Study Resources¶

Essential Books¶

1. The Linux Programming Interface by Michael Kerrisk¶

Most Important - Highly Recommended

Comprehensive coverage of Linux system programming
Covers system calls, processes, memory, IPC, networking
Clear explanations with examples
Essential chapters: 1-5, 13-28, 44-63
1500+ pages but worth it

Where to get: Amazon, O'Reilly

2. Linux Kernel Development by Robert Love¶

Internal kernel workings
Process scheduling, memory management
System calls implementation
Device drivers

3. Modern Operating Systems by Andrew Tanenbaum¶

OS concepts and theory
Not Linux-specific but foundational
Processes, memory, file systems, I/O

4. UNIX and Linux System Administration Handbook¶

Practical system administration
Networking, security, troubleshooting
Real-world scenarios

5. TCP/IP Illustrated, Volume 1 by W. Richard Stevens¶

Deep dive into TCP/IP protocols
Network troubleshooting
Packet-level understanding

Online Resources¶

Google SRE Resources¶

Google SRE Book (free online) - https://sre.google/sre-book/table-of-contents/ - Chapters on monitoring, troubleshooting, incident response - Real Google practices

Google SRE Workbook (free online) - https://sre.google/workbook/table-of-contents/ - Practical exercises

Brendan Gregg's Materials¶

Blog: http://www.brendangregg.com/

Linux performance
Tool usage
Troubleshooting methodologies

Books:

"Systems Performance" - Performance analysis and tuning
"BPF Performance Tools" - Modern Linux tracing

Linux Documentation¶

Kernel.org Documentation - https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/ - Official kernel documentation

Man Pages

man 2 syscalls  # System calls
man 7 tcp       # TCP protocol
man 5 proc      # /proc filesystem

Online Courses¶

Linux Foundation - LFS201: Essentials of Linux System Administration - LFS301: Linux System Administration

Udemy / Coursera - Search for "Linux System Programming" - "Linux Internals"

Practice Resources¶

Hands-On Labs¶

Set up your environment:

# Use Virtual Machine
- VirtualBox + Ubuntu/Debian
- VMware
- Cloud VM (AWS, GCP)

# Install tools
sudo apt-get install build-essential gdb strace ltrace
sudo apt-get install sysstat iotop iftop
sudo apt-get install tcpdump wireshark

Practice Projects¶

1. Build a Simple Shell - Implement fork/exec - Handle signals - I/O redirection - Pipes

2. Client/Server Application - Socket programming - TCP and UDP - Concurrent connections - Error handling

3. Memory Allocator - Implement malloc/free - Use mmap or brk - Handle fragmentation

4. System Monitor - Read /proc filesystem - Display CPU, memory, processes - Use ncurses for UI

Coding Practice¶

LeetCode / HackerRank - System design questions - Concurrency problems - Operating systems section

GitHub Projects - Read Linux kernel source (kernel.org/git) - Study glibc implementation - Review systemd code

Technical Blogs¶

Recommended Blogs¶

Julia Evans (https://jvns.ca/) - "How does X work" series - Debugging tools - Zines on Linux topics

LWN.net (https://lwn.net/) - Linux kernel news - Feature articles - In-depth technical content

The Geek Stuff (https://www.thegeekstuff.com/) - Linux tutorials - Command examples

YouTube Channels¶

LiveOverflow: Low-level computing, debugging
Chris Titus Tech: Linux tutorials
Learn Linux TV: System administration

Study Plan¶

3-Month Plan¶

Month 1: Fundamentals - Read TLPI Chapters 1-5, 13-15 - Practice: fork, exec, signals - Set up lab environment - Master basic tools: ps, top, strace

Month 2: Deep Dive - Read TLPI Chapters 20-28, 44-54 - Study: memory management, IPC - Networking: TCP/IP Illustrated - Practice troubleshooting scenarios

Month 3: Advanced & Practice - Read TLPI Chapters 55-63 - Kernel Development book - Mock interviews - Review weak areas

Weekly Schedule¶

Weekdays (2 hours/day):

1 hour: Reading
1 hour: Hands-on practice

Weekends (4 hours/day):

2 hours: Coding projects
1 hour: Tool practice
1 hour: Mock questions

Mock Interview Practice¶

Practice With¶

Peers: Trade questions with friends
Online: Pramp, interviewing.io
Meetups: Local Linux user groups
Record yourself: Answer questions on camera

Community Resources¶

Forums¶

Stack Overflow: For specific technical questions
Unix & Linux Stack Exchange: Linux-specific
Reddit: r/linux, r/sysadmin, r/linuxadmin

IRC/Discord¶

Freenode #linux
Various Linux distro channels
Tech community Discords

Interview Reports¶

Where to Find¶

Glassdoor: Search "Google SRE Systems Engineering"
Blind: Tech worker forum
TeamBlind: More interview reports
LeetCode Discuss: Some SRE interview experiences

What to look for:

Question types asked
Topics emphasized
Interview format
Difficulty level
Timeline

Staying Updated¶

Follow¶

Linux Kernel Mailing List (LKML)
LWN.net weekly edition
Hacker News: Tech discussions
Phoronix: Linux news

Conferences¶

Linux Foundation events
SREcon (USENIX)
Local meetups

Final Recommendations¶

Must-Read:

The Linux Programming Interface (TLPI)
Google SRE Book (free)
Brendan Gregg's blog

Must-Practice:

System call tracing (strace)
Network troubleshooting (tcpdump, ss)
Performance analysis (top, vmstat, iostat)
Coding: socket programs, process management

Must-Understand:

fork/exec flow
Virtual memory and paging
TCP three-way handshake
File descriptors and inodes
System boot process

Time Investment¶

Minimum: 100-150 hours of focused study

No experience: 200+ hours
Some experience: 100-150 hours
Strong background: 50-100 hours

Quality > Quantity: Deep understanding beats surface knowledge.

Good luck with your preparation! 📚🚀