Linux Journal: Your Network's Secret Life, Part 1

[ Thanks to 2more0 for this link. ]

Marcel Gagné has retired "Tux Knows It's Nice to Share" and he's moved on to "Your Network's Secret Life," which offers an overview of network management and visualization tools.

"Over the course of this series, I want to be able to give you some insight into your network. What's happening out there over your twisted pair cabling that you don't know about? We'll look at the tools you already have and then some nice, graphical tools that not only let you monitor your network but visualize it. Looking to impress the boss with what Linux can do? The old Corner may have the ticket.

While it may seem incredibly obvious, the best way to understand what is happening on your network is to know your network. If there is a host out there doing anything, you need to be able to identify it (or at least account for it).

One of the single most effective (and overlooked) network discovery tools is netstat. It comes bundled with every Linux distribution, and it can tell you a great deal about what is happening on your server. For instance, by using the program with the -a and -p flags, you can find every connection (or port) open on your system and what programs are using those ports."

Complete Story

Related Stories:

• O'Reilly Network: Exploring the /proc/net/ Directory(Nov 23, 2000)
• LinuxMonth: Netstat - What is it good for?(Oct 01, 2000)