opinions on server OS?

[belfasttim]

Hi all-- I'm making the move to a dedicated server hosting platform, and have several options for OS. They are:

Fedora Core Linux
CentOS
Ubuntu Server

I am very familiar with Ubuntu Server, having used it for about 4 years, and I have some experience with CentOS. However, I think I'd heard the Fedora Core is the best of the three for "serious" hosting use.

Any opinions you'd care to share? Is there really that much difference?

Thanks

[encyclo]

I'd heard the Fedora Core is the best of the three for "serious" hosting use

I disagree totally with this assertion - Fedora is basically the beta phase for Red Hat Enterprise Server - it changes rapidly and there is no long-term support for older versions.

I use Ubuntu on the desktop (and love it) but I've never used it as a live webserver so I can't comment on its abilities in that context. CentOS is repackaged RHEL, so comes with the same multi-year patch cycle as the commercial version. Assuming you don't want to upgrade the server's OS every six months and you don't need the very latest packages in the Fedora release, then CentOS is a much better bet than Fedora.

[belfasttim]

thanks for the info encyclo-- most appreciated!

[blang]

I agree; of the three, CentOS is going to be your best bet for a stable server platform; that's coming from a linux user and admin since '98. My personal preference for a distro is Slackware, but I don't know what sort of market share it has on hosting sites.

[prhost]

Yes...Fedora would be more 'bleeding edge'.

I am happy with CentOS on my server, however, CentOS 5.2 does not support more recent versions of PHP. They currently support PHP version 5.1.6

[malcarada]

I think CentOS is the best, unlike others, they are server oriented, when they release a version they have server users in mind, not desktop users.

[jeffatrackaid]

I don't recommend Fedora for production environments due to a lack of continuity. Here's why:

"Fedora is a Linux based operating system that provides users with access to the latest free and open source software, in a stable, secure and easy to manage form."

Fedora has a high focus on integrating new features. While this is great for personal use, in the data center stability, continuity, and security is more important. Consider that Fedora release versions reach end of life much faster than Red Hat. RHEL has very long support lifetimes which is beneficial from a business standpoint.

I work for a company managing hundreds of servers. In my experience, those on RHEL/CentOS tend to have far fewer problems than those on Fedora. This is over the long term 2+ years. Fedora/Ubuntu are capable distros, just not what I like for business use.