Book Image

Mastering Linux Network Administration

By : Jay LaCroix
Book Image

Mastering Linux Network Administration

By: Jay LaCroix

Overview of this book

Linux is everywhere. Whether you run a home office, a small business, or manage enterprise systems, Linux can empower your network to perform at its very best. Armed with the advanced tools and best practice guidance of this practical guide, you'll be able to mold Linux networks to your will, empowering your systems and their users to take advantage of all that Linux-based networks have to offer. Understand how Linux networks function and get to grips with essential tips and tricks to manage them - whether you're already managing a networks, or even just starting out. With Debian and CentOS as its source, this book will divulge all the details you need to manage a real Linux-based network. With detailed activities and instructions based on real-world scenarios, this book will be your guide to the exciting world of Linux networking.
Table of Contents (17 chapters)
Mastering Linux Network Administration
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Understanding Linux hostname resolution


On a network, it's much more convenient to look up other resources by name, rather than remembering the IP address of every resource we connect to. By default, looking up hosts by name may not function without a little configuration. For example, you can try the ping command against the name of one of your Linux machines, and you may or may not get a response. This is because a DNS entry for the resource you're connecting to might not exist. If it doesn't, you'll see an error similar to the following:

ping: unknown host potato

However, if you ping the device by its IP, it would more than likely respond:

64 bytes from 10.10.96.10: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.356 ms

Note

Press Ctrl + C on your keyboard to break out of your ping command, as it will ping forever if it finds a connection.

The reason for this is in order for a network host to be able to contact another, it needs to know its IP address. If you type in a name instead of an IP address, the machine...