Suggestions for article topic on Linux networking
 

Hi!

To pay for my education, I'm currently writing some articles for a tech magazine, and since I'm the only one who uses Linux there, I'm their go-to for the topic. Well, I received a request from my boss to write a workshop on "something with Linux and networks", which is of course really vague. Unfortunately, I'm not that much involved in the professional IT world - just a student, after all -, so I can't think of anything good to write about. Thus: What would you want to read on the topic of Linux and networks in a magazine that is directed at professionals, but wants to draw in some laymen as well? Most of our readers will likely have some familiarity with Linux and UNIX, but I'd say most are Windows crowd, usually smalltime admins.

Thanks a lot for any suggestions :)
David

PS: This is for a network special, and we do have a security special, so something about penetration testing or similar would likely be rejected.

PPS: Target length would be around five pages A4 with some small pictures.

Well, a basic one might be how to setup ifcfg-eth0 file for both DHCP and static settings (separately).
Add in setup basic routing and IP/netmasks.

If you want something a bit more Linux specific (& the above has probably been done to death) you could try to explain iptables :)
Its an important topic, but a lot of new guys do struggle at first, not forgetting MSWin is different here...

As a sidebar, to push the idea of Linux, you could point out that a lot of network gear eg modems/routers/switches run a derivative of Linux.... ;)

I don't think the very basic stuff is going to be interesting to our readers - yes, it's done a little differently in each OS, but you can easily cover those things by doing a quick Google search. iptables is much more interesting, and I thought about writing about it, actually. I just didn't think it was that interesting to read about anymore, I thought there was too much material about it already.

I found a bit of stuff while browsing HowtoForge, though - things like "Setting up a SAN with GlusterFS" sound really interesting, but don't quite fit the topic. That's the direction I'm after. Or would that actually be less interesting because it concerns less people?

I've been trying for the last couple of hours to run a gre tunnel between a linux box with zebra and ospf and get an adjacency with a cisco router located 300 km away. If you can tell me how to do that I'd buy the magazine :))

Moderator Response
 

Moved: This thread is more suitable in <Linux-Networking> and has been moved accordingly to help your thread/question get the exposure it deserves.