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I want to get some hands on knowledge with linux servers (sine the last internship I applied for, required some experience with linux servers, but I had none), and I'm wondering if the RPi would give me the same server experience as any other computer (x86 or ARM). Everyone I've asked about "starting with servers" says to just use any old computer. The truth is. All I have is my laptop with Win7, and an RPi.

I want something that will give me real world experience with setting up a LAMP server, FreeNAS, some kind of media server, or anything else. I'm second guessing myself, because this runs on ARM, and most Linux OS's won't run on arm. I believe Ubuntu and CentOS (from what I heard) are the biggest name servers OS's. I also heard that archlinux runs on arm.

I know the above is a mess of questions, but any help and/or guidance is appreciated.

Main Question:

Can I get cmd line, server setup, and server maintenance experience from the RPi comparable to that of someone that works on x86 machines?

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I have provided an answer below, but I think this is off topic and better served on U&L. – Alex Chamberlain Aug 30 '12 at 9:02
@AlexChamberlain I believe this question can be salvaged. EGHDK, can you think about restructuring your question so that it is more to the point? – Jivings♦ Aug 30 '12 at 22:52
Tried to boil it down to what I'm really trying to get at. – EGHDK Aug 30 '12 at 22:59
Using RPi for server experience NO! Use a LT (Long Term) Ubuntu Server and follow some LAMP guides- Every problem you encounter will lead you to new questions. Then install Webmin and Virtual Min- If you get that stable you will have intermediate experience. Good luck ;) Then try the same on the Pi - Double good luck! – ppumkin Aug 31 '12 at 17:38
Hmm... even though you have the most straightforward answer. Any reason why? Also, turn that comment into an answer lol – EGHDK Aug 31 '12 at 22:56

3 Answers

up vote 2 down vote

If you just want to play with Linux without the chance of breaking stuff or wasting money I would suggest you install a virtual machine, for example virtualbox.
This is a lot faster than an RPi (ofcourse depending of your machine) and is a bit more convenient with installing and setting up (no cables, usbdisks, powerplugs, extra keyboards, delivery time and whatnot).

It doesn't really matter what distribution you pick. Ubuntu is a nice start with lots of documentation available (also look into Debian documentation). But pick the server version so you won't get spoiled with the GUI, a benefit you won't have while ssh'ing into your next employers webserver.

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Arch is good for learning with, because you have to do a lot yourself. – Alex Chamberlain Aug 30 '12 at 10:20
So server edition's of a Linux OS don't have a GUI? – EGHDK Aug 30 '12 at 14:05
Not by default. In linux a server makes a server depending on the packages that are installed (and sometimes a different configuration for the kernel). If you install Apache in your desktop system, Apache still acts as a server. – Joost Aug 30 '12 at 14:20
up vote 1 down vote

Lets look at it the other way round. Lots of people who have only previously used linux on x86 are experiencing the linux on ARM for the first time with the RPi. Lots of what they know about linux doesn't really matter which platform it's running on.

Setting up a LAMP server will be quite similar on RPi vs x86, but you should be aware that the RPi performance will probably resemble a 300Mhz PIII or thereabouts.

Round here I have seen x86 PCs with better specs on the side of the road :)

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1. So should I just buy a micro computer to set up a test server? 2. How would I go about setting up a LAMP server? I thought you needed a full OS like Ubuntu or something. – EGHDK Aug 30 '12 at 7:06
@EGHDK, raspbian and arch linux are full OS's. A RPi is fine if you want to buy one. I was just saying you might be able to find a free computer that will do for your learning. – gnibbler Aug 30 '12 at 7:20
I have an RPi already, don't really have any old computers lying around though. That's where my "confusion" is. Should I use the RPi? Will it teach me enough, or should I wait for a full x86 computer to come along. – EGHDK Aug 30 '12 at 7:26
@EGHDK, The RPi will do fine. Setting up LAMP is basically the same procedure. – gnibbler Aug 30 '12 at 7:29
Cool, thanks for the information. – EGHDK Aug 30 '12 at 14:06
up vote 0 down vote

I have a little bit of experience with servers. The most popular are Debian and Red Hat IMHO, certainly not Ubuntu. Most of what you do involves general Linux commands, rather than anything server specific.

As for practice, whip up a cloud server on Amazon, Rackspace, or Brightbox and setup a webserver from start to finish. You learn a lot and it's pretty cheap. It's also nice to run on such fast CPUs and with a stupidly fast internet connection, for downloading source code etc.

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I said "Ubuntu" was popular because a lot of people use Amazons cloud servers, and I'm pretty sure they all run Ubuntu. Either way, thanks for the suggestion. – EGHDK Aug 30 '12 at 14:07

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