On Wed, 2009-09-09 at 17:52 +0800, David Loke wrote: > Hi All, > I am trying to decide whether I should go for CentOS or Redhat on my > new server setup. Some users shared with me that if I need high > uptime, I should use Redhat which is a paid version. Paid version in > general provide urgent updates faster than free version. > Anyone has got any experience out there to share on this? > David
Hi David, I'm not sure if a paid version will necessarily translate to a higher uptime. If that holds true, then I guess we shouldn't be seeing BSOD at all. After all, they are paid products too, right? :P Back to your comparison of Red Hat and CentOS. Personally, I run both and recommend both to my clients. Choice is entirely theirs to make. Red Hat comes with support i.e. there is a means of calling someone for help and he's bounded by a terms of service to answer and help you with your problem. Guess you can read all the stuff that Red Hat provides you through its subscription model on their home page. [1] CentOS on the other hand, is completely community driven. Its a distribution that is "an Enterprise-class Linux Distribution derived from sources freely provided to the public by a prominent North American Enterprise Linux vendor" [2]. Your request for help for CentOS is usually centered on around mailing lists, forums and of course, Linux users like those around this mailing list. Its also might be worthwhile to note that since CentOS is derived from the sources freely provided to the public by a prominent North American Enterprise Linux vendoir, this also means that there will be some time-lag between the official security release from this prominent North American Enterprise Linux vendor and when CentOS releases theirs. The time lag isn't great but its still worth some consideration. Basically, its an age old debate about PAID versus FREE Linux distribution. A quick google for "Redhat versus CentOS" brings up about 1,920,000 pages. [3] So I guess you're not alone. Some questions to consider. - What are you looking to run? Your home's VPN/SMB/FTP probably wouldn't need official support. Your organization's web app server probably might. - Is it vital for operations? The server hosting your personal email and web site probably wouldn't need official support. The server hosting your entire organization's email needs probably might. - Do you have the technical know-how and the patience to "run-around" the community lists and forums for a solution? - Are you going to need any specific package or version of packages? The official support people are rather sticky about running a particular kernel, package etc. and won't let you do anything "out-of-the-ordinary". So if you looking at building/running your own vanilla kernels, then I guess its best to look away from the official support. In summary --> Paid doesn't mean better uptime :P [1] http://www.redhat.com [2] http://www.centos.org [3] http://www.google.com.sg/search?q=redhat+versus+centos _______________________________________________ Slugnet mailing list [email protected] http://wiki.lugs.org.sg/LugsMailingListFaq http://www.lugs.org.sg/mailman/listinfo/slugnet
