On Feb 18, 2006, at 12:43 AM, Dan Rue wrote: > On Sat, Feb 18, 2006 at 04:43:00PM +1300, > listmail at brentfriedman.net wrote: >> I am about to set up a new venture using Linux servers. I have used >> everything from slackware to debian to ubuntu for personal and non- >> public >> server use, but I haven't set up any "live" servers with Linux since >> Redhat switched to Fedora Core. The servers will be running a php >> web >> service, with a mySQL back end. >> >> I will not be the main admin for these boxes, as I will be pretty >> busy >> with the business end of the venture. I am looking for a distro >> that has >> as automated a update/patch installation system as possible, >> whether free >> or less than $500/server/year. Also, it would be helpful if the >> update >> system was GUI based. Any suggestions about what you are using in a >> production environment would be really helpful. >> >> As a follow-on question, I plan to pick up a few Dell Poweredge >> 2650 dual >> xeon systems on ebay. Any thoughts on these systems running linux? > > Depending on who your main admin is, perhaps I'll take a chance on > recommending an Apple server running OS X. You get a great GUI (since > that is a requirement). It's BSD underneith the hood.. A lot less > messing around than linux. > > Really, I think you should decide heavily depending on this admin that > will be running it day to day. If he/she isn't a linux expert or > doesn't want to be, OS X may be a great plan in my opinion. On the > other hand, if this admin is chomping at the bit to dig into linux > admin, I don't see why a GUI is even necessary. Depending on your expected server load I would shy away from Mac OSX. The benchmarks I've seen especially on MySQL with OSX is just horrible. I run several web apps on a pair of debian servers. One uses backports.org for php5 while the other is a default php4 setup. Getting php going on debian is extremely easy and with their package system you can add components like gd, mysql, and xml support with just another package and no recompiling. Keeping up to date is easy and you can even automate it if you really desire. I think most admins shy away from anything installing auto though. I have a trio of dell servers and while I would never purchase another desktop/laptop from them I've not had any problems with their servers. Just make sure you get a nice business rep and you tech support number in the US. Whenever I've needed to call support it's been a much nicer experience that most home users. HTH Rick