Choosing right operating system on Dedicated Server

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Posted by da_hammer, 02-21-2017, 04:03 AM
Hello, Am new to this forum, and this is my first post! One of my client's website currently under shared linux hosting account. And its a WordPress website. Due to the increase in user accounts (Roughly now 1million+, anticipates to swell 2million+ shortly) We are looking forward to move the site to a dedicated server with much more resources. We obviously prefer a cPanel which supports PHP, mySQL, phpMyAdmin Dedicated Root Server EX41 is the one we were recommended for, but we are not sure which OS we should order and easy to use. In front of us we have the following options: Operating systems without pre-installed control panelOperating systems with pre-installed control panel Kindly guide us in the right direction. Thanks in advance hammer.
Posted by PrimeCrown, 02-21-2017, 04:22 AM
Welcome to WHT. cPanel supports only CentOS, CloudLinux or RHEL. You can choose CentOS latest, 7.x 64bit or any others. Installation of cPanel is straight forward. You may also contact a expert server admin for initial server hardening, optimization and tweaking.
Posted by JustinT, 02-21-2017, 06:33 AM
Hello there, as stated, if you are used to cPanel then use cPanel +CentOS. Also, I would suggest to choose EX41-SSD server
Posted by vpsineu, 02-21-2017, 06:38 AM
I would go with: 1. CloudLinux + WHM/cPanel or 2. CentOS+ WHM/cPanel
Posted by whitelabelit, 02-21-2017, 10:52 AM
I concur with what the others are suggesting. If you are more comfortable with cPanel choose CentOS as cPanel works best with CentOS. Cloudlinux and Red Hat Enterprise Linux are also supported. If you are not familiar with the installation process I would go with preinstalled software but you can also look into your hosts support team, I'm sure they would be able to help you out if installation is an issue.
Posted by madRoosterTony, 02-21-2017, 12:49 PM
If you are not familiar with cPanel and setting up security and management, I would hire a management company to do the initial configuration and then keep them on retainer for at least security updates. With Wordpress having its on exploits, having an insecure server can be a bigger nightmare.
Posted by Max Rockatansky, 02-21-2017, 02:36 PM
A follow up thought if I may: Keep your WP and it's plugins absolutely up to date. WP plugins provide an excellent vector for hackers and since you have a dedicated server, the potential for harm is greater.
Posted by WPCYCLE, 02-21-2017, 02:59 PM
There's many answers here, but it all depends on your skill level of managing the server. If you go with cPanel, then you have to go with Centos. No way around that unfortunately. You can add CloudLinux to help with the overall operation, but cPanel does use about 1-2GB of RAM alone aside from anything else WordPress needs. If you go with another panel like Virtualmin/Webmin, then you can use Centos, Debian, or Ubuntu. If you go with no panel, which for some is a better option, then go with Ubuntu, and install Nginx (for PHP), and MariaDB (for MySqL). This will help put the majority of the servers resources towards WordPress, and not split between things you do not need. For instance, cPanel installs many services which are not needed for WordPress. If you are skilled enough, you can uninstall or disable those services, but then why install a complete package that you have to pay for monthly, to turn around and disable/uninstall 80% of it....and still pay monthly for. Also, since it's for a clients website, if they're not logging into cPanel, then there's no point for it. cPanel is a great tool, but many times clients can be setup on it and never use it since their only concern is that the website that's up, and emails are working. The rest of the time, they're working on their business or hobby related to the website, and some may only use their WordPress Dashboard. Many things to think about Last edited by WPCYCLE; 02-21-2017 at 03:06 PM.
Posted by Virpus, 02-21-2017, 03:01 PM
+1 for CloudLinux + cPanel I'd say this is a pretty common setup nowadays for cPanel-based hosting providers
Posted by JesseG-Host, 02-21-2017, 05:20 PM
I concur getting Linux CentOS with cPanel and have company install the OS for you, keep WP and plug-ins up to date, and choose hosting provider with good support and you will be GTG.
Posted by Intensas, 02-21-2017, 07:41 PM
You can select Centos with 64bit. The installation of cPanel in centos is easy. You can contact a hosting provider, if you are not much aware of installation and configuration of the cPanel.