LAMP is the Way to Go
I recently had a server die on me at my day job and I needed to choose a new os for it. After consulting twitter. I was suggested by Knightwise that I should go with a LAMP install of Ubuntu. LAMP stands for Linux, Apache, Mysql, and Php. All of the elements I needed in one spiffy package. I had never done one of these before so I decided to give it a shot. Let me tell you this install when blindingly quick. It took longer to download and burn than it did to have a working web server again. With less than an hour of total downtime, including swapping video cards, and burning an ISO. Both of those were done at the same time. Thanks So much to Sir Knightwise for that suggestion. I have run linux servers for a while but i never tried the Lamp install. Quick and painless let me tell you.
As many of you well know I don’t consider myself a Mac person, nor am I a PC person. I call myself a functionalist. If it works for your application Use it. Its a very simple credo which tends to ruffle feathers when you don’t blindly follow what others do, say or profess. I do have a preference for certain applications, certain uses. But i hesitate to profess them lest the whole shebang comes crashing down. For if I say that I like Mac for portable computing I don’t want to get branded a Mac guy, because, I kid you not if i find a PC laptop which works better for what i do… I’m there in a minute. However for blogging and designing I prefer the PC, especially if I’m designing for Print. I like the way my work flow goes within the confines of that use.
My first job in computers as a student worker I had a DEC Alpha running Digital Unix 5.0b, So I take them as they come.
That out of the way, its not what I came here to talk to you today, Sort of. I came to talk about Servers, old machines and Simplicity. During my Day job I tend to a very small server farm consisting of only two very integral parts. A massive expensive file server, and a web server. I have two other servers under my watchful eye but they are merely development server, which translates into the fact they they get reinstalled almost monthly.
I had one major job for this week. Our department web server died a strange death. It was up but no video. It frequently hung. This server is 7 years old. It is a Dual 950Mhz with 128MB ram. It was running Suse 10.1, and for some reason that OS would not allow me to upgrade the OS, even though it told me almost daily that it had updates ready. After our install and a quick video card swap for a fanless model we are back and ready to go. Not that it was slow before, but this machine now hums.
Long story short. In terms of Functionalism, I had previously defaulted to Suse, for the ease of install and the large support base. I had Ubuntu desktops, and even one server but this one install conveted me in a big way. So we now can count the LAMP install as my functional choice for a server install.
By the by if your thinking of trying Linux on a desktop this is a fantastic article picking out what you might want to bring to the party. Remember google is your friend. A quick search on how to do something in linux usually pops the answer right up before your eyes. Enjoy.
And for those of you really not in the know Ubuntu, has a great Live CD, which means no install just pop it in and it runs a rather full featured version of the OS for you to run through its paces. Worth a shot.