I have a dedicated web server that's running RedHat 7.3. But it's been horribly neglected for the last two years because I didn't know a thing about linux. I now run FC2 on my personal computer and feel a little more confident..

However, I have two questions. First of all, is it worth trying to upgrade to a newer RedHat or even FC? Is it safe? I can't physically access the server so I'm a little hesitant.

If I shouldn't upgrade it, I have a ton of software updates to do. I installed yum on the server - but is it safe to just do a "yum update" and update everything at once? Would another method be preferable?

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions. The last thing I want to do is knock my website offline or screw things up, but I feel like I should update things for security reasons, if nothing else.

Hello!

If you want to use in future a redhat based server, I would recommend WhiteBox Linux.
Whitebox Linux is the result of Redhat's decision to discontinue offering a free supported linux product. Redhat supports their Enterprise Linux versions for five years after release. Whitebox was created from the Redhat Enterprise 3.0 source packages. It's very stable and it's free. Fedora has to frequent updates.
If you don't want to spend that money to buy RedHat's Enterprise Edition .. go on and use WhiteBox.

Boby

Pointing Yum to http://www.fedoralegacy.org and their Red Hat Linux 7.3 updates would be feasible. I would not suggest an online upgrade from RHL 7.3 to FC2. For that you better set up a separate test box.