Best Linux OS for Servers?

[Candlelight]

My company are looking to upgrade and they sent me out to get ideas, so naturally I'd come to the 'experts'.

At this stage we are looking at either Ubuntu or Red Hat. This particular server's main function is the storage and retrieval of media.

 

[RyanLevy]

I am thinking of using Ubuntu as my media server for my home, so I am also interested in what people will have to say about this topic

 

[CorporalClegg]

I would not go with Ubuntu. It simply has too many security holes which isn't good for a business.

RHEL. Is great and all, but it can become a bit pricey if you go for the whole shebang. But it does come with great tech support and is pretty much meant for servers.

However, centOS is a great alternative to RHEL. It's a very close-to Red Hat fork that is still "enterprise," so it's better than Fedora in that regard. (I actually practiced for my RHCE on centOS.)


SuSE is more or less in the same boat.

If you don't want to pay the money, there's nothing wrong with Debian. There's all the good of Ubuntu without most of the bad.

I'm a Slackware user, so I have to suggest that. I don't personally use it on a server, but there many who do. It was one of the first distros used as server-ware, and it's security and stability are unmatched. Plus, Pat is a great guy! However, you'll need an admin who really knows what he's doing.

Then there's always one of the BSDs which are much closer to pure UNIX than any of the Linux distros--which is good in the case of servers!

 

[Alaedhros]

I'd agree with most of what Clegg is saying. CENTOS is not technically a fork of RHEL; rather, Red Hat releases the sources for RHEL, which the CENTOS people then compile (without the Red Hat branding). CENTOS aims to be binary-compatible with RHEL, so if you want RHEL's good reputation and stability without paying loads for support, CENTOS is a great option. Additionally, the BSDs make excellent servers, but if you're familiar with Linux then they will be a bit different.

I'm a Debian user, so you'd think I'd be recommending its use. Don't get me wrong, it's very good, but it's also not supported for very long. Ubuntu's latest LTS, released this summer, will be supported until June 2013 on the server. Debian's upcoming release, lenny, will only be supported for one year after their next release--and since Debian releases are aiming for an 18- to 20-month release cycle, you're looking at about 2.5 years of support. So, yes, Debian is certainly more stable, but if you want to keep the server around for a long time, Ubuntu might be a better choice.

 

[Twilight]

My company are looking to upgrade and they sent me out to get ideas, so naturally I'd come to the 'experts'.

At this stage we are looking at either Ubuntu or Red Hat. This particular server's main function is the storage and retrieval of media.

As something of an Ubuntu evangelist (well, okay, not really), I'd still say your company should go with RHEL 5.