Linux Distribution for Server

[bgavin]

Re: Linux Distribution for Server

Paul, thanks for all the good info.

I am very appreciative of learning from those who already have down-the-road experience that I lack.

At first thought, it seems kernel mode offers superior for performance by avoiding paging. Memory is cheap and abundant, so I can't see any reason to not compile regular-usage functions into the kernel.

[Paul S]

Re: Linux Distribution for Server

There is one other tweak that I do with all of my Linux boxes (except Ubuntu).

I know that you like the simplicity and effectiveness of using yum for upgrading and installing packages. But, sometimes being able to actually see all of the available choices is a good thing. Especially when there are so many different versions of packages.

This is why I always install the Smart Package Manager, after enabling the third party repositories in yum:

yum install smart smart-gui

This will give you a nice graphical interface for packages. It is similar to the Synaptic Package Manager that is found in Ubuntu. I also add a local folder as a local repository. I put downloaded rpms in that folder, and Smart will detect them and add them to the available list. When you install the local rpms with Smart, it will check for dependencies before installing.

[Bookworm]

Re: Linux Distribution for Server

I _personally_ use Slackware for my servers. I have one server running one of the Ubuntus (I think Kubuntu on that box, but it doesn't matte rmuch), which is a Debian distro.

All of my mail servers are running Slackware, including the ones I'm currently putting in. It's about as close as you can get to "Linux From Scratch" while still having a package manager.

In the end, however, it doesn't really matter which distribution you have. You can do whatever you need with it.

However, I would recommend that you stay away from Fedora. If you need a RedHat derivative, use Centos.

Also, Qmail has nothing to do with the distribution - although it's likely to be getting more installations from the major distributions, now that Dan Bernstein has put it in the public domain.

I'd suggest reading up on Life With Qmail (http://www.lifewithqmail.org/) as well as John Simpson's patches and scripts (http://qmail.jms1.net/ - requires non-IE browsers!)

Feel free to contact me with other questions.

P.S.

A HUGE reason I use Slackware is that I don't have weird and wonderful 'services' running that I can't easily stop or locate, and utilities like BIND don't get hidden in strange symlinked locations. My servers run only what I want, and that's IT.

[linuxguru]

Re: Linux Distribution for Server

> A HUGE reason I use Slackware is that I don't have weird and wonderful 'services' running that I can't easily stop or locate, and utilities like BIND don't get hidden in strange symlinked locations. My servers run only what I want, and that's IT.

That's trivial to fix in any RedHat distro. Immediately after I install a Fedora or RedHat distro on a fresh box, I run either serviceconf or system-config-services (as root) and uncheck all the check-boxes for services that I don't need (usually more than half of those left on by default during the installation). It's about 60 seconds work to turn off the unwanted crud, after which the system becomes leaner and faster immediately.

I started with Slackware 2.7 or something way back in 1994/95, and I stuck with it until RedHat 6.2 showed up. The trouble with Slackware is package management, especially uninstalls, upgrades and selective downgrades. There's not enough control over the process. RPM is a category killer in this respect.

I still use Slackware, in the form of a stripped-down embedded distro called RouterLinux, developed by T.J.White for router/gateway appliances. It has a minimal subset of utilities/apps linked against uClibc, and a usable x86 distro fits in under 4 MB compressed including the kernel. A very useful firewall distro with lots of additional stuff including openssl, openssh, iptables, zebra, etc., still maxes out at 12 MB - small enough to fit in a DiskOnChip or small 16 MB CF card. That's 16 MB, not GB.

[bgavin]

Re: Linux Distribution for Server

I'm a fan of Dan Bernstein, so DJBDNS and QMail will be on my business systems. I've found out the hard way that DNS is the very heart of all the other packages.

I figure to run two NICs on the DNS machine, one for the public Authoritative DJBDNS, the second NIC for the local caching DNS. This will keep the two separate so they are not both listening on the same NIC.

One thing I notice, is the huge tendency toward using MySQL for everything, such as DNS tables. To my thinking, this is WAY overkill for a simple DNS, and introduces more complexity (SQL) into the system where it really is not needed. A SOHO or Home Proxy is always a simple network. I can't see MySQL for simple networks.