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  Asked: Jul 9 2008   3:53 PM GMT
  Asked by: DxxOne

Small Business Question


Linux servers, Small businesses, Red Hat Linux, SUSE Linux, Open source, SMB

I've been asked to set up a Linux build in our 2003 server network to run and test open-source applications that will rival and outperform other applications for their cost. This linux box must serve a small handfull of users in Los Angeles and Europe and my network is in Phoenix Arizona.

Will a desktop Linux Deployment work or should I purchase a subscription-based server deployment ie. RedHat or Suse?

In advance, thanks for the answers

Brandon

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Last Answered: Jul 10 2008  5:07 PM GMT  by Dougd1




Linux, in either desktop or server config, will do.

Generally, server configurations are "more secure" in that they have network services turned off by default, so if this system is going to be exposed to the internet, then you'll want to start there first. Also, many server configs come with more network services available (SNMP, SMTP, NTP, LDAP, DNS, etc.). (However, these can be easily added to "desktop" configurations, as well through the distributions package management system.)

If you're new to Linux, you may want to try the latest Fedora Core first, then move on to RHEL if your support requirements demand it.
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Schmidtw  |   Jul 10 2008  9:29PM GMT

You may want to start using a thin client running Linux to test larger scale implementation. As Dougd1 suggested, I to would start with a Fedora Core. At my company, run linux on several of our servers (depending on use). Remember, you can always have a linux operating systems on workstations and use RDP calls into Linux or Windows servers.

 

Kzdpsg  |   Jul 11 2008  2:51PM GMT

A Linux server installation would probably be a better choice for most applications. You may be able to use a desktop-class PC rather than a server-class PC for testing purposes. You will need to be careful if you go this route as newer desktop PCs might have hardware that is not supported by your chosen Linux distribution. You might want to check out CentOS (www.centos.org) which is a free distribution based on Red Hat Enterprise for testing purposes. It would be more stable than Fedora although support for newer hardware will be better in Fedora.