How To Choose The Best Distribution For Your Linux Server

When it comes to server hosting, there are primarily three solutions available- shared hosting

, virtual server hosting and dedicated hosting. Dedicated servers are ideal for businesses which have a large website and get thousands of hits per day. Also, unlike the other two, dedicated hosting allows the client to choose the operating system. In broad terms, there are two popular operating systems available for servers- Windows and Linux, which determines whether your server is Windows server or Linux server.

However, what it not common knowledge is the fact that there are various versions of Linux available out there, known as Linux distributions, The distribution of your Linux determines the features you would get with your dedicated server and the advantages and disadvantages associated with. Thus, to maximize the benefit of a Linux server, it is important to select the right distribution. Here are some factors to take into consideration when selecting a Linux distribution for your dedicated server:

The life cycle

Operating systems require constant upgrades to plug security loopholes and keep adding extra features to improve performance. While the life cycle is not a major issue in desktop applications, it is a primary factor for servers. Servers are subjected to constant cyber attacks and thus, they require regular security upgrades to thwart these attacks. It is just not feasible to keep migrating servers from one operating system to another based on requirements. Thus, the distribution that you choose for your Linux server should have a long life cycle and have regular updates. Some Linux distributions with these features are Mandriva, Debian, RHEL and CentOS while some distributions which have short life cycles are Fedora and Ubuntu.

Package management

Package management is a key issue when it comes to server management. Good package management ensures faster and easier management of servers. Thus, you should choose a distribution for your Linux server that offers good package management. Some distributions which offer good package management features such as automated handling of dependencies are RPM, Debian and Fedora.

Easy to manage

No, we are not repeating anything. Here, the ease of management refers to the interface. While all Linux distributions do require a certain technical expertise, there are distributions available for Linux server which offer better interface than others. CentOS, RHEL and Debian are three of the best Linux distributions when it comes to interface. Arguably, the worst of the lot if SUSE.

by: Phill Jaques

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