How to choose a suitable Linux distro for your VPS Server
This how-to features a list of different Linux distros that are a popular choice of users for VPS servers. Here you will find a list of each distro’s base, popular use case, and pros & cons of each.
What makes a distro good for a VPS?
It depends on what you will be using your VPS for, since we need to take into consideration how much RAM your server has, and how much overall output your are expecting of it. If RAM is limited, then choosing a distro that is lightweight and resource-efficient is best, such as Alpine or Debian. On the other hand, using a distro that gets regular security updates is definitely a must-have if you are storing sensitive data on your VPS, a couple examples for such distros would be Fedora or Ubuntu.
What popular Distributions/Distros are out there?
Ubuntu
Ubuntu is Debian-based, and is generally used for most VPS, web servers, APIs, and even game servers. It’s incredibly beginner friendly as there are loads of tutorials from experienced users online, and is widely compatible with most standard packages that you may need to install on your VPS. The downside is that Ubuntu runs more background services & bloat out of the box in comparison to other Linux distros.
Pros
• Beginner-friendly
• Up-to-date packages
• Wide compatibility
Cons
• More bloat
• Snap System for packages
Debian
Debian is not based on anything, it is one of the first Linux distros to be made. It’s usually used for production servers, enterprise, and long-term applications. This is due to the stability that it features, along with that, it is lightweight and so can be used for VPS servers that have low amounts of RAM. On the other hand, its packages are old, and you’ll need to manually set up everything such as firewalls and non-root users.
Pros
• Stable
• Lightweight
• Great overall server ecosystem
Cons
- Older packages
- Manual setup
Alpine
Similar to Debian, it is not based on anything. The best usage for the Alpine Linux distro would be for lightweight containers, microservices, or low-memory VPS servers. The base system can be under 10mb, which makes this a lifesaver for VPS servers with limited resources. However, this distro is very much not user-friendly, most of the configurations are fully manual, and there is a lack of systemd. Along with this, the community is not large, and so there are a limited amount of tutorial videos or wikis that you can use to get started with this distro.
Pros
• Incredibly lightweight
• Boots and executes quickly
• features Security
Cons
• Less user-friendly
• Limited community
Fedora
Based on Red Hat and is used for Development environments, testing next-gen features, or Red Hat-aligned deployments. Fedora as a distro can be a double-edged blade, it is powerful as you get the latest updates which is good for testing modern features, however, this can backfire since this makes it vulnerable to new errors or crashes, which can result in much more time wasted fixing these errors than being able to complete your tasks. This is not ideal for a long-term app hosted on a VPS server.
Pros
• Cutting-edge software
• SELinux
• DNF package managers
Cons
• Short lifecycle if not updated
• More bloat
Good to know
Choosing a Linux distro for your VPS is incredibly simple. Depending on what you use your server for, there are an expansive amount of these distros that can work better or worse for your task. Distro-hopping is not consequential for the most part, which means you are able to test out a few distros that meet your demands before getting started with your VPS.
What’s the best Distro for your MyNymBox VPS
Now that you know which distributions are best for certain situations, you can now choose a distro to use for your own VPS server. Here at MyNymBox, our panel allows the user to easily switch between distros, which makes it easy to find what you need. Along with that, you are also able to mount ISO images on your MyNymBox VPS, in case you want to use something that we don’t already offer.
