Planning Your System

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Chapter 2

• Planning Your System

2
Objectives

• In this chapter, you will
• Discuss hardware issues related to installing
  Linux
• Collect hardware and network information needed
  to install
• Organize a hard disk efficiently for a Linux
  installation

3
Preparing to Install Linux
Valued Gateway Client

• You can purchase computers with Linux
  pre-installed or install it yourself
• To install Linux, you must plan your installation
• Gather information about your hardware so you can
  answer questions during the installation process

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Understanding Computer Hardware

• Components of a computer are called devices in
  Linux
• To function correctly Linux must be configured to
  use all of the devices on your computer system
• Memory and hard disk space are measured in bytes,
  typically in megabytes or gigabytes

5
Storing Information

• There are two types of electronic computer
  memory
• Random access memory (RAM)
• Read-only memory (ROM)
• The Basic Input/Output System, or BIOS, provides
  instructions to the operating system for using
  the devices
• The hard disk is a magnetic storage space for
  data, such as the operating system and data files

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Computer Storage Components
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Communicating with Devices

• Many computer devices communicate with the
  microprocessor and software programs via
  interrupt requests
• An interrupt request, or IRQ, is a numbered
  signal that a device sends to the operating
  system to request service
• The device and the CPU can communicate data and
  status information between them using two
  methods
• Direct memory access
• Port-mapped input/output

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Hard Disk Devices

• The hard disk communicates with the
  microprocessor using an electronic interface that
  controls how data is sent and received
• An interrupt request, or IRQ, is a numbered
  signal that a device sends to the operating
  system to request service
• Two interfaces are used for hard disks in PCs
• IDE (integrated drive electronics)
• SCSI (small computer systems interface)

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IDE Interfaces
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SCSI Devices
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Supported Linux Hardware

• The Free software community creates software to
  support hardware products based on technical
  information provided by the manufacturer
• The software used to support a hardware device in
  Linux is usually called a driver, or device
  driver
• Before starting a Linux installation, check on
  the Web site of a Linux vendor what hardware is
  supported

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Understanding Networking

• Linux systems are connected to networks to
  communicate and share resources with other users
• Computer systems use networking protocols
• A protocol is an organized pattern of signals or
  words
• Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) allows
  a computer to obtain networking information
  dynamically from a network server at the time the
  computer is turned on
• Linux provides access to a printer or an Internet
  connection for many networked computers

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IP Networking

• Internet Protocol (IP) is a networking protocol
  used to send packets of information across a
  network connection
• Each computer on the network must be assigned an
  identifying number, called an IP address

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IP Networking

• Several special IP addresses are associated with
  setting up Linux networking so that packets can
  be passed around the network
• These IP addresses include
•   Network mask
• Network address
•   Broadcast address
•   Gateway address

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Domain Names and Hostnames

• A name assigned to a collection of computers is
  called a domain name
• Computers involved in networking are called hosts
• The hostname is a single word used to name a
  computer
• The hostname is combined with the domain name to
  create a fully qualified domain name (FQDN)

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Top-Level Domains
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Domain Name Service (DNS)

• The Domain Name Service (DNS) network service
  that maps human-readable domain names and
  hostnames to IP addresses of specific
  networks/computers
• A DNS server is the computer that actually
  performs this conversion
• You must provide the IP address of a DNS server
  as you configure Linux networking

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Creating a Shared System

• You can use Linux on the same computer as another
  operating system by setting up a dual-boot system
  
• Boot manager lets you select an operating system
  when you boot the computer
• Two popular boot managers are GRUB and LILO
  (Linux Loader)
• You can store multiple operating systems on a
  single hard disk or on separate hard disks

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Creating a Shared System

• To use multiple operating systems on a single
  hard disk, decide how much space you need for
  each operating system
• Determine the amount of hard disk space used on a
  Windows XP system
• Each Linux distribution offers different standard
  installation options

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Typical Linux Installation Options
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Graphical Systems

• Installation programs automatically detect video
  settings
• The graphical environment in Linux is provided by
  the X Window System
• Software from the XFree86 Project adds the X
  Window System to Linux

22
Monitors and the Graphical System

• Configure Linux with the correct information
  about your monitor capabilities
• Linux automated graphical configuration
  calculates monitor resolution and blocks any
  signals that the monitor cannot handle
• Multisync monitors accept data in a range of
  frequencies

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Creating a System Inventory

• The Linux installation program may automatically
  detect all of your hardware
• To help the installation proceed smoothly, you
  should understand your hardware
• Hardware information is useful to update
  configurations for the boot manager, the
  graphical system, or other parts of the Linux
  operating system

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Useful Hardware Information for Installing Linux
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Information Needed to Set Up Linux Networking
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Finding the Manuals

• Computer systems include printed manuals for
  whole system or for each component
• To find online manuals, visit the Web site for
  the manufacturer of the component, and search
  under Products, Technical Support

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Typical Linux Installation Options
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Popular Linux Distributions
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Reviewing BIOS Settings

• Find the following information as you review your
  BIOS settings
• Amount of RAM on the system
• Hard disk interface type and size of each hard
  disk
• Serial ports available on the system and the IRQ
  used by each one
• IRQ numbers
• SCSI card make and model

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BIOS Configuration Menus
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Studying Microsoft Windows

• Device information in Windows is available from
  the Windows Control Panel
• To find details about your networking
  configuration, use the Network Connections item
  within the Windows Control Panel

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Local Area Connection Properties Dialog Box in
Window XP
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Asking Networking Questions

• To get most of the networking information, ask
  the authority who originally set up the network
  connection
• You can select a hostname for your Linux
  installation

34
Preparing Your Hard Disk

• A partition is a distinct area of a hard disk
  that has been prepared to store a particular type
  of data
• Before a partition can hold information, it must
  be formatted with a particular file system type
• File system the arrangement of information on a
  device such as a hard disk
• Linux uses one of two default file system types
  ext2 or ext3

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Partitions and File Systems on a Hard Disk
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Booting the System

• Master Boot Record (MBR)
• small area on the first hard disk partition
• contains a program to decide how to start an
  operating system
• Control passes from the BIOS to the program in
  the MBR when a computer is first booted
• The boot record is a small area on each partition
  that contains a boot manager program to launch
  the operating system on that partition

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MBR and Boot Records
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Hard Disk Geometry

• A hard disk is composed of multiple flat platters
  that hold magnetic data
• Each concentric circle on a platter is called a
  track
• A sector is a unit of data storage on a hard disk
• All of the tracks at the same position on each
  platter are called a cylinder

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Hard Disk Geometry
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Hard Disk Geometry
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Swap Partitions

• Virtual memory is a special area of the hard disk
  that the operating system treats as if it were
  RAM
• The swap partition is the designated area used as
  virtual memory by the Linux kernel
• Using a separate partition controlled by the
  Linux kernel allows the virtual memory feature to
  work very quickly

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Preparing a Shared Hard Disk

• Use FIPS or PartitionMagic to create a dual-boot
  system running Linux and Windows (two partitions)
• Defragmenting is a procedure that arranges each
  file on your hard disk so that all parts of the
  file are next to each other
• During the Linux installation configure the
  resulting free space on the hard disk into the
  Linux partition and Linux swap partition

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Optimizing a Hard Disk
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Summary

• Components of a computer are called devices in
  Linux
• Linux must be configured to use all the devices
  on your computer system to function correctly
• Before Linux installation find information about
  your hardware and network settings
• Hard disks are composed of platters, tracks, and
  sectors
• You can use Linux on the same computer as another
  operating system by setting up a dual-boot system

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Summary

• The BIOS controls the boot process by passing
  control to the MBR, which may contain a Linux
  boot manager or may pass control on to the boot
  record of the active partition
• To create a dual-boot system, you must prepare
  the hard disk before you start to install Linux
• Create partitions for the Linux file system and
  swap partition using a utility such as FIPS or
  PartitionMagic