Linode.com Forum

[lostcarpark]

Hi,

I'm looking for a virtual server, and Linode looks good, but I'm slightly awed by by the list of Distros. I've played with various Linux installations over the years including RedHat, Suse and Ubunto, but I'm not a Linux expert, and I'm slightly worried about getting stuck.

Which is the best distro for a relative novice? Also how much help can I ask Linode admins for if I get stuck? I have a spare PC here that I can try stuff on before installing on the "Live" server.

I want the server to host mainly PHP and MySQL websites, but want the freedom to install other stuff if I need to.

Thanks for your help and advice.

[c1i77]

Hi,

lostcarpark wrote: ...
1. Which is the best distro for a relative novice?

2. Also how much help can I ask Linode admins for if I get stuck?

3. I have a spare PC here that I can try stuff on before installing on the "Live" server.

4. I want the server to host mainly PHP and MySQL websites, but want the freedom to install other stuff if I need to.


1. You mentioned you've some experience with Ubuntu. Starting off with that is advisable.

2. Virtually none -- they look after the hardware / network, which they are very good at doing. Other Linode users are your helpline when you get stuck, either here in the forum or on IRC.

3. IMO, that's always a good idea, especially when upgrading major versions of core software. (Linux-vserver with different setups on LVM volumes might be worth investing some time setting up.)

4. You have the complete freedom of installing anything in Ubuntu/Debian/(other) repositories, subject to your chosen Linode's resource limits.

HTH,

Cliff

[lostcarpark]

Thanks for the tips.

Do the distros come preconfigured for web hosting, or does everything have to be installed?

[c1i77]

lostcarpark wrote: Do the distros come preconfigured for web hosting, or does everything have to be installed?

If a package is not installed, any Linux distros installation and package management is really very easy, so don't worry about that.

Ubuntu/ Canonical has produced a very nice looking Ubuntu Server Guide. That should help you get started with an Ubuntu-based Linode once you've finished the initial setup with the Linode Installation Wizard.

In addition to the Apache2+PHP5+MySQL you mentioned above, you'll need SSH (Ch.4), a firewall (Ch.7 -- I recommend the 'firehol' firewall for simplicity), and an email MTA (Ch.13 -- Postfix is not too hard to setup).

HTH (some more),

Cliff

[sweh]

lostcarpark wrote: Which is the best distro for a relative novice?

Personally I recommend CentOS 4. This is a mirror of RedHat Enterprise Linux 4 and so we're pretty sure that patches will be available for quite a while to come. It's not the latest/greatest of any versions but it's stable, which is a good thing for a server.

[c1i77]

sweh wrote: lostcarpark wrote: Which is the best distro for a relative novice?

Personally I recommend CentOS 4. ... It's not the latest/greatest of any versions but it's stable, which is a good thing for a server.

Or in a nutshell:

CentOS 4.X (tracks RHEP)

RHEP4 released March 2005; Update #4, released August 2006; update #5 expected March 2007
RHEP update support for 7 years (-> 2012)
RHEP new release cycle (18-24 months, RHEL5 due Q1-2007)


Ubuntu 6.06-LTS

Released June 2006; security updates released as available
Security update support for 5 years (->2011)
LTS new release cycle (12-24 months)


Cliff

[lostcarpark]

I have a friend who said much the same about Centos.

I'm actually surprised there hasn't been a wider variety of answers (ask 100 Linux geeks "which distro?" and you'll get 100 answers).

Thanks for your help.

Is it possible to get images of the distros as they come configured so I can download for local testing, or do they come the same I would get from the distro sites?