Which OS for a web server? (Newbie)
 

Hi,

I want to set up a web server with a linux operating system, but there are lots from which to choose. Which or what software is reccommended for use with web server's and where can i download it from, for free.

I am currently downloading Redhat Enterprise Linux 4 from:

redhat.com/pub/redhat/linux/enterprise/4/en/RHDS2.1/i386/isos/

I am not entirely sure but i get the impression that the various versions of linux require different versions of the OS and application packages which i want to install. These are the following:
• Apache
• PHPMyAdmin
• MySQL
• PHP
• CGI Scripts/Perl
• Webalizer

Please advise,
Kind regards

Bradley Tosso

Debian Sarge 3.1

oh, I read that wrong. I thought you wanted to know what distro to use for a web server. Sorry, I don't use Redhat.

Well, most distros ship with Apache, PHP, MySQL and Perl so you probably don't have to worry about these packages. It shouldn't be difficult to add webalizer since RHEL 4 has a package on the installation discs. Phpmyadmin should also be easy to setup on any Linux distro (as long as you read the installation instructions :)).

Any Linux distribution can work fine as a webserver so it all comes down to preference. You need a subscription fee in order to get updates for RHEL, but if you want to use an RHEL based distro without paying anything, take a look at CentOS (which is basically RHEL without the Redhat branding).

hmm, you aren't DLing the OS from that url, i think that's the redhat directory server [LDAP software, not an OS]. rhel4 isn't exactly free, redhat only makes the source RPMs publicly available for the rhel line.

debian is indeed free and widely used in dev/qa/production environments. fedora and ubuntu and gentoo seem fairly popular nowadays but moreso on the desktop side. linuxiso dot org is down right now but they maintain a massive list of downloadable distributions. you'll be able to install apache, mysql, php... on any distro. versions will vary from distro to distro if you plan on using RPM/DEB/other precompiled binaries so check with each vendor if you MUST have a certain version of php, perl ... good luck.

Reddazz Thankyou very much for your help. I was told that linux systems are very good because they are extremely stable and are less prone to hacker attacks. I thought of red hat as it is the one i knew.

You advise on getting CentOS. Is this the same then? Will it be as good as Red Hat? I was also told to download Red Hat AS4 but i couldnt find it and that is why i went for Red Hat Enterprise.

Sorry to ask about everything, but I want to cover all areas and be as sure as possible as it will avoid wasting time in the future if the wong choices are made at the beginning.

Kind regards
Brad

CentOS is basically Redhat Enterprise ES without the Redhat branding, so like I said, if you want to use Redhat without paying a subscription fee, go for CentOS. :)

Will rpm packages made for redhat install on CentOS? Is the software on the Redhat disks compatible with CentOS?

They are the same thing so their packages are compatible (if you are using same versions e.g. CentOS 4.x = RHEL 4.x). The CentOS developers just take the RHEL source code and rebuild it. They remove any Redhat branding so as to abide by copyright law and use YUM as the default frontend to rpm instead of up2date.

Ubuntu is now available as a server version. Including the statement that a LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP) server can be up and running in 15 mins.
http://www.ubuntu.com/server

PHPmyadmin can be installed using
Webalizer is also available as simply as running
... You get the idea ...

Using apt-get any required packages are then downloaded from the Internet and installed for you.

Different distros may have different versions but most of the different distros should include appropriate versions.

More information on the different distributions is available at:
http://distrowatch.com/ which gives a list comparing the major distros at: http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major

Would you rather have Fedora or CentOS?

It really would depend on what I would be using the system for. If it was for a desktop machine or a server thats not really critical/important, I would go for Fedora Core. For important servers, I use CentOS because it may not always have the latest features but its very stable.

At the moment it seems i will go for CentOS. But i had also been thinking about Fedora(probably beacause it is built by Red Hat and beacause i have the brand established in my brain). Reddazz can you futher expand on why choose CentOS instead of fedora. I was told fedora is very stable. I will be hosting our own company websites on the server which will have lots of streamed media, if that info helps.

At first i had the impression that Linux was one operating system but now i am understanding that there are many OS developed using linux. Correct me if i am right, and why is this? Are they not good?

Kind regards
Bradley Tosso

You are right that Linux should be viewed as many different operating systems based on a common core. I always try and tell people this and explain that thats why there are so many distros, but some people don't get it.

Anyway RHEL/CentOS is more stable than Fedora because it undergoes more rigorous testing and doesn't evolve so much. The developers focus more on fixing bugs in that stable release instead of adding new features which may potentially introduce new bugs and other problems. Fedora Core is good for many purposes, but because its always being updated with the latest features and undergoing continuous development, it may not be a good thing for important servers.