Ok im about to purchase a dedicated server from this site but when i click sign up https://www.ovh.co.uk/individual/products/kimsufi08.xml it askes me what operating system what exactly does that mine or the one i want i was gonna choose remote desktop but i got no clu bewteen that and windows xp 2003 anyone help me =P

This is what it exactly says
Choose a type of operating system <<<HEader

Choice per feature<<one of the lists
1.Hosting: Web / Emails / VPN / VoIP --Release 2, Release 1, Linux Plesk 8.4, Linux Plesk 8.0, Cpanel, Extranet Group Work, Easy Streaming, Windows Plesk 8.1

2.Experts: raw distro-- Debian : Etch Stable, Ubuntu Server 8.04, Open Suse 10.2, Fedora Core, CentOS, Gentoo, Slackware, Free BSD, Windows 2003 Pro, Windows 2003 Basic

3.Virtualization---VMWare, Xen, Proxmox

4.Remote desktop---Ubuntu Desktop 8.04

Choice per distribution<<<Second list
1.Linux---Release 2, Release 1, Linux Plesk 8.4, Linux Plesk 8.0, Cpanel, Extranet Group Work, Easy Streaming, Ubuntu Desktop 8.04, Debian : Etch Stable, Ubuntu Server 8.04, Open Suse 10.2, Fedora Core, CentOS, Gentoo, Slackware, VMWare, Xen, Proxmox

2.Windows---Windows 2003 Pro, Windows 2003 Basic, Windows Plesk 8.1

3.Free Bsd---Free BSD

This post has been edited by gmanpopinjay: Aug 13 2008, 03:53 AM

You shouldn't have to decide your Linux distro prior to ordering as they are all free. With a Linux server you will have more control (and arguably more stable) than a Windows server. However, there is a learning curve to Linux. Nearly all Linux servers do not come with a GUI by default and are not meant to be ran with a GUI. For the most part they are remotely managed via SSH.

To me, that website sounds like a scam but I don't understand the pricing. I do know that for $400 USD I can put together a Linux server better than that one listed. In fact, my companies email/web server is running on a Linux server we built for about $500. Does this company hang on to your server and administer it for you?

BSD is primarily used in enterprise companies (ones containing 1000s of computers). Unlike Linux, BSD uses the KORN shell which is a bit more programmable than the standard BASH shell. With BSD I don't think you even have the option to use a GUI (although I have not tried all the flavors).

My recommendation: Debian Etch.

I am a big fan of the Debian based OSes. Ubuntu wouldn't be bad but since the release of Hardy there have been quite a few bugs. 8.10 will be release soon which should clear up the majority of issues. The "remote desktop" Ubuntu does not appear to be the server version. A Linux desktop system can still be used as a server but it's kernel is not optimized as such.

Also, I am confused as to how they are having tick services. If you have say debian etch and you want a web server you would simply type this into the terminal:

apt-get install apache2

Anyways, I hope that clears things up for you a little bit.

This post has been edited by Titan8990: Aug 14 2008, 09:55 AM