best linux server os

hello all, im fairly good with linux and am looking for a good linux server distro to replace my M$ 2003 server os, it needs to be able to host a web server, a teamspeak server and some small game servers, so please let me know which you use and which you think is the best thanks

I have used CentOS for a server before (http://www.centos.org/). It's essentially a free version of Red Hat Server and is pretty damn stable.

this may seem pretty lame, but if you are good with linux and dont need a gui,
we use Fedora Core 5 for all of our servers at work. That thing is stable as all heck without a gui. They act as render clients, file servers, array controllers etc etc etc.

Ubuntu server is also stable.

CentOS I have used extensively as a client desktop. Its decent, I have no major gripes with it, I assume it would work well as a server as well

Debian (use STABLE branch) is by far the best, most reliable, and most stable server distro. Expect to be a bit behind in software as things are very thoroughly tested before entering the stable branch. (You can always pull from testing, or even unstable, for one package if you need to.)

I love and use Gentoo, but... I would have to admit it's not the ideal server. I just know Gentoo so well that the added knowledge more than makes up for any shortcomings Gentoo may have. Gentoo doesn't backport patches to older OS releases, Debian does (Gentoo tells you to upgrade, which can potentially cause instability or incompatibility). Also, Gentoo doesn't have discrete releases like Debian... it's a rolling release. What you install on one day will most likely differ from the next day. Every time a new package hits, it's now part of the latest "version". I run full updates daily on Gentoo.

CentOS and Slackware are also stable server choices. CentOS requires more resources, Slackware is efficient. They both force you to use a more awkward packaging system (rpm for CentOS and nothing at all for Slack). On the upside, if software isn't in the repository (rare for Debian, Gentoo, Ubuntu, or other major distros), there's a better chance of it being available as an rpm than anything else since so many corps use Red Hat for the professional (paid) support. Debian is going to be more user friendly than the others. Ubuntu is very user friendly, but I prefer it as a desktop OS rather than a server OS, although they do have some options for configuring a PC more like a server.

BSD's also make great servers. OpenBSD for security, FreeBSD for larger community and ease of use. Nothing is more secure than OpenBSD.

That thing is stable as all heck without a gui.

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QFT. With any Linux distro, running w/o a GUI gives you a dramatic increase in stability. It's probably a decent part of why Linux and BSD servers have uptimes that are orders of magnitude higher than Windows... you cannot get rid of the Windows GUI, and the GUI is what will cause the crashes in the vast majority of cases.

thanks for all the great advice i knew this was the right place to post my question , i have tryed ubuntu server and it was ok but i also had troubles installing it on my power edge server (which by the way runs dual P3's just an fyi) dont know if its cause it has older hardware or what but i will try some of the others you have suggested and see how it goes. thanks again and if anyone else has any input or advice please post

the power edge line is what we run as well, 1950s to be exact. Generally I would agree with MRD's assessment of clumbsy package management with RPM, however, I have found this only to be a problem if
A) you have no internet connection or
B) given an internet connection you haven't enable RPM forge as a repo

Stratus_ss said:

the power edge line is what we run as well, 1950s to be exact. Generally I would agree with MRD's assessment of clumbsy package management with RPM, however, I have found this only to be a problem if
A) you have no internet connection or
B) given an internet connection you haven't enable RPM forge as a repo

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mine is an old 1300 with a single P3 which i plan to get another once i finish paying stuff off and maxing out the ram

You may want to consider if this is the best route to go. I'm working on my router and rebuillding that. It turned out that I could either upgrade existing pieces, or buy a new mb/cpu/ram combo (AMD A64 s754 3000+ single core + 512MB DDR1 + ECS mb) for 55 dollars on Newegg... I just decided to junk the old stuff and get the new setup at that price.

Obviously, a 64 bit 3000+ is complete and total overkill for a router, but it was cheaper than the lower alternatives.

MRD said:

You may want to consider if this is the best route to go. I'm working on my router and rebuillding that. It turned out that I could either upgrade existing pieces, or buy a new mb/cpu/ram combo (AMD A64 s754 3000+ single core + 512MB DDR1 + ECS mb) for 55 dollars on Newegg... I just decided to junk the old stuff and get the new setup at that price.

Obviously, a 64 bit 3000+ is complete and total overkill for a router, but it was cheaper than the lower alternatives.

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well it maybe old but it hasnt let me down yet managed to run a Linage 2 server on it, i got nother server which would be the small game server and the power edge will be the teamspeak/webserver, i would buy new parts but im working on trying to get a new gaming rig setup so that has to come first

The poweredges run linux fine, I have a 1650, They actually sold the server with a 2K server license, or a redhat 7.x something.


I have CentOS on my Poweredge, everything works as it should.


(mine has a single 1266, thinking about putting another in 1GB ram too.

Yup, they do work fine, just wondering if it's cost effective to upgrade them still... For the cost of a stick of RAM you can get most of what you need for a whole new system.

Really? I can get a stick of ram for this for like 20$, where can I build a whole new system for 20$?

(mine has a single 1266, thinking about putting another in 1GB ram too.

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Cost of 1GB of RAM + 1 P3 processor @ 1266 + shipping/handling is pretty close to the $54 I just spent to get a new motherboard, Athlon 64 3200+, onboard Geforce 6100, and 512MB DDR1 RAM, and the A64 will be orders of magnitude faster. I just went through this decision myself... I was going to try to upgrade my P3-1 ghz, but realized for about the same price I could have a much more powerful system.

Also, I don't think you can get 1 GB of RAM for a server for $20... it's probably non-DDR, registered, ECC RAM if it's a P3 server, but I'm just guessing on that.

MRD said:

Cost of 1GB of RAM + 1 P3 processor @ 1266 + shipping/handling is pretty close to the $54 I just spent to get a new motherboard, Athlon 64 3200+, onboard Geforce 6100, and 512MB DDR1 RAM, and the A64 will be orders of magnitude faster. I just went through this decision myself... I was going to try to upgrade my P3-1 ghz, but realized for about the same price I could have a much more powerful system.

Also, I don't think you can get 1 GB of RAM for a server for $20... it's probably non-DDR, registered, ECC RAM if it's a P3 server, but I'm just guessing on that.

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all i know about the ram im using in it is that its ram i pulled from my other computers, all of which were like 128mb sticks of ram

I'm talking second hand stuff here, who buys a brand new P3?|


No-one, atleast I hope noone does, not anymore.

perhaps MRD meant ebay?

I was referring to ebay for a P3, you can't buy a new one (or, not easily at least) and you will get hit with shipping on ebay. One reason I've found ebay uneconomical for a computer build is that when you buy parts from 10 different people, shipping prices shoot up. If you get them all at one store (e.g. newegg), the shipping costs are much lower as it's all bundled together, and because ebay tends to rip you off on shipping anyways.

Not 'ebay' the sellers, who charge stupid shipping prices.

I wasn't claiming it was ebay the company, only that it tends to happen when you buy things using ebay.

JamesXP said:

I'm talking second hand stuff here, who buys a brand new P3?|


No-one, atleast I hope noone does, not anymore.

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lol i would if i could, i like having old computers cause i can always find a use for them and if one goes bye bye i got like 10 or so more to use