This article provides a brief synopsis of the server operating systems offered as templates on Vultr.
CentOS
- Easy to use for beginner level administrators.
- Has long term support for certain versions (up to ten years).
- Includes a simple package manager:
yum
- Compatible with cPanel, and a variety of other server control panels.
- Offered by industry leader, Red Hat.
- An irregular development cycle. Major releases don't happen on a set cycle; they happen every 3-5 years.
- Due to long release periods, bundled software support is dated compared to other flavors of Linux.
CoreOS
- Container-friendly. Includes a container management system.
- Seamless OS updates.
- Can be too complex for the average user.
- Does not include a package manager (part of OS design).
- Update system may not be ideal for all projects (with respect to how reboots are handled).
Fedora
- Latest kernel and software package versions.
- Short lifespan (13 months).
- New releases roughly every 6 months.
FreeBSD
- Long term support.
- Very lightweight.
- Includes a package manager and port building system.
- Ports of Linux packages can take a long time.
- Older filesystem design than other server operating systems.
OpenBSD
- New releases roughly every 6 months.
- Lightweight UNIX operating system.
- Security features not available in other operating systems.
- Routine system administration tasks can become more complicated due to additional security.
- Less popular than other server operating systems.
Ubuntu
- Better software support.
- Easy-to-use package manager:
apt
- Regular update cycles.
- 5 year LTS (Long Term Support) templates available.
- Uses more disk space than other distributions.
- Shorter LTS compared to CentOS.
Windows Server
- Supported by Microsoft.
- Regular updates (from every few days to months).
- Very long term support (more than 10 years).
- User-friendly GUI (graphical user interface).
- Great software compatibility.
- Licensing increases overall cost.
- Closed source platform.
- Programs can be more difficult to configure than on Linux/BSD.