* On Tue Feb 26, 2002 at 10:30:27PM +1100, [EMAIL PROTECTED] ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote: > Hi everyone > > Could anybody help with some constructive comments on which OS would be > the better for running ISP related services ( web, dns radius etc ) ? > Which one is better for stability, available software, scalability ? > > Currently we use RH 7.2 for some tasks within our network, but those > within the company with decision making ability are investigating the > possibility of replacing it with Solaris 8. The general consensus is that > with Open Source everybody has access to the source, so no guarantee can > be made for the security of the software, and back doors into the system > may be possible. I'm under the understanding that the kernel is basically > secure, and it is the software packages that are installed that can > introduce security concerns on a machine. > > Current machines are all Intel boxes, but management is looking at sparc > as well >
OK, I'm a solaris admin so I'm biased. The security issue you are talking about, in my opinion, is not a real issue but a 'management issue'. They don't understand that the security through obscurity which MS is pushing is not the way to go. Furthermore, if you trust the kernel, what software would you run on the solaris OS? BIND? Sendmail? Apache? Radius? These are standard choices and will run on both solaris and linux. The source is available for both platforms - where is the security risk? Solaris on Intel machines is a BAD idea. Solaris is a fantastic OS on the appropriate hardware (high end Sun stuff). On lower end machines I have seen Linux outperform solaris 9 times out of 10. For ISP's (I've set up several), I would recommend clusters of Intel/Linux machines. If you go sparc hardware (expensive for what you'll need if for), then look at solaris if you think you'll get the performance. However the type of things you'll be using the machines for, stick with intel based and go for more boxes rather than more power. HTH Greeno -- Tony Green <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> GnuPG Key : 1024D/B5657C8B Key fingerprint = 9ED8 59CC C161 B857 462E 51E6 7DFB 465B B565 7C8B A sandwich walks into a bar. The barman says "Sorry we don't serve food in here" -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
