Planning to run a Linux Web server on VMware ESX server

[Zaarch]

Hi guys..thanks for reading this..

I need to run a small lite web server using linux ( too many complications using Windows)... on ESX vmware server.

I have got the SCSI hotswap drives on this 1U box..so I need a Linux..that supports SCSI drivers...

Could you suggest any names..thanks.

Zaarch

[carlosponti]

almost every Distribution can handle scsi, raid and such for servers. Red Hat and CentOS are going to be better choices. Any distro will do for the purpose.

[Zaarch]

almost every Distribution can handle scsi, raid and such for servers. Red Hat and CentOS are going to be better choices. Any distro will do for the purpose.

Thanks Carlosponti..

Hmm by distro i am guessing u mean distribution...anyways...Redhat...goes through licenses now. What about this CentOS.....does it comes with a http server...(...sorry i am really really new to Linux)..

[carlosponti]

Red Hat due to GPL requirements releases the source to their product of the enterprise Linux. CentOS is a Community Supported version of that Red Hat Source. CentOS like all distros have a preinstalled Apache Web server. you have to set it up to be running but its already installed. CentOS is good because what applies to red hat applies to CentOS. it uses the RPM package manager and Yum. I am setting up a CentOS Server for File and Print Sharing at home.

[Zaarch]

Red Hat due to GPL requirements releases the source to their product of the enterprise Linux. CentOS is a Community Supported version of that Red Hat Source. CentOS like all distros have a preinstalled Apache Web server. you have to set it up to be running but its already installed. CentOS is good because what applies to red hat applies to CentOS. it uses the RPM package manager and Yum. I am setting up a CentOS Server for File and Print Sharing at home.

Nice..let me try to get my hands on the CentOS...and set that up..then i will try to get the web server going..

Another stupid question,...is it a legit question to begin with....is there something like ....fastest Linux kernel...I keep hearing that this linux build is faster than that one....what exactly are you guys talking about...???

[carlosponti]

not sure if there is one kernel being faster than another. one thing you can do since the kernel is open source is to eliminate stuff from the kernel you don't need and when the kernel compiles its smaller and faster because you compiled it on the architecture you wanted it on. but really on todays hardware i don't think you will notice a difference. if you were installing on a 486 or something it might be a good idea to worry about kernel size and optimization.

p.s. kernel optimization might be an option for you to avoid at first as well until you become familiar and comfortable with Linux.

[Zaarch]

Cool..makes sense..

hey i know u said got for the CentOS...but while looking in the downloads sections..

i came across OpenSUSE and Ubuntu...unlike the CentOS..they have votes from people..

any particular..reason i should not try those...would they support SCSI..

Thanks for helping me out by the way.

[carlosponti]

Its mainly a personal taste issue. the distros don't really have anything over any other however they may have tools features etc that make it individually appealing. my desktop PC is on Slackware. For some reason I just love Slackware. Probably not the best Distro for you or for anyone else but it was my first and i enjoy it. Open Suse i use at home on my laptop. I have wireless internet on it and it just seems good for that. I don't really like Fedora. I haven't tried Ubuntu so i cant give an opinion on it. My reason for steering you to CentOS is that for a server Red Hat is the most common and it might be easier finding assistance if you are using a Red Hat based Distro. Ubuntu has made great strides and so has Suse. But if you are going to setup a web server that is stable and if you run into problems you can go into any sort of network of people and most likely they will know red hat. what is this web site going to be for and what kind of stuff are you wanting to distribute with it?

[Zaarch]

well i am trying to demonstrate to my office staff the advantages of running a web server on a VM as opposed to a physical machine..

so i will be building a webserver...with PHP and SQL..for data service..

then build another virtual machine.....then copy the whole data..from..

machine one to two...and if things go well..the site should still be up and running..when transitioning from one mahine to another..

hopefully..

the site will be a very basic demosite...nothing too grand.

[Zaarch]

thanks for help with OS ....going with ubunto...just that so gusy over here are familiar with redhat...so this will be something new for everyone.