lets start with mentioning that I am a very satisfied user of a fileserver with a OpenSuSe 11.1 environment, implemented in october-november 2009.
The server has the following charateristics: Hardware Core
AMD Semprom LE-1250 on Gigabyte GA-MA74GM-S2H Mobo
1 GB memory
2,5 inch 360 GB systemdisk
3x 1TB data disks in RAID 5 configuration Functionality used
Software raid (RAID 5)
VNC server (Xorg-X11-Xvnc, TightVNC clients)
Samba server (Windows XP and 7 clients)
At the moment I stand on the threshold of starting the implementation of a IMAP mail server (read: gathering enough nerve for it;)). A few days ago i had to find out OpenSuSe 11.1 is reaching end of support. Because of this i feel myself confronted with the question what strategy to follow. Do I have to upgrade, or can i first focus myself on the email function and will 11.1 still be usable for a while.
This morning i’ve been looking around in the OpenSuSe wiki. I see a lot of energy has been put into this, alais i was not able to find advises in answer to my strategy question. What i found were points of attention when installling or when upgrading. These suggestions are of course very useful, but are more on the execution level of the upgrading or installing itself. What I miss is somekind of overall roadmap with the release planning and what strategy to follow when to upgrade to version x or y. For a new install this is simple; "the most recent, stable version. I fear the upgrade question is a bit more complex. How to maintain a stable and thrustworthy configuration running function x, y and z with the least possible effort.
Hmm, function x, y and z… i feel matrixes coming up that will result in a very work intensive web page. Please do not understand me wrong. I realise as no other how much effort goes in maintaining such a web environment. I only expect that more people will have the questions I have. People that are enthousiastic about the possibilities that OpenSuSe linux offers them but not directly jump onto a new point revision the day it comes out, and have the questions like;
is it really necessary?
becomes my version after the end of support unsafe?
is there a (generic) walk through to implement a decent upgrade?
is OpenSuSe lnux something for me or do i have to look at SuSe Enterprise Linux?
Again i want to repeat it is not my intention to criticise. Probably you will point me to some crucial info i’ve missed in all my stupidity (in Dutch: een gek kan meer vragen dan tien wijzen kunnen beantwoorden ~ One fool may ask more than seven wise men can answer).
@caf4926 I must say your remark did hold the mirror up to me. Do I want low maintenance and a long guarantee for my OS? I’d probably better buy it. I decided to have an open mind in this and investigate this option. My first impression of the SuSe Linux enterprise site was that is was very corporate oriented. In a second glance I stumbled upon the SuSe studio site in which your can configurate your own distro (Open and Enterprise linux). This gave me a very positive impression, and makes the treshold smaller to step over from Opensuse tot Enterprise. The contracts I saw for Enterprise are (as far as I have seen) are more ment for companies as for home users (x year guarantee etc.). I fear that the server is not yet important enough for me to choose for the Enterprise solution yet. But i am sure that that importance will grow in near future. In case they have not done that yet I hope Novell feels encouraged to think about Enterprise solutions for the home-segment. I am sure the number of home-servers will grow in numbers quickly.
@tararpharazon Thank you very much for your suggestions. For the moment I opt. to wait for OpenSuSe 1.4 so I can buy some more time to evaluate the use of my home server for different functions (like the mail server) and the stepping over to Enterprise. By the way, i found a web page after all describing the OpenSuse Roadmap (openSUSE:Roadmap - openSUSE) via Google. Because of reasons not yet clear to me i had difficulty to find it via the wiki interface/hierachie. Maybe nice to know for others.
Teaglass don’t forget the other option: keep the existing version of openSUSE for another few years. I’m running a server that’s got openSUSE 11.1 on it. It didn’t stop working because the update repositories dried up. Of course, reinstallation of key functionality would be impossible I suppose, hadn’t given that much thought. But if a server is bedded down with its functions running smoothly for years, it’s unlikely to need any changes. I suppose I’ll upgrade to 11.5/12.1 in 2 years time.
I just clicked the updater button in the system tray of the 11.1 server, first time in a year or so, and it pulled in a huge bunch of updates. Well that’s still working even though the updates are no longer being supplemented/expanded. I reckon I’ll get 4 or 5 years out of my 11.1 installation and that’s all anyone should sensibly want IMHO.
So, to run your server for a couple more years is actually an option.
Thank you all for your replies. I must say that one thing stands out, the diversity of the approaches. In reply to you all:
@caf4926 thanks for directing me to those links. Vital discussions.
@glistwan i agree with you that CentOS and Debian are more server oriented linux distro’s, mean and lean, and stable. What putted me off was that i got the impression in 2009 heir interfaces are more spartan and less GUI oriented. Let me emphasize that was my impression at that moment in time, leaving in the middle if it is justified or not. Expressing my choice between OpenSuSe and Ubuntu is even more subjective. In my impression Ubuntu is more progress driven as OpenSuSe. That remark can be interpreted as positive, especially fr a desktop/workstation. In my opinion i think for a server OS a more conservative attitude is justified. In 2009 i recognized this more in OpenSuSe Linux (Gnome). But again, i realize this judgement is very subjective, especially when i hear Ubuntu offers a LTS solution.
@swerdna ha, i love your answer, it is the one i most liked to hear. The way of the least effort. As you I am not especially worried about the server suddenly stopping with working. As long as the installation is not being pushed or pulled too much it will not brake down. When i define my unease that started this thread i think it is all about the currency of the firewall and virusscan functions. But those functions are probably separate Linux software repositories (repositories, difficult word for a dutch), and will be able, as you state, to update independently from the OS.
Perhaps it is valuable for the thread to define what makes it necessary to upgrade a OpenSuSe OS. Until now the thread was dealing with the how, while the why is was not yet addressed.