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Best Linux for a Web server???

A

AcidTone

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 13, 2005
Messages
378
Like the title say what linux distro do you suggest for a webserver? I work for a public school district and out current webserver is running NT 4. I really want to get the OS upgraded on it and was thinking about running linux. I have been toying with linux for a while now and I figure this will give me a good chance to learn alot abou it.


Let me know what you guys recomend.
 
All would probably be fine, but I'd go with something like Slackware or Debian since I've used those distros a lot more than others, and Debian has great package management. A lot of commercial servers probably run Red Hat Enterprise. My school runs their servers on Red Hat 7.x I believe.

For the record, my web server runs on a super stripped down version of Ubuntu (server base install), and my roommate runs his webserver on Fedora Core 4 and Slackware.
 
Cool I have been wanting to play with slackware more so I may end up using that. I have been playing with Ubuntu the past couple days. Seems like a pretty straight forward os. I just got done installing slackware on a box and im gonna see what i can actually figure out on it ;)
 
being as how it's a school, i'd recommend red hat. they'll give it to ya for cheap cheap, just call and ask and then grin.

personally i like slackware, but i really don't think it matters what linux you do for given servers unless it's an enterprise application, in which case i would stick with novell (suse)/red hat.
 
My vote goes for CentOS. It is gaing a lot of popularity with the web server people. Its basically Redhat Enterprise Linux without the redhat name on it. But in my experience it just works great.
 
Go with the distribution you know the best. All of them will do the job. Using what you're familiar with will work better for you than starting over with a new distribution.

Of course, I wouldn't use Linux at all, given the choice. Yay FreeBSD.
 
Well it looks like im going to push slackware on my boss. I have been playing with it and want to learn it so this is a chance for me to force my self to learn it. Im really not to familar with any one linux distro. I know the os in general, im pretty much a novice. But I am a quick learner and i think this will be a good experience for me to learn this.
 
Slackware and SUSE are great for a webserver, IMHO. As long as it's not M$... ;)
 
Slackware's great but it's not worth the trouble for a production server. Their package tools are virtually nonexistant & it makes doing routine patches for security problems a major hassle. You don't want to be putting up Slackware on a production box, especially if you're a noob.

Personally, I'd probably go with RedHat (possibly CentOS or some free implementation), SuSE or Debian (Ubuntu is supposedly trying to focus more on being a server OS). RH/SuSE are probably easier to admin properly if you're inexperienced, Debian will be easier in the long run.

Of course, if you don't plan on working there for a long time, you probably don't want to leave them with a Debian box that the next new guy that doesn't really understand Linux is going to be responsible for.
 
i'm in the same boat, I've been a strong debian fan but really don't feel like updating shit and i'm thinking of ubuntu. Don't mean to steal your thread but anyone have any experience with ubuntu?
 
CentOS would be your best bet. CentOS is the equivilant of RedHat Enterprise. I would also recommend Fedora Core 3 or 4 since it's easy to install and work with if you don't know much about linux. Don't bother going with Gentoo,Debian etc... CentOS would be your best choice.
 
I'd recommend either Debian or CentOS/RedHat for a webserver OS. They are intended for more of a stable and secure production setup. Of course before them I'd run FreeBSD or OpenBSD ;)
 
Another for CentOS. I use it on 90% of our Linux servers in our racks. Unless we need another specific distro for a specialized task, it gets CentOS.
 
Ubuntu is still too much for clients imo. Stick with something that's largely used as a server OS. I use CentOS and FreeBSD.
 
With all this talk of CentOS, I have to wonder why not RHEL? RH kicks down some amazing eduacational discounts (I think we're paying $50 a pop for AS licenses).
 
Because if you're not edu (and even if you are), why pay anything at all? RHEL isn't cheap for commercial users.
 
Debian doesn't put stuff in strange directories and keeps everything very */nix oriented. Fedora works too but they are not as standard as Debian or Slackware.

I say Debian will work best IMO.
 
ameoba said:
With all this talk of CentOS, I have to wonder why not RHEL? RH kicks down some amazing eduacational discounts (I think we're paying $50 a pop for AS licenses).
Click to expand...

Because the only real bonus of going with RHEL is the paid support, and not everyone needs that. I know I don't.
 
ameoba said:
Slackware's great but it's not worth the trouble for a production server. Their package tools are virtually nonexistant & it makes doing routine patches for security problems a major hassle. You don't want to be putting up Slackware on a production box, especially if you're a noob.

Personally, I'd probably go with RedHat (possibly CentOS or some free implementation), SuSE or Debian (Ubuntu is supposedly trying to focus more on being a server OS). RH/SuSE are probably easier to admin properly if you're inexperienced, Debian will be easier in the long run.

Of course, if you don't plan on working there for a long time, you probably don't want to leave them with a Debian box that the next new guy that doesn't really understand Linux is going to be responsible for.
Click to expand...


Thats complete BS. You wont even be using package tools etc on production servers, except to update OS libraries etc.

Most of your webserver components you will be custom compiling to fit your needs. Slackware is an excellent basic linux distro that doesnt have all the extra crap the rest do. Not everyone wants to run vanilla apache/php/mysql etc installs you know.

We use slackware for over 600 production web/database etc servers because of the ease of customization and use. Upgrading the Distro? no prob thats why there is SWARET to update your slackware distro automatically. Honestly i have nothing against running any of the other distros, but slackware fits needs much easier than others.
 
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