Debian, CentOS, Slackware, FreeBSD, OpenSolaris and Ubuntu Server Edition: Which one to use for an http web server?

Posted by Ako on Super User See other posts from Super User or by Ako
Published on 2011-06-21T07:15:24Z Indexed on 2011/06/21 8:24 UTC
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Filed under:

virtualbox

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server

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php

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apache2

I am going to install and administrate a virtual server for a small university. The server should run inside a virtual machine (VirtualBox OSE).
It is only used in the university network and is invisible to the outside world. It should run Apache web server for PHP, MySQL and probably a mail server.

I don't know which OS to use. Main criteria for choosing include ease of administration and updating, package management and performance.

I wonder if anyone has any suggestions?

And candidate OSs are:
Debian, Ubuntu, CentOS, Slackware, FreeBSD, OpenSolaris. Add any other OS if you know any better alternatives.

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