Hi !
Guys Im planning to do my NSA by the next 2 weeks !
The person giving the training is a certified trainer for ec-council.
I am afraid, should if I rely totally on the reference kit provided by ec-council or are there any other resources for modules like :

Module8 : Packet Filtering and Proxy Servers.

Module 11: Hardening Operating Systems Security.
In this module they have discussed the Registry and configuration of Windows Services. And also some Linux OS fundamentals and the most annoying thing about Linux(for me) is the PAM Modules and the Network File System.

I have never worked with Linux. I mean installing Linux is far different from troubleshooting and managing it !

I am not afraid, but nervous, as to how to prepare for Linux ?

Can anybody suggest a more practical way, along with which version of linux is the best and things like this.

Thanks in advance.

regards,

Its very true that no one version of linux is the best, I feel there are definitely some versions that are better for beginners to linux than others. It used to be said linux is linux. That’s not exactly true anymore. There are enough difference now that I find some distros easier to use for hacking than others. What makes a Distro appealing to me is if all or most of my tools work without having to mess around with them too much.  If I can install special hacked drivers that will allow me to inject packets or if tools like kismet install without too much pain, I like that distro a lot!  The real key about linux for most people is to make sure you have a lot of tech support out there.  Some Distros have hundreds of forums available that you can access while others it can be difficult to find much support.  At this point I feel reasonably  comfortable in recommending Ubuntu.  Its free and has an ever growing support community out there. Aircrack works great as does kismet.  It seems a bit more user friendly than its parent Debian.   Once you really know it well, any other Distro will be easier to deal with and in many cases will be just a matter of learning any specific commands that are exclusive to that particular flavor of Linux.