that bill.
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Curiosity about computing's future can be found in its past: The mighty Mainframe (MF) lives again.
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Do the glowing vendor claims surrounding server blades still stand if you cut out the marketing hype? Let's find out.
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Cloud Computing is the future of computing but resistance is high due to the presumed lack of control and ownership. These jitters will pass.
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Prolific virtualizaton blogger, Andrew Kutz, on VDI, dark horses, and if virtualization is taking us back to the era of mainframes.
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When "true-up" time comes, you may need a nitroglycerin pill instead of having a glass of champagne.
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You've heard the hype, now it's time to measure if you really need to jump into the virtualization fray.
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VDI, you have been measured. You have been weighed. And you have been found wanting.
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RE: Current technology for desktop virtualization -- you're doing it wrong.
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Who's the big winner in a VMware/Cisco teamup?
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Kicking off our coverage of the world's premier virtualization tradeshow, we take a look at what you might expect to see announced this week.
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Red Hat put the emphasis back on the desktop with the acquisition of Qumranet.
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Let the Bacchanalia begin! Getting your Windows apps installed and running on Linux the Wine way.
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Looking for a new desktop? Ubuntu's spiffy progeny includes several worth checking out, including Linux Mint, Freespire, and gOS.
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Mitigate attacks with this simple to setup and deploy desktop firewall.
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Using the root account for day-to-day work is a bad idea. It's better to use sudo to act like root when you need to do a little system administration. Ken Hess shows you how.
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Connecting to your home computer from work, a friend's house, or while on vacation in another country is very simple — if you know how to use a small handful of tools. Ken Hess shows you how to connect securely and tunnel traffic using SSH.
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If you need a staging environment for a new network service, don't run out and buy new hardware — even a new virtual machine may be unnecessary. Instead, create another instance of the service with just a few simple steps.
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A number of old-fashioned tools can prevent very
modern problems
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