Hey gang,

I need to install a server - quick. I'm experimenting with freeBSD (my first choice, and by far the best I think) but...things are not going smoothly. Since FreeBSD is unix (not Linux) - my knowledge is somewhat on the skinny side.
Any suggestions for an other server?

Thanks

Thor

Depends on what the server is being sued for.

FreeBSD and OpenBSD are good server choices.

For Linux I chose Slackware and Debian for stability and reliability.

If I need a server to be compatible with some RedHat specific things I use CentOS.

2 members found this post helpful.

Hey there NyteOwl,

Thanks for a reply...the weekend has been a b**ch
As you aptly stated, FreeBSD and OpenBSD are prime choices, what I need though is a server that allows webpages, Java, PHP and mySQL to be served...
They differ radically from what I'm used to, so there comes the learning curve again...

So, if I get stuck, I'd best use Debian, as I know that one pretty well...

The server has to host (one day) on the real WWW, so a good OS to start with seems a must

Thanks

Thor

For me, Debian is an amazing distro to use for a web server. That's what I have been using full time. Recently I started experimenting with Slackware, that's great too but there is a lot for me to learn with Slackware. Debian is very simple to use and maintain, especially for a web server.

1 members found this post helpful.

Thanks garryconn, this opened my eyes:

...because I'm not really given a lot of time...

Thanks

Thor

The only potential drawback using Debian as a server over Slackware is that the package manager could be considered by some to be "too helpful" in that it often starts daemons as soon as the package is installed, rather than waiting for them to be started manually. This means, for example, as soon as you install Apache it is serving a web page. That's great for ease of use but some people think it's a little insecure to start a server with the default settings.
I've not used Slackware enough to know exactly how it compares to Debian for ease of use but I get the impression that it's actually not much harder (if at all) to look after once it's been set up. Once you learn the process installing and setting up Slackware certainly doesn't seem to take any longer than Debian, it's just different.

It would just load the default page, plus it's easy to shut it off. Also it's easy to configure within a few moments. There's no doubt about Apache running well on Slackware. Ironically, I have used Debian for awhile now and I am just starting to play around with Slackware (Excellent OS btw). However, I am not comfortable yet nor do I have enough experience with using Slackware as the OS on my web servers just yet. I am very comfortable administrating a Debian web server and have had amazing success doing so:

Not bad for a Compaq Proliant ML-350 manufactured in 1999, dual 1Ghz Pentium III processors with 1.5Gb memory, setup in my steaming hot 92'degree home-office closet, which actively hosts 20+ websites (mainly WordPress blogs --MySQL, PHP).

hehehe " being sued for."

Almost any of the top thirty at distrowatch.com might be a good choice. Consider the ones made for or targeted towards server uses. RH clones, Opensuse and the bsd's. Freebsd is a very good and well used distro and more importantly, it is well documented and has all the web server tools available.


There are plenty of premade virtual machine images or appliances that one can use to try. Many have all the goodies you want pre-installed.

Generally it is hard for new users to go from one distro to the other.

That was my main motivation to use FreeBSD, but the configuration is somewhat lengthy...if you're like me: not (yet) comfortable with UNIX instead of Linux...the systems are different, believe me.

Thor