Server OS Tips

Getting the right hardware and network setup for your server is difficult enough. Choosing the right operating system, configuring it, and then maintaining it can be overwhelming. Here are a few tips to get you through the process.

1. If you are on a limited budget, you should definitely consider a free and open source operating system like Linux, FreeBSD, or OpenSolaris.

2. You can support your own server if you have the technical knowledge. Otherwise, you should get a commercial operating system (open source or proprietary) that comes with support.

3. Make sure the OS you choose is one you can live with for a long time. It is never a good idea to change the server OS once the server is live.

4. Think long term. You want an OS that will be stable, updated, and supported for years to come.

5. If you are trying a new OS like Linux for the first time, test it using a virtual machine like Virtualbox. You can learn a lot from it before ever even installing it on your server.

6. Make sure the software and web applications you want to run will be compatible with the server operating system you choose. You do not want to find out that they are not compatible after the fact.

7. Paying more will not necessarily get you better quality. Weigh the pros and cons of features, security, and stability to make your decision.

Photo Source: Flickr

BSD and its descendants

In a previous post, we looked at FreeBSD, one of the descendants of the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), which was a Unix-like operating system developed at the University of California at Berkeley. There are other descendants of BSD that have developed as well. Here is a quick overview of them:

FreeBSD, which is the most popular, includes its own descendants, such as DragonFlyBSD, PC-BSD (designed specifically for the desktop), and Apple’s Darwin, which is the core of Mac OS X.

NetBSD focuses on portability, stability, and clean design.

OpenBSD is a fork of NetBSD and is very popular for its security features. Many derivative security projects, such as OpenSSH, are sub-projects of it.

There are many others, but these are the major ones. All distributions of BSD can potentially be used on servers, although some lend themselves to easy dedicated server setup more than others. All are released under a version of the BSD license, making them free and open source software.

How to install Apache on a FreeBSD server

Continuing with our series this week on non-Linux operating system servers, today we will learn about FreeBSD. Its proponents (of BSD distributions in general) call it the most secure and reliable operating system for Internet-connected servers. It comes with several different versions of Apache. Here is a quick guide to getting the one you want installed.

1. Make sure your ports collection is up to date:

# portsnap fetch update

2. Using ports, install Apache (2.2 in this example):

# cd /usr/ports/www/apache22/
# make install clean

It will take a minute to go through the installation, but it will ask you configuration options. You will also need to configure the Apache httpd.conf file as you would on a Linux server. If you would like a more in-depth guide to the specifics of that configuration, see the nixCraft article on the subject.

Source: nixCraft
Photo: Flickr

What is BSD?

Question: I have heard of Unix and Linux, but what is BSD?

Answer: BSD commonly refers to the the UNIX-like operating system developed at the University of California, Berkley in 1977. It predates Linux and has been used in Unix server environments for decades, in response to the licensing issues of the original and much more expensive AT&T Unix.

Since the original release, several derivatives have emerged, including FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, and to some extent, Darwin, which is the underlying backend of Mac OS X. All BSD variants are licensed under a permissive license, which allows for integration with proprietary software. As such it has become useful to both small businesses and large corporations.

Many web hosting companies use BSD-powered servers, and it offers the same security and stability that is expected from UNIX. Most Linux-based software has been ported to BSD, making it virtually indistinguishable to the casual observer. Moreover, BSD systems are known for their long uptimes, and some web hosting experts prefer them over other UNIX variants.

Photo Source: Flickr