Linux (web server) - suggested distro & hardware

[1ofaKind]

Hi All,

I have been working with Unix based servers for the last 15 years. These have all been comercial Unix versions. However I am now looking at implemented a web solution for one our customers which requires me to sort a Linux distro and also some kit. 1 for me to dev the stuff on and 2 to eventually host the web server & application.

Obviously kit wise I cant really suggest an old P3 machine etc as they expect nice shiny kit with warranty / h/w maintenance. So I've spent the last 3 or 4 days trawling through various web sites and basically see worrying posts about sata etc.. It looks like I'm better off getting some Intel box with SCSI as the h/w side.

A friend already runs loads of stuff under Debian and is suggesting I go this way. I have seen a lot of people suggesting Ubuntu (as its debian based).

I am not interested in 3d or anything like that as this is purely for web / admin / development.

I might repartition my laptop and stick ubuntu on to give it a go....

Any ideas are welcome.

 

[kiwi]

debian on the server is a pretty safe choice. ubuntu isn't as popular and is less sever-orientated but i believe they are making pretty decent inroads into the server field. i don't see any reason to choose it over debian at the minute though.

 

[riddlermarc]

To be honest most of the proper distributions these days will have support for most business-orientated hardware, it's in their interests to isn't it. The worst I've had to do is compile and install nic and sata drivers but that is small fry.

Don't discount a decent looking server just because it has sata - are you looking rackmount or tower? It's not clear if this is going in a datacentre..

We have two or three racks of Proliant DL360 G4's which we use for dev/live work but they are running 2003 Server due to the project being .Net. No idea if I can supply a link directly to the page on the HP site or not but you can buy it configured with RedHat, Suse, UnitedLinux, Solaris or Windows 2003 Server.

Obviously buying from one of the big players means you get full support etc

 

[1ofaKind]

Hiya,

It won't be hosted in a data centre it will be at the site. Rack or tower doesn't matter.

I think the main thing that worried me was the number of postings regarding Sata not working or requiring a seemingly lot of messing around to try to get working. I don't mind the hard work what I would mind is buying h/w that I couldn't get working and being the one with egg on my face.

The other reason about h/w etc. is that I'd like to build myself one for home to mess around get familiar with aswell. I would have liked something small like a shuttle or a matx based machine but seems a bit hit/miss with things working or not and when its my money I deffo don't want to mess up

It seems for soho use nvidia is certainly behind linux.

Thanks for the info - I'll research some more

 

[deano]

Hi

ibm kit tends to be good with linux, but ibm support is not brilliant. distro's wise as has already been stated debian is good, but also worth considering is centos which is basically RHES 4.

Cheers
Deano

 

[derfderfley]

Debian/CentOS or Suse/Red Hat Enterprise (if they want a commercially supported OS).

You won't go far wrong with a Intel or AMD based server running SCSI HDD's from one of the big boys so I'd stick to Dell/HP/Compaq/IBM, all of which have server lines which officialy support various flavours of Linux. And all can provide the required service levels for hardware support.

 

[Ollie's Gadgets]

Go with debian and run through aboutdebian.com all about using debian as a server.

 

[Dunky]

Yep I agree, Ubuntu's strength is it's multimedia support and it's wide range of multimedia packages from uni/multiverse repos however both of these are useless in a server enviroment. Dapper (Ubuntu 6.04 due in April) is pushing a server edition towards businesses and enterprises however just now I'd personally stick with Debian and the Stable repos.

With hardware, remember that ALL linux distros are based around the exact same kernel however each distro will add a patch to the distro. But essentially all driver and hardware support is contained within the kernel. SCSI I'd say is fairly well supported, SATA support is there and stable but not as supported as SCSI (by supported I mean supporting a wide range of SATA controllers). Debian Stable kernel is: 2.6.8, Ubuntu 5.10 is 2.6.11 and the very latest kernel from kernel.org is: 2.6.15 . You can use a vanilla kernel from kernel.org if you wish and the system *should* work but any features which rely on the kernel patch from a distro will have unexpected results. But if your hardware works with an earlier version of the kernel, then it will in theory be supported with a later kernel.

As with any linux system, do your homework on components and if you are buying from a server vendor, get a detailed specification and check out any incompatibility issues. Ideally though, you should buy from someone who supports linux and has linux listed as a compatible OS for a particular server.

 

[Ollie's Gadgets]

Some articles for you here on Building a High-Performance Web Server from hardwareanalysis.com:

Building a High-Performance Web Server
New server, load balancing setup and more
New webserver, backing things up

All are a good read and it takes you from what they were originally running to what they are using today and their reasons for upgrades/changes and problems they have encountered. When the first article got published it was slashdotted and survived perfectly, which was a brilliant test. You will also be able to prove to your client(s) that you don't need vast computing power to run a site that has millions of visitors. There finishing line was "As you can see it is possible to run a high-profile website such as Hardware Analysis, with millions of pageviews and over a million unique visitors every month on just a single server."

Hope this helps.

 

[celliott]

I run a hosting service and deal with dedicated servers in a web hosting environment. Debian is good choice however I would also reccomend CentOS. I have been running this distro on of my servers without problems. It is stable and easy to work with.

You will probably find a bit more support with CentOS as generally this or Red Hat Enterprise is used on most Linux servers, with a few on FreeBSD. As people have alredy said, I would give it a go. Im my opinion its the best distro for use with servers. I am using it in conjunction with cPanel.