Chapter 1: UNIX Operating System: Mind the Gap

Overview

Sun Certified System Administrator for the Solaris 10 Operating System. Sounds great, I want this certification. But by the way, what do they mean by Solaris 10 Operating System?

If this sounds like you, welcome to this chapter. Otherwise, you can quickly browse through this chapter, or if you are already familiar with UNIX, you can skip this chapter altogether. In other words, this chapter is meant for folks who are relatively new to the UNIX world and want to come up to speed quickly to fill the gap before they start this journey toward their Solaris System Administration certification. If you have bought this book, you cannot possibly be a perfect stranger to an operating system. When you work on any computer, you actually interact with the operating system such as Windows, Mac, Linux, or Solaris.

So the central question in this chapter to think about is: what is Solaris, and how do we use it? In search of an answer to this question, we will explore three thought streams: what is an operating system (OS), how is Solaris OS related to UNIX, and how do you interact with Solaris?