Dedicated Server Software

Operating systems

Linux Distribution Comparison

Distribution	Debian	Fedora Core	RHEL
Support method	Community	Community	Commercial
Support life	~2-3 years	6-9 months	7 years
Release period	~2-3 years	6-9 months	18 months
Target audience	Enthusiast	Enthusiast	Commercial
Licensing	Free	Free	Subscription

Detailed comparison of Linux distributions.

Fedora Core

Fedora was derived from the original Red Hat Linux distribution. The project envisages that conventional Linux home users will use Fedora Core, and intends that it replace the consumer distributions of Red Hat Linux.

Debian

Debian is a widely used distribution of free software developed through the collaboration of volunteers from around the world.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (often abbreviated to RHEL) is a Linux distribution produced by Red Hat and targeted toward the commercial market. Red Hat undertakes to support each release of RHEL for 7 years after it first appears. All of Red Hat's official support, and all of Red Hat's training and certification for hardware and software deployment centre on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux platform.

Windows Server 2003 Web Edition

Designed for dedicated Web serving and hosting, Windows 2003 Web Edition, delivers a single-purpose solution for Internet service providers, application developers.

Web Edition cannot:

run Microsoft SQL Server,
cannot operate as a domain controller
cannot deploy UDDI

Detailed comparison of Windows Server versions.

Windows Server 2003 STD

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 is the current full featured version of Microsoft's server operating system.

Server Managers

Plesk

Plesk is a multi-platform, Web-based software solution that simplifies and automates the administration of Linux and Windows servers.

Plesk must be installed at the time of server build, it cannot be added to an existing server without losing all existing configuration.

CPanel/WHM

cPanel & WebHost Manager (WHM) is a next generation web hosting control panel system. Both cPanel & WHM are extremely feature rich as well as include an easy to use web based interface (GUI).

WHM allows you to but is not limited to administering individual accounts, reseller accounts & performing basic system and control panel maintenance via a secure interface.

cPanel is designed for the end users of your system and allows them to control everything from adding / removing email accounts to administering MySQL databases.

CPanel/WHM must be installed at the time of server build, it cannot be added to an existing server without losing all existing configuration.