Arch Linux

pabloski

Member

Registered: 2007-03-14

Posts: 31

Is Arch64 good for server?

Hi, I admit it I have used and I'm using Arch 32 on a VPS and on my PC.

Now I have to lease an Intel E6400 based server, so I was wondering if the 64 bit version of Arch is a good choice for a web server. Obviously I need MySQL, PHP, Apache, Perl, Bind, Postfix and other common sever software. Are these softwares in the 64 bit repos? And they work well or there are incompatibility issues and/or other problems?

Last edited by pabloski (2008-04-08 15:35:23)

Pierre

Developer

From: Bonn

Registered: 2004-07-05

Posts: 1,964

Website

Re: Is Arch64 good for server?

Short answer: x86_64 is best choice for servers. There should be no problems. But (as allways) make sure to use a mysqldump to migrate the database. Arch64 only lacks some closed source software.

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Aaron

Member

From: PA, USA

Registered: 2007-12-19

Posts: 108

Website

Re: Is Arch64 good for server?

You shouldn't notice any issues at all switching to 64bit.  The "issues" are in the desktop realm, having to do with web plugins like flash and java.  And programs such as google earth.

Enjoy your migration!

skottish

Forum Fellow

From: Here

Registered: 2006-06-16

Posts: 7,942

Re: Is Arch64 good for server?

Why use Arch as a server? 64 bit or not, Arch is not the best choice. There are plenty of distros, Linux or otherwise, that specialize for this task.

Last edited by skottish (2008-04-13 20:33:48)

catwell

Member

From: Bretagne, France

Registered: 2008-02-20

Posts: 207

Website

Re: Is Arch64 good for server?

The best distro for a server is the one you know best. Anyway, a server has to be configured by its user, and you could do this with any distro, including Arch. By the way, Slicehost offers Arch64 as a choice on their VPS.

Aaron

Member

From: PA, USA

Registered: 2007-12-19

Posts: 108

Website

Re: Is Arch64 good for server?

Why use Arch as a server? 64 bit or not, Arch is not the best choice. There are plenty of distros, Linux or otherwise, that specialize for this task.

It all depends on what the server is going to be used for.

Personally, I would prefer something such as Debian Stable(if I chose to use linux) over Arch in a production grade environment, where reliability and uptime are essential.

There are also other good OSs out there besides Linux.  OpenBSD and NetBSD are wonderful options.

But arch is certainly a capable distro in terms of running a server.

skottish

Forum Fellow

From: Here

Registered: 2006-06-16

Posts: 7,942

Re: Is Arch64 good for server?

Personally, I would prefer something such as Debian Stable... OpenBSD and NetBSD are...

Exactly. Amongst other things, these are targeted for the purpose of being a server.

Last edited by skottish (2008-04-13 23:22:40)

decimal

Member

From: Greece

Registered: 2007-06-27

Posts: 43

Re: Is Arch64 good for server?

The best distro for a server is the one you know best.

We have discussed this subject quite some times and this is the best answer I've seen yet.

Last edited by decimal (2008-04-14 00:19:52)

brain0

Developer

From: Aachen - Germany

Registered: 2005-01-03

Posts: 1,382

Re: Is Arch64 good for server?

The best distro for a server is the one you know best.

I have to agree here. While Arch isn't specialized on stability, if you know the system very well, you can make a good server with it. Especially because Arch doesn't preconfigure, but you install everything yourself, thus know exactly what you have and don't have.

For a server, Arch64 has no disadvantages to Arch32, as you usually use opensource applications like Apache and PHP, which are all available for Arch64. If you need closed source apps, you may need 32 bit libs. For some you can used the lib32- multilib packages from community, some may need a full 32 bit chroot. But this is rare for a server I think.