Which Operating System to Choose?

This question is often posed to our technical support team. Let’s set aside the most obvious answer and delve into which OS is preferable, if possible. We will focus on operating systems for i386 processors and newer, excluding exotic RISC systems for hosting.

FreeBSD

Let’s start with FreeBSD. Among modern operating systems, it has the longest history, as the first release of BSD was in 1997. In the 1990s, BSD-based operating systems were probably the most popular for servers, successfully competing with the SysV family of operating systems, such as SCO Unix. Many providers at that time used BSDi (the commercial branch of the family) and the early free versions of FreeBSD.

Now, FreeBSD has grown to version 10, supports many processor architectures, and in skilled hands allows for fine-tuning of the kernel. The advantages of FreeBSD undoubtedly include an excellent implementation of memory management, networking, and input/output systems—this is precisely why FreeBSD is often used for high-load projects. Unfortunately, there are drawbacks—an inconvenient package manager and somewhat less documentation.

CentOS

The Linux family of systems is significantly larger, but we are interested in the most popular distributions. In first place is CentOS, which falls under the Red Hat Enterprise Linux branch. This is a free version of the commercial Red Hat Linux, which is rightfully considered one of the most stable for server applications. The indisputable advantages of CentOS include a very convenient and fast package manager, yum, while a relative drawback is the presence of not the most recent versions of accompanying software in the standard package repositories for CentOS.

Debian

The second most popular Linux distribution is Debian. The main ideological difference of this system from CentOS lies in its 100% use of open-source, license-clean code in the operating system. In some cases, especially on new hardware, this led to the need to integrate certain drivers into the system—Debian’s supplied packages typically lack these drivers due to legal nuances. Nevertheless, Debian is also very popular and has a huge army of users, excellent documentation, and is steadily evolving.

Ubuntu

We should also mention Ubuntu, a distribution widely used on workstations by many users. Ubuntu Server is often chosen by those who need the latest kernel and application versions; however, be cautious—new releases may not always be stable. In many respects, this distribution resembles Debian, which is not surprising, as it was originally based on and still uses a large amount of code and utilities from Debian.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there is no universal, best operating system—each option has its positive and negative aspects. Therefore, it is best to use the OS you have previously worked with and are familiar with. If you do not plan to make fine adjustments manually and plan to use a control panel and our technical support service for various tasks—choose CentOS. The reasons for this choice are simple—CentOS has the fastest and most stable installer; we have many practices and utilities tailored to this distribution, and we are satisfied with the stability of servers under CentOS management. At the same time, our technical support can work with any operating systems and distributions. Rest assured, we will always assist if needed.

User Preferences

Lastly—some statistics. We conducted a small study and found out what users of our SSD VDS prefer:

• 10% FreeBSD
• 39% CentOS
• 32% Debian
• 16% Ubuntu
• 3% other OS

If you have doubts about choosing an operating system for your project, there is an excellent way to find the best option! Order an SSD VDS and experiment, as we offer a selection of all popular operating systems, and the fast and automatic installation allows you to set up a new OS on a virtual server in just 5-10 minutes. We are confident you will find the best solution for yourself!