I currently have a Gateway Desktop with 120 Gig Hard Disk! I was wondering, what server software should I put on this computer. Windows 2000 Server or a Linux Server. The reason I need a server is for my 2 domains. I currently host DCDJ.net with another server and dcwdservices.com is parked. If you could please help me by telling me which software to install, that would be great. By the way, if you think Linux is better, tell me a place where I can put it on a disk and It will boot from the CD disk drive. Thanks. My email is admin@dcdj.net.

Nick

This really depends on your individual needs. Both have their advantages. Do you plan on having a back-end to your website (e.g. running scripts with a database, etc?) If you would like to get into PHP as this site is, I would recommend a linux flavor with the Apache web server. However, if you'd like to get into ASP or ASP.NET I would use IIS with a Windows server.

In addition to that, what other goals do you have for the site that must be taken into consideration? For example, do you plan on using the server to host stuff on your internal network as well? What about e-mail addresses @ yourdomain.com ??

Another important factor to take into consideration is how familiar you are with linux. If you've never used linux before, it will be a bit tough to get started - especially to delve right into running a linux server with Apache. However, it can also be very, very rewarding.

On the other hand, if you just want to put up a static webpage with nothing fancy, it can easily be done with Microsoft's IIS. However, a windows 2000 server operating system is very expensive. Linux, on the other hand, is free.

Linux can be downloaded from a wide variety of places, one of which is www.linuxiso.org - there are many different linux distributions, or flavors, and each one is slightly different targeted at a different audience. I recommend RedHat by far (www.redhat.com) IMHO. However, there are many other threads on this forum debating the best linux distribution. You may wish to do a search and take a look at some of them.

How much money do you have? Windows 2000 Server - which is an old operating system and has been replaced by Windows Server 2003. If you can afford Server 2003, then go for it - its very easy to use, and will do a better job then Linux will ever do (thats in my opinion - but it's a very debated issue).

There are a couple of things we would need to know before you could make a decision:
How fast is its processor?
Your computer can't have 120gb of ram - its limited to 4gb by the x86 architecture. How much ram do you really have?
How big is the hard disk?
What internet connection are you on?
Does your ISP block incoming port 80? (you might need to call them to find out - this question is very important to know before you start)
How computer literate are you? Have you used linux before?

Answer some of those, and we can make a better decision for your specific situation.

I think he means he has a 120 gig hard drive

if he really has that much ram, newest development sources kernel has support for greater than 2gb of ram of course using the development sources may not be a good idea for a server....

i would say linux. for one it has more secuirty and uses less resources than windows. another is cost. linux is free or at most 70 US dollars. a third reason is linux is updated more often. however down sides to linux include u need a good amout of computer know how, not all hardware is supported, and it requires more setup

however i would recomend linux over windows2000 server, mainly due to cost. linux can interface with windows and mac

120 Gs of RAM? Whoa, I'd like to see this computer.

Thats the funniest thing I've ever heard. How secure do you think a linux newbie could make a computer?

Also, if Linux was more mainstream, there would be a lot more security holes found.

linux server is best

Well, that just shows how much you know about Linux. There is no such thing called "Linux server". Linux itself isn't a server - it runs server software. In fact, Windows can run most of this server software - like PHP and MySQL.

If your new to the web server club, then IIS (that runs on windows) would be much easier and more powerful (this is debated, but I think IIS is better then Apache) then the Linux alternitive.