[NBLUG/talk] New webserver

Troy Arnold fryman at sonic.net
Wed Apr 28 16:46:35 PDT 2004


On Wed, Apr 28, 2004 at 04:16:22PM -0700, Walter Hansen wrote:
> Any suggestions on pro/cons for a completely new web server. Fedora Core
> 1/Debian/etc? You guys seem to be talking a lot about the updateablity of
> debian. This is not a state of the art system, but rather should be a
> stable webserver and not much else. I've got a pair of SCSI baracudas to
> set up in Raid 1. I'd prefer updates to be quick and easy.

If your requirements are quick and easy updates and a stable system,
then I can't think of a reason /not/ to choose Debian.  Debian *always*
provides an upgrade path.  I know someone who has successfully migrated
a machine from Debian Potato to Woody and is now running Sarge.  And
this was not a hard task.

What you'd need to learn: The package management tools apt* and dpkg.
(There are plenty of RPM to apt* equivalency charts floating around)
Some things have moved around.  In particular, network interfaces are
defined in /etc/network/interfaces.  But in general, Debian developers
are anal about consistency.

If you're used to using Redhat GUI tools to configure things, then
you'll need to figure out the real way to do it, or install webmin.

Debian has some specific, but consistent methods of doing things (often
referred to as The Debian Way).  While you can administer the box
however you like, it's less hassle in the long run to understand the
Debian way of thinking.

You'll need to figure out what to do with all the extra time you have
since keeping a Debian system current requires about 5 minutes a week, if
that.  Using logcheck to weed out the noise from system logs saves time
as well.  You do look at your logs, right? :-)

The only RH thing I still kinda miss is chkconfig.

-troy





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