Differences Between Desktop And Server
 

Hi,

Following on from this thread, what do you feel are the main differences between a "dekstop" Linux distro and a "server" distro?

Obviously, both need to be secure, and preferably as light-weight as possible, but in what ways would a "server" distro be different to a desktop?

Daniel

Well when you install Centos 4.2 Server, your getting a striped down version of Linux. No GUI, bundled software, ect, it runs from the command line. Which means their is less security holes for your OS. Centos 4.2 Server is so small it fits on a single cd. If your not experienced with running Linux from the command line I wouldn't recommend it.

A desktop distro is a bloated version of Linux. Its loaded with a nice GUI, web browser, games, ect. Lots of room for security holes. You really wouldn't want to use it for a server unless it was a home webserver, or you were just learning Linux.

Hmmm what would you reccomend for a server im outdated and looking at possibly upgradeing?

as in the other post in this category, Ubuntu has been mentioned at running a stable server and is generally a user friendly distro. You have the option of installing as a server and then loading GUI that you want or installing as a home version with all the spangly bits

I might disagree because I just started using linux about a month ago and I was talking to Jason about it and he helped me get it installed and everything. He suggested that I just use the command line and now I am happy I did because the GUI takes up a lot more resourses so then those resourses can not be used for the programs that serve your files. Also if you work at it and learn the commands it becomes a lot faster to edit and change things then it would be in the GUI.

Well I will disagree with you on this one. Depending on the computer skill level of the person. Command line might not be the best choice for a beginner. My wife has Limited computer skills, If I were to ssh into my server. And ask her to reboot the server. She would look at me like I was crazy. Their is really only two ways to learn Linux. A# You buy a book and study your butt off. Or B# You have someone helping you along the way.

If you choose A your not going to be able to do anything with the server. With out hours and hours of reading. And even then you still might be a little confused. If you run the GUI you can jump right in the minute you installed Linux. And you can experiment with the command line as you go. Once you master the command line which should not take any longer than a couple weeks to a month. You can reformat the server and run it command line mode.

Or B, you have someone to help you set up the server. They tell you what command does what and they guide you along. I think this is the easiest method of learning Linux. Hands on experience plus someone guiding you along is going to teach you more than you could get from any book. Thats just my 2 cents.

Yeah I did option B. Its just that if you start out with a GUI then once you learn that then you switch to the command line and you still have to learn all the commands.

The purpose of running the GUI is to learn the commands as you go. How would you shut the server down if you ran it by command prompt and didn't know any of the commands? If you run the server GUI you still can ssh into the server and practice commands. Or you can open up the command line from the GUI and practice that way too. I feel with no help or no GUI most people would just give up on Linux.

I have no idea how to shut my server down. Except for the power button on the front.

The command to shut your server down is "shutdown -h now" and to restart it "shutdown -r now". I hope that helps. :)

ok. I was able to figure out the shutdown but then it asked what other parimiter I wanted and I did not know what all those did. So one shuts down and one restarts and then isn't there one to shutdown in a certain amount of time.

I belive the command your looking for is "shutdown -r graceful" I hope that helps. :)

ok but what would be a use for that?

It allows the server to finish any processes before rebooting. If you type "shutdown -r now" the server stops what its doing and shuts down right away.

Not shutting down properly can have consequences.
Although I've never done this myself, I'm quite sure that if you don't shut down in the correct fashion, that it can cause issues on next boot up.

Can anyone confirm this?

Ronin, you are right. Not shutting the server down in a proper fashion can corrupt files on the hard drive. The only time I recommend pushing the power button or cycling the power on your remote reboot port. Is when the server is not responding to any other commands.

I didn't know you could actually corrupt files by not shutting down properly!
Thats an eye opener.

I've never had to do this, and I think i'd really hesitate to use the shut down button even if nothing was responding.
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easy vape

James72, the chances are slim. But it could happen. I just wouldn't make a habit of shutting your server down by the power button.

There is really no reason to shut a server down any way. You usally want servers to stay up 24/7.

I can think of a million reasons why you would need to shut down or restart a server. Kernel upgrades is just one of the many reasons you would want to restart the server. I could make a 10 page report for the many reasons why you would need to restart or shutdown the server. But you get the idea. :)

Ok that must be a commen misconesption because most of the time you hear about people trying to get really long uptimes and hosts are always saying they have 99% uptime and things like that.

You can still have 99.9% uptime and reboot your server as many times in a month as you need. It takes what 2 minutes tops for your server to reboot. I am not sure on the exact amount. But I am pretty sure 99.9% uptime is 1hr+ down time per month.

Edit: Those servers with 100+ days of uptime are very insecure servers. You want to update your server as much as possible. And its best to do it early morning. When there are few users on the server.

But you do not have to restart the server for all updates do you? I know you have to restart the services or unless it is a kernal update then you have to restart.

This is true you don't have to restart the server for all updates. But a new kernel comes out pretty often. If you keep up on the latest kernels. Your never going to make 100 days uptime. ;)

OK. But if a service is updated then you have to restart that service for the change to take affect?

Yes if a service is updated all you have to do is restert the service for it to take effect. :)

OK. Thanks for the help.