Question

Why would anyone prefer Linux over Windows for a server?

Why would anyone prefer Windows over Linux for a server?

When would an Apple computer be used as a server?

Answer 1

So, really, it's all about you're business needs right?

For most general purpose application, Linux excels at being a server because it's fast, lightweight, and secure. Most webservers on the internet run Linux (including ours). Additionally, you don't have to pay licensing fees to a company to use Linux. (There are some exceptions to this with certain distributions, but by and large Linux is free of charge.) Additionally, because the software itself is Open Source, it means the limit of what your server can do is limited by your imagination and programming skill.

Windows servers are typically used in large enterprises that have a lot of Windows client machines because they integrate well with other Microsoft Technologies such as Microsoft Exchange and Active Directory Authentication. Additionally, there are a lot of people who develop applications targeted at Microsoft's platform (the .NET family of languages).

Apple servers are, for most intents and purposes, equivalent to their Linux counterparts. They use a lot of the same software packages, and there are even whole utilities focused around bringing more Linux packages to the Mac platform. That said, there are similar benefits to using an Apple computer if you have an all-Apple office. All of the Apple products integrate together seamlessly and whatnot. OS X Server also provides some nice GUIs over the standard Linux utilities.

Answer 2

Also, if I were to build my own server, which linux distribution would suit me best? Or should I build my own distro from scratch (picking and removing what I like from the linux kernel code)?

Answer 3

I would suggest Ubuntu, personally. That's the one that I like the best. If you want to customize your stuff more throughly then you could always spin out a build of Gentoo.

Answer 4

But Gentoo takes so long because you have to compile everything. lol

Answer 5

I've used Archlinux on my netbook; it has a minimal install (all you get after a fresh install is the kernel, the standard GNU stuff, and that's it ) and you download most of the things you want as binaries.... but that distro is only available on the x86 and x64 :(

Gentoo seems nice, but it might end up older than Debian if I try building everything... http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Gentoo

I guess I'll go with Ubuntu

Answer 6

Why would anyone prefer Linux over Windows for a server?

Have you worked on both for more than five minutes? That's the answer!