• Networking

  • Need a 64-bit Linux distro for a stable production level web server

Hey everyone. So my colleagues at work and I were talking about a web based project that might be implemented. We all agreed that the web application will be based on open source tech (as most of us are familiar with), and will be hosted on a local server in our network. We were wondering what would be the best OS to handle the job. We talked about Windows Web server versus Linux and somehow ended up liking Linux. It would be the first Linux based server in the network; something new to learn and mess around with. The question in mind is that there are so many Linux distros out there, we don't know which would be the best to use as a production level web server. Red Hat is definitely out of the equation as it is not free. Which 64-bit Linux distro can be used to host apache, PHP, Mysql, PHPMyAdmin and would be capable to handle web requests? Which Linux distro includes a built in reliable SMTP engine that would be used in our web application?

Is Fedora or CentOS good enough for the job?

Thanks!
Short answer:
Is Fedora or CentOS good enough for the job?
Yes
Longer answer:
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Do not waste time and energy focusing on details. It really doesn't matter which distro you use. The only wrong choice is not to make one. Distros, to a large extent, are equal in term of 'power', in the sense that they're all as powerful as the sysadmin commanding them.

For the SMTP server, you're looking for Postfix (unless you have a valid reason to use something else). Whether it's builtin or installed via your package manager, you're going to have to spend some time configure it if you want something stable and secure, you know, production level.

Further reading
I answered a similar question on Stackexchange a while back.
Thanks for your answer rahmu. I'll give CentOS a try then.
CentOS has a great reputation. I usually use Ubuntu (the server version), mainly because of the wide choice of packages, and it's popularity and user base (hence support, among other thigns) - despite Ubuntu being more known as a desktop OS, and not having the best reputation regarding stability and solidity. Nevertheless, I trust them with the server version, especially since it is often offered by VPS hosts, and it is indeed very stable as it has no GUI stack.
I end up getting most packages from alternative repositories, or compiling from source, as Ubuntu packages are usually deceivingly old, so my main reason for going Ubuntu is void. I am happy with it and sticking to it, though.

PS: If you're expecting it to be like Windows, you're in for a world of pain.
Nah don't worry rolf, one of my colleagues is a command line freak; he would suffice :P
2 months later
Debian is the most stable and the most used distro for server