Debian or Ubuntu for server?

#1

Post by jamongkad » Mon, Jun 18, 2007, 3:53 PM UTC

No post body was provided.

Re: Debian or Ubuntu for server?

#2

Post by jamongkad » Mon, Jun 18, 2007, 3:59 PM UTC

Hi guys I'm about to configure a VPS for my web app(for testing and learning purposes plus it's my first time to launch a site in my life much less configure a webserver.) And upon recommendation of my webhost(a2b2) Debian and Ubuntu would be the best choice as I only have a small VPS to begin with. So what do YCers think? which should I choose?

Re: Debian or Ubuntu for server?

#3

Post by davidw » Mon, Jun 18, 2007, 4:08 PM UTC

jamongkad wrote: post #2

Hi guys I'm about to configure a VPS for my web app(for testing and learning purposes plus it's my first time to launch a site in my life much less configure a webserver.) And upon recommendation of my webhost(a2b2) Debian and Ubuntu would be the best choice as I only have a small VPS to begin with. So what do YCers think? which should I choose?

I've been using Ubuntu because of the more frequent releases

Re: Debian or Ubuntu for server?

#4

Post by arete » Mon, Jun 18, 2007, 5:01 PM UTC

I'd recommend a distro designed for server use, like CentOS. You'll find its packages are a little out of date because they are well tested and known to be stable. The default install is hardened and security updates are prompt. Also automatic updates are pre-configured and just need to be enabled.

Re: Debian or Ubuntu for server?

#5

Post by omouse » Mon, Jun 18, 2007, 5:26 PM UTC

davidw wrote: post #3

jamongkad wrote: post #2

Hi guys I'm about to configure a VPS for my web app(for testing and learning purposes plus it's my first time to launch a site in my life much less configure a webserver.) And upon recommendation of my webhost(a2b2) Debian and Ubuntu would be the best choice as I only have a small VPS to begin with. So what do YCers think? which should I choose?

I've been using Ubuntu because of the more frequent releases

Or he can use a different distro...like ArchLinux, Slackware or Gentoo. But if it's between just those two, then I agree with you, go for Ubuntu! :D

Re: Debian or Ubuntu for server?

#6

Post by brlewis » Mon, Jun 18, 2007, 5:44 PM UTC

Initially I used Debian's "testing" release. With PostgreSQL 8.1 now in stable, I recently switched to "stable". I develop on an Ubuntu notebook and have never had any nasty surprises deploying from development to production.

Re: Debian or Ubuntu for server?

#7

Post by orlick » Mon, Jun 18, 2007, 5:54 PM UTC

I've been using Debian stable as a server for the past 8 years. The stability has been top-notch and I actually prefer having a distro that doesn't update very often. The less time I can spend updating a server the more time I can spend delivering value to my customers.

Re: Debian or Ubuntu for server?

#8

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Jun 18, 2007, 6:00 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Debian or Ubuntu for server?

#9

Post by migpwr » Mon, Jun 18, 2007, 6:05 PM UTC

arete wrote: post #4

I'd recommend a distro designed for server use, like CentOS. You'll find its packages are a little out of date because they are well tested and known to be stable. The default install is hardened and security updates are prompt. Also automatic updates are pre-configured and just need to be enabled.

I will second CentOS... it's solid.

Re: Debian or Ubuntu for server?

#10

Post by bk » Mon, Jun 18, 2007, 6:12 PM UTC

brlewis wrote: post #6

Initially I used Debian's "testing" release. With PostgreSQL 8.1 now in stable, I recently switched to "stable". I develop on an Ubuntu notebook and have never had any nasty surprises deploying from development to production.

I've been running Debian on a VPS for about two years and the ease of maintenance and overall sensible default security policies make it a great server OS. I'll always go for an OS where my default system is well-tested, stable, and trivial to maintain. I can then spend some time manually installing the latest versions of the two apps (web server and db) whose latest features I may need.

It seems to me that Ubuntu is pretty much like Debian with a more shorter upgrade cycle. Is that impression accurate? Also, does Ubuntu have any extra overhead that a Debian system might not have?