The Best Linux Operating System for Personal or Corporate Use
Written: Dec 09 '04 (Updated Dec 10 '04)
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Pros: Highly capable, stable, secure and flexible. Easy and manageable installation, even maintenance.
Cons: Expensive, naturally... but there is a free download.
The Bottom Line: The best Linux operating system distributed by Red Hat. For personal use, education or corporate, Red Hat Enterprise Linux can provide it all, with security and stability...
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| paulphoto's Full Review: Red Hat Enterprise Linux As 3 Standard for X86 Ful... |
The current Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) family consists of three versions: Advanced Server (AS), Entry-level Server (ES) and Workstation (WS). All three are offered at the corporate level with full support and updates. The AS retail version is very expensive ($1499), and depends on the level of support. The ES version has a list price of $349, WS $179. However, this charge is for the support services; the software is virtually free.
These operating systems are highly capable. Their proven stability, security and installation flexibility on various machines make them a highly regarded and much desired Linux system. Many third-party Linux builders have attempted to "rebuild" RHEL and distributed as a free download:
www.taolinux.org (Alfred University)
www.whiteboxlinux.org
www2.uibk.ac.at/zid/software/unix/linux/rhel-rebuild.htm
www.caosity.org
Note: Red Hat has copyrights on its distribution, but its RHEL source code is released under the GPL (General Public License) and anyone can "rebuild" RHEL.
Except with Red Hat trademarks removed, there is no apparent difference between the two versions. However, the rebuilt version does not use 100% Red Hat software. For example, its updates are grouped using "yum" repositories for consistent package dependency, while retail RHEL uses "up2date". Therefore, if we use the rebuilt RHEL, we have to go back to the rebuilder (source) for updates.
Where to Obtain RHEL
My school has retail copies of RHEL AS for departmental use, and naturally my PC has to have RHEL AS installed. I have also attempted to download a rebuilt RHEL from caosity.org myself, but failed. It took over a day to download the first installation CD, but only to find out the files were corrupted. If you use a dial-up connection, forget about downloading.
The best way to obtain the rebuilt RHEL without wasting time is to buy CDs from Linux outlet. I got my copy through http://directory.google.com in the computer category. I believe you can also get it at linuxcentral.com
The surest way to obtain RHEL is to purchase it from Red Hat. This can be done in two ways: 1) retail package, or 2) download ISO images from Red Hat web site. Both purchase options offer various levels of support, especially if you use RHEL for a firm or company you work for. For personal use, a free download version from a third party without support is certainly alright.
The retail copy contains 9 CDs (including binary, source, etc), system manual and administration guide. The rebuilt copy I obtained from the internet contains only 3 CDs.
The Highlights of RHEL as a Linux Operating System
As a datacenter or web server, RHEL features very secure and advanced firewalls, fast web using Apache and Tux, file server using Samba and NFS (Network File System), print server using CUPS, networking with DHCP, DNS, and more. It includes two highly capable desktop environments: GNOME and KDE, with web browsers Mozilla and Konqueror.
The RHEL can run on many different machines. Pentium-class Intel-compatible or AMD, 32-bit and 64-bit, requiring 256MB of RAM. For large-scaled architecture, it supports up to 16 CPUs and 64GB of RAM. RHEL can run on IBM zSeries, iSeries, pSeries or S/390 as a system server. For these large machines, the number of CPUs and RAM may vary. Please Note: My review here is for an Intel and AMD.
The three versions of the RHEL are actually one and the same operating system. While each, especially ES and WS, differs slightly from AS with just a few web server and networking programs, it can be corrected by using the AS's RPMs packages. The main difference is scalability. For example, the WS version only supports up to 4GB of RAM, whereas the ES supports up to 8GB. The AS version supports up to 64GB of RAM and 16 CPUs.
As a workstation, the WS is the desktop system, fully featured with office software suite, multimedia applications for CDs and DVDs. The WS offers complete system for a high-powered workstation.
As a system server, the AS or ES each has basic office suite but limited multimedia applications (e.g., no DVD player, no GUI burner programs, etc.). It has the least graphical interface to optimize stability. The short-coming of these GUI applications does not make AS or ES any less robust. Its text commands for CD or DVD burning applications are well intact within the RHEL system and are quite powerful, especially when applied to system or data backup. All the graphical interface applications (including multimedia suite) can be added from the RPMs source packages.
Is RHEL right for you? Nowadays, hardly anyone who uses a computer does not use the internet. I surf the web using RHEL with its browser Mozilla. This browser has many layouts. I even use it on my Windows XP and 2000 machine in place of Internet Explorer. It is a matter of convenience, flexibility and security. According to a survey at www.netcraft.com, Linux's Apache is the most popular web server on the internet. With Linux, all the necessary web software, including Linux operating system and other software applications (office suite, multimedia--CDs, DVDs, TV, Internet Video Conferencing, sound recorder, photo editor--etc), are free; and you can even install them on a fairly cheap or old PC.
For web designers and developers, RHEL is essential, because TCP/IP or HTTP is Linux's native language. For me, I use RHEL as a UNIX machine at home to write and simulate my C++ programs and Python as well as share ftp files, printer, ssh, etc. Only Linux can link to UNIX and Windows via Samba, its network server program.
Hardware System Compatibility and Requirements
With the exception of the cutting-edge machine with sophisticated integrated hardware peripherals, there is hardly any PC machine that RHEL cannot install on. For the surest system compatibility, a motherboard with a few or without integrated hardware peripherals is the best choice of all.
CPU: Intel Pentium-based series (i386 or i486, generalized as x86) 32-bit and 64-bit, AMD, AMD64, Itanium2, with a recommended 700MHz clock. However, I installed RHEL on my Intel x86 machine with 350MHz and it works fine.
Video Graphics: All popular graphics cards, iNvidia, ATI or third party. Supports all ATI Radeon-series, up to Radeon 9800.
Memory: A minimum 256MB RAM is required. Some 256MB card is not quite 256MB in count. Even with one bit less, RHEL will not operate in its configured speed; it reverts its kernel to standard operation. This has happened with my AMD-based PC with only one 256MB RAM card, and RHEL detected it to be 248MB.
RHEL supports all hard drive types: IDE/PATA, SATA, SCSI, USB. It supports all types of PCI cards (sound, LAN, Wi-Fi, RAID, modem, etc.).
Two of my home PCs have RHEL permanently installed on them:
Motherboard: Abit AI7 u-guru
CPU: Pentium 4 2.8GHz Hyper-Thread Tech.
Memory: 2x512MB RAM DDR400 PC3200, in dual-channel
HD: SATA Seagate 200GB & 120GB, 2 Western Digital 40GB
Video (AGP): ATI Radeon 9200SE 128MB 4x
Built-in: Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Sound, USB (all detected by RHEL)
PCI cards: Sound, RAID (for WD40GB drives), Modem and Video.
Motherboard: Intel 440BX
CPU: Pentium II 350MHz
Memory: 320MB RAM SDRAM PC100 (3 cards: 64MB, 2x128MB)
Video(AGP): nVidia 16MB 2x
HD: 3 Seagate 10GB's
PCI cards: RAID: Silicon Si 0680 (for 2 Seagate 10GB drives), Ethernet: Intel PRO/100+
If RHEL detects (during installation) that the CPU is Hyper-thread compatible, it will produce two kernels for a system boot: one for normal and the other for multi-task operation. The reason is that if the multitasking kernel is unstable we can use the normal mode. However, I have always used the multi-task mode with great stability.
RHEL has trouble detecting a built-in Ethernet port on my Biostar M7NCD motherboard, but it detects the sound system and USB ports. The same problem occurred with ASUS P4P800 and P4P800-Deluxe motherboards. With the right software drivers, these problems can be fixed.
Installation
RHEL is very flexible. Having used other Linux distributions make me appreciate Red Hat even more. If a machine is low in RAM and slow in CPU, I can use its text-interface mode during installation.
The straightforward way to install RHEL is with the 4 CD-ROMs. Installation time depends on package selection as well as the speed of the PC. RHEL offers a number of installation options, including FTP, NFS, HTTP and hard disk. When I first installed RHEL on my first PC at home, I used the hard disk method by copying the ISO images from the 4 CDs onto my second hard drive and directed RHEL to install from it. It was faster than using the CDs, about 2/3 less.
I have also installed RHEL using NFS. Obviously, this approach is possible only if there are two or more PCs connected to each other. The only information needed from a host PC is its IP address (or domain name) and mount point where RHEL 4-CD files are located. On the host machine, I need to copy the RHEL files from the 4 CDs to its hard drive, then edit its exports file in "/etc" folder (/etc/exports), issue the export command, turn off firewalls (for the moment) and turn on the NFS daemon. The FTP or HTTP methods are similar to NFS, and they all install much faster than from CD-ROMS.
Another method is an automated installation using RHEL's Kickstart, useful for administering a number of machines simultaneously.
In Linux, each hard disk can contain up to 4 primary partitions. The fourth one can be set up as an extended partition to contain up to 12 logical partitions. RHEL offers two options on disk configuration: auto and manual. The manual "diskdruid" allows me to configure my hard drive according to my system specification. In auto mode, RHEL creates three partitions: boot, root and swap. The minimum installation takes about 600MB, while maximum takes about 4GB of disk space.
RHEL supports (soft) RAID 0, 1 and 5. It is even possible to configure RAID using IDE hard drives. RHEL also allows me to configure my hard drive for an expanded space for future use. This is similar to resizing partition in Windows. But in Windows you do it when you need it, and the software (e.g., partition magic) for doing that is expensive. With RHEL, I can set my hard drive using LVM (Logical Volume Management); I can then change the size of the partition or add new ones when I need more space.
In default setting, only packages related to web server and networking, along with GNOME desktop environment, are installed. Choosing a custom install I can select the desired packages. The filesystem type in the default setting is ext3 (which is ext2 with journaling). This is the Linux filesystem. RHEL uses several other filesystem types, including vfat (Windows FAT16 or FAT32) for Linux and Windows to share files.
RHEL configures most hardware components (keyboard, mouse, graphics card, monitor, etc.) automatically using its VESA generic driver. If it cannot probe the specific monitor, it defines it as unknown but configures the right settings for it. For example, my Hitachi SuperScan PRO15 CRT monitor is not on the list. It is placed under "unknown". Under that list, I can select the display mode at 1024x768 in 24-bit color depth. Generally, every component that was passed by RHEL's initial probe should work.
With RHEL, making a dual-boot system is very simple. Its bootloader, GRUB, will act as the boot manager during a system boot, allowing the system to boot in either Windows or Linux. There is also an option to not store GRUB in the master boot record (MBR), and instead boot from a floppy disk.
RHEL is a multi-user system. Even during installation, this option is also available and is useful for checking the status of installation. Up to 6 consoles are available through Ctrl + Alt + F-keys (1-5, 7), each is able to view how RHEL installs the software onto my PC. If there is any problem, each one can tell me exactly what is wrong.
Using Red Hat Enterprise Linux
If the system was set to boot in graphics mode (GUI), the first boot involves several more steps to complete post installation. This includes creating regular user accounts, updates and RHEL registration. To avoid such hassle, I configured my system to boot in text mode. I first log in as root user (an administrator in Windows terminology), then create regular user account(s) for daily use. The GUI can start from text mode with the command "startx". In Linux, the system can operate in many run levels (single-user, multi-user, etc). I can change its runlevel by editing its initial boot file (inittab).
As a multi-user system, even on a single-monitor desktop, RHEL allows up to 6 different console log-ins via the Ctrl+Alt+ F-keys. This means I can log in up to 6 separate users at one time. Because a single monitor can display one log-in at a time, I can use Ctrl+Alt+F (or Alt + right or left arrow, in text mode) to move between the console. This is what I do when I use my Intel 440BX PC with an old monochrome monitor. In one console login, I run my program simulation. In the other, I run a text editor, etc. All the programs run separately without affecting each other. This is the power of Linux!
In my department at school, my PC is linked to both RHEL main server and UNIX SunOS 5.7 main system. At home, all my PCs (Windows and Linux) are connected to my main machine (Abit AI7). With its Samba 3.0 and NFS, RHEL makes it possible for me to share printer, files, ssh.
As I mentioned earlier, RHEL AS (or ES) is a server. But, it can be turned it into an impressive multimedia workstation by adding the required packages. I did this by using my Red Hat Linux 9's RPMs, along with a few downloaded programs (DVD players & burn applications). What I did was copy all the source files onto hard disk, then issue the "redhat-config-packages" command to activate the system's add/remove program. The added programs include: pine, xine, mplayer, xcdroast, k2b, cdbakeoven, ogle, complete KDE multimedia suite, Office Suite, realplayer, The GIMP ver. 1.2. In Linux, unlike Windows, the added program works right away after installation; no need to reboot the system!
Now my RHEL AS is both a server and multimedia workstation. I can import images from my scanner and digital camera, play DVDs using Ogle, Xine or Mplayer. I can talk to someone on the internet via video conferencing (with my Intel video camera). I can edit my photo images using The GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program). I can burn CDs, DVDs with XCDRoast, k3b or CDbakeoven. While I can rip music files (in WAV) using grip and convert them to ogg or mp3, I normally use "cdda2wav" command to rip these files with faster processing, and convert them to ogg using "oggenc". I can listen to them with my favorite audio player Noatun, or xmms, xine or RealPlayer.
For Office Suite, I have StarOffice, AbiWord, etc. For emails and services, I have UNIX pine and Linux Evolution. I prefer pine, since I use it at school in my department. For text processing, there are LaTeX, TEX or DocBook. I often write scientific papers, and LaTeX is my text processor of choice for this kind of project. Unlike word processor, LaTeX is capable of producing symbols and complex mathematical equations. I also have Acrobat Reader. In Linux, C++ compiler and debugger are readily available, including ForTRAN, Java, Python, Perl. For web surfing, I don't need to constantly worry about updating my anti-virus programs (McAfee or Norton), because I don't need them on Linux.
Updating the system is done by issuing the "up2date" command. This command, similar to "apt" or "yum", will check the target package for dependency tree. But "up2date" command will automatically update your subscribed system. I did not subscribe my home system, therefore I cannot use "up2date." An alternate approach is to use "yum." However, the standard way to update is from the source RPMs. I did this by updating one package at a time.
Rescuing RHEL system is quite manageable. I have never had my RHEL crashed for no reason; but I have done some malicious things to my test machine that I had to bring it back to operation. A fresh install is probably the easiest way to do, but what if there are very important data in the system? Rescuing is the only way. Red Hat has made the procedure seemingly easy to rescue a crashed system. The only hard part is determine the cause of the crash. But with log files available in the system, and depending on the crash level, rescuing it is almost easier than performing a fresh install, especially since all the configuration files are in text.
Backing up the system is possible with RHEL's several built-in commands, such as "rsync", "tar", "cpio", "dump" or "restore", all depending on the situation and requirement. This can be done in differential or incremental. With a complete backup, the system's original configuration can be restored along with all the data. Most backup sequences can be done on an automatic basis. For a home computer, I have not really done a system backup this way. Instead I use soft RAID 1 to write data twice onto two separate disks; in case one drive fails the other takes over. Sometimes, I just do a straight copy of my important files to CDs or DVDs using "cdrecord" or "dvdrecord" text commands. But for an administrator who is responsible for a large corporate system server, the RHEL's commands and procedures for backing up the system are probably their only best friends.
One nice thing I really enjoy using RHEL is that Red Hat has made GNOME and KDE desktop indistinguishable. In "Desktop Settings Wizard," in KDE, there are a number of excellent styles (or settings) to personalize the desktop's display layout and operation's effects, much more user-friendly with combined simplicity and sophistications.
Benchmark
If you are interested in the performance of RHEL compared to other operating systems, there is a published test results done on various machines. Some test reports at Red Hat web site indicated that RHEL has achieved the highest performance, leading Windows 2003 and Solaris by a wide margin: http://www.redhat.com/software/rhel/benchmarks/
Conclusion
The RHEL is truly amazing; it is extremely flexible, compatible, consistent, stable, and highly capable. It can run as a high-powered single workstation or run as the most powerful system server with advanced firewalls and accelerated web. On my Abit AI7 machine, RHEL AS is extremely fast!
Currently, there are more than 200 Linux distributors; the number is increasing as we speak. Some are small-group or individual distributors, organizations in institutions or private sectors; some are large "company", like Red Hat or SuSE (now own by Novell). While I have RHEL permanently installed on my main machine, I often try out a few other Linux distributions (such as Mandrake, Knoppix, Debian, Slackware, SuSE, including FreeBSD and Solaris 8 UNIX system). They each have their strong and weak points (including Red Hat), but... I always come back to RHEL.
Recommended:
Yes
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