Book Image

Mastering Ubuntu Server - Second Edition

By : Jay LaCroix
Book Image

Mastering Ubuntu Server - Second Edition

By: Jay LaCroix

Overview of this book

Ubuntu Server has taken the data centers by storm. Whether you're deploying Ubuntu for a large-scale project or for a small office, it is a stable, customizable, and powerful Linux distribution that leads the way with innovative and cutting-edge features. For both simple and complex server deployments, Ubuntu's flexible nature can be easily adapted to meet to the needs of your organization. With this book as your guide, you will learn all about Ubuntu Server, from initial deployment to creating production-ready resources for your network. The book begins with the concept of user management, group management, and filesystem permissions. Continuing into managing storage volumes, you will learn how to format storage devices, utilize logical volume management, and monitor disk usage. Later, you will learn how to virtualize hosts and applications, which will cover setting up KVM/QEMU, as well as containerization with both Docker and LXD. As the book continues, you will learn how to automate configuration with Ansible, as well as take a look at writing scripts. Lastly, you will explore best practices and troubleshooting techniques when working with Ubuntu Server that are applicable to real-world scenarios. By the end of the book, you will be an expert Ubuntu Server administrator who is well-versed in its advanced concepts.
Table of Contents (21 chapters)

What is containerization?

In the last chapter, we covered virtualization. Virtualization allows us to run multiple virtual servers in one physical piece of hardware. We allocate CPU, RAM, and disk space to these VMs, and they run as if they were a real server. In fact, for all intents and purposes, a virtual machine is a real server. However, there are also weaknesses with VMs. Perhaps the most glaringly obvious is the resources you allocate to a VM, which are likely being wasted. For example, perhaps you've allocated 512 MB of RAM to a virtual machine. What if the application only rarely uses more than 100 MB of RAM? That means most of the time, 412 MB of RAM that could otherwise be used for a useful purpose is just sitting idle. The same can be said of CPU as well. Nowadays, virtual machine solutions do have ways of sharing unused resources, but effectively, resource efficiency...