Recommend Apache book

UnixGuy

I need your help guys.

I'm reading through for RHCE, and I'm currently stuck with the Apache web server topic.

RHCE books are very brief when it comes to apache, and I don't seem to recognize the degree to which an RHCE is expected to know about APACHE.


I also don't like the idea of knowing random facts about apache just to pass the test. So I'm looking for a comprehensive step by step book about apache, and I'm willing to put the effort to practice and really know my way around apache.

UnixGuy

Ok, searching the web, I found people recommending this :

Amazon.com: Apache: The Definitive Guide (3rd Edition) (0636920002031): Ben Laurie, Peter Laurie: Books


I think I will go for it...I need some real Apache testing...

dynamik

Yea, I saw that too. It got surprisingly low reviews for an O'Reilly book. That Pro Apache book seems to be doing better.

UnixGuy

dynamik wrote: »

Yea, I saw that too. It got surprisingly low reviews for an O'Reilly book. That Pro Apache book seems to be doing better.

what Pro Apache book ? can you give me the full name of the book ?

darkerosxx

UnixGuy wrote: »

I need your help guys.

I'm reading through for RHCE, and I'm currently stuck with the Apache web server topic.

RHCE books are very brief when it comes to apache, and I don't seem to recognize the degree to which an RHCE is expected to know about APACHE.


I also don't like the idea of knowing random facts about apache just to pass the test. So I'm looking for a comprehensive step by step book about apache, and I'm willing to put the effort to practice and really know my way around apache.

Do you have the Michael Jang RHCE book? The chapter on Apache and Squid covers more than you need to know for RHCE. The steps and sections he provides on each specific topic aren't overly wordy. It's not more than you need to know to be a good Apache administrator, but it's more than what's discussed in the RHCE course.

I'd suggest setting up each topic 3 or 4 times and breaking it 3 or 4 times so you understand what happens when specific configurations do/don't work.

Good luck!

Edit: I see you mention the book in your sig. You're all set, then. I'm like you, though, and intend on reading a book specifically on Apache to learn a bit more.

UnixGuy

darkerosxx wrote: »

Do you have the Michael Jang RHCE book? The chapter on Apache and Squid covers more than you need to know for RHCE. The steps and sections he provides on each specific topic aren't overly wordy. It's not more than you need to know to be a good Apache administrator, but it's more than what's discussed in the RHCE course.

I'd suggest setting up each topic 3 or 4 times and breaking it 3 or 4 times so you understand what happens when specific configurations do/don't work.

Good luck!

Edit: I see you mention the book in your sig. You're all set, then. I'm like you, though, and intend on reading a book specifically on Apache to learn a bit more.

I have the Jang book, but I don't know, I didn't find the explanation very comprehensive...yes I need to setup those labs...I'm just very busy these days. Let's see

darkerosxx

I understand. The sections don't look like much, but it's really all you need to get it going. It doesn't take much to get Apache doing what you want it to do. It's getting the experience and being able to do it quickly without reading man pages or looking at a book that can be tough, though, if you don't have the hours in on it.

Also, remember that sometimes man pages are better than any book you could ever buy.

dynamik

Amazon.com: Pro Apache, Third Edition (Expert's Voice) (0689253150061): Peter Wainwright: Books

Forsaken_GA

Pro Apache is alright, but it spends far too much time going over building and compiling apache, and discussing crap like statically building your modules instead of loading them as a DSO, and such. It also tries to do too much in covering both apache 1.3 and apache2. If I'm running apache2, I don't care about 1.3, and vice versa.

But all in all, it's a pretty good reference, but I'll admit - I read through it once, and I've never picked it up since. You can get just as much from the apache documentation, and for the little quirky problems, google found me an answer fast enough that I didn't really feel the need to pick the book up and leaf through it.

Unless you're going to be administering web servers on a regular basis (like I did - I was doing sysadmin work for a web hosting company, so getting intimate with the entire LAMP stack was pretty much a job requirement) you don't really need to go that in depth on apache. I think the hardest thing when working with apache is mastering Rewrite Rules, and that's only because you need to have a very strong grasp on regular expressions.

UnixGuy

Forsaken_GA wrote: »

Pro Apache is alright, but it spends far too much time going over building and compiling apache, and discussing crap like statically building your modules instead of loading them as a DSO, and such. It also tries to do too much in covering both apache 1.3 and apache2. If I'm running apache2, I don't care about 1.3, and vice versa.

But all in all, it's a pretty good reference, but I'll admit - I read through it once, and I've never picked it up since. You can get just as much from the apache documentation, and for the little quirky problems, google found me an answer fast enough that I didn't really feel the need to pick the book up and leaf through it.

Unless you're going to be administering web servers on a regular basis (like I did - I was doing sysadmin work for a web hosting company, so getting intimate with the entire LAMP stack was pretty much a job requirement) you don't really need to go that in depth on apache. I think the hardest thing when working with apache is mastering Rewrite Rules, and that's only because you need to have a very strong grasp on regular expressions.

Good point there !

Now I thought of taking the opportunity and get some knowledge on the LAMP...with your last job, did they expect you to really know the entier LAMP model ? I have no experience in this, and most my experience fall under Solaris administration and SAN stuff...so I thought I really need to get some hands-on in the topics of LAMP, DNS, sendmail, qmail, ldap...etc and these applications. I'm not sure how feasible is that.