Best Linux OS for a Beginner to set up a remote Seedbox?

[temuchin]

[EDITED]
i have decided to take the plunge and go with a dedicated server.  the server is strictly for torrents, possible
media storage, and as a web proxy.  i will use Deluge for torrents.  i will use Transmit and dl via SFTP from
the server.  any media storage will be partitioned at a much later date. i am a relative BEGINNER but have
some experience with Terminal via Mac. very simple things like i.e i have set up SSH, Proxy, MacPorts etc.

my main concerns are: system security / torrenting speed / good OS implementation documentation.

the server specs are as follows:  Storage: 1Tb/ Speed: 100mbps/ Processor: Atom/ Ram: 2GB.
of course there is the usual: Dedicated IP/ proxy Server/ Root/SSH Access etc.

so out of these choices (see below) which would you recommend i have installed?

(click to show/hide)

according to this article Ubuntu 11.04 is considered best for beginners but has stability issues.

any advise is greatly appreciated. 

[Saras]

Ubuntu has lost a lot of favour what concerns the linux crowd and to be honest, I rarely see it on servers. Most seem to run either Debian or CentOS.

As for ease of use, if you know how to google, they're all easy enough to do what you want them to.

[datora]

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I don't have any recent experience with linux, so my view is a bit dated by about three to four years.

However, if I were to do what you are intending today, a couple of my best guesses to narrow it down:

Ubuntu server 10.04 would be high on my list to check out.  I'd be interested in stable, lean, simple and secure.  It should be very well vetted and documented by now with a large community available to search for help and support.

Ubuntu is based upon Debian, and Debian rocks in its own right ... so that also on the top end of my list.  Both Ubuntu & Debian are in use quite a bit around the 'Nets, so they must be Doing Something Right.  Possibly these are the two best options for a n00b.

I've seen & heard Good Things about ArchLinux as a rock solid & stable server platform, and I've noticed it in use quite frequently.  I've also seen indications you'll want to be an experienced linux admin ... so, worth considering, but also plan on studying & playing with it a good bit.  Probably (?) one of the best server options, if you put the time into it.

Fedora is powerful and has become much more user friendly in the last years, also a large community to draw support from.  Used to have a bad rep for needing to do code with your teeth, but I understand not so much these days ... I'd look into it as probably an equivalent to ArchLinux.

Red Hat is broadly used, so large community and support base.  I never really liked it though, keeping in mind that I know nothing about it for the last ten years.  I dropped it for S.u.S.E. back around 2000 and never looked back.

Gentoo is an interesting and powerful beast.  Not exactly your normal linux, they are doing exciting and interesting things.  The community is a bit more exclusive than some, but very technically competent and have developed some elegant & innovative solutions.  I played with it a bit as a desktop solution circa 2006-2007 and have a place in my heart for it ... so I'd consider it out of prejudice.

CentOS I only know from reputation, but it seems to have a very solid one.

The rest I would scratch off my list, like Ubuntu 11 & desktop as not appropriate, or the rest because I really know nothing about them.  Anything still in BETA I'd avoid until I had more experience.

[Bob2004]

Ubuntu has lost a lot of favour what concerns the linux crowd and to be honest, I rarely see it on servers. Most seem to run either Debian or CentOS.

As for ease of use, if you know how to google, they're all easy enough to do what you want them to.

Only the most recent versions IIRC. 10.04 is definitely still excellent, and I'm not sure about 11.04. My advice to you, since you're a beginner, would be to go for Ubuntu 10.04 - it's generally very stable, reliable, and there's a far larger quantity of useful resources to help you solve any problems.

As for whether you should go with the server or desktop version, that's up to you. The server version has a number of packages which are very useful for servers preinstalled, but it also doesn't have a GUI - it is entirely terminal-based. Which is all well and good in terms of saving resources, but it's not very intuitive if you're not completely used to running things on the terminal. The desktop version doesn't have any server-specific stuff installed (though it's easy to install if you need it - and I think most of it is LAMP software and similar which you don't want anyway), but it does come with a full GUI and desktop environment installed.

If you don't like Ubuntu for whatever reason, my second choice would be Fedora, because it's probably the simplest to use after Ubuntu, and is generally pretty good. After that, maybe Debian, but I'm not really a fan of that one tbh. Red Hat and Gentoo might also be worth checking out.

@datora: I would definitely not recommend ArchLinux to anyone who doesn't know exactly what they're doing, and who doesn't have extensive Linux experience already. It's very barebones, and you basically have to build half the OS yourself - that's why it's great, since it's really customisable, but it is not easy.

[datora]

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@datora: I would definitely not recommend ArchLinux to anyone who doesn't know exactly what they're doing, and who doesn't have extensive Linux experience already. It's very barebones, and you basically have to build half the OS yourself - that's why it's great, since it's really customisable, but it is not easy.

Yep.  About what I thought.  Thanks for clarifying that.  Seems sort of what Fedora used to be like ten years ago, only a bit moreso.  My contribution is played out at this point since I basically have to go back to nearly square one and learn linux all over again these days.  I had just hoped to pare the list down and suggest a few for initial consideration.


One other thought, though.  Knoppix used to have a pretty solid rep and I know it's still around with a fairly significant userbase.  Take a quick read on it and see if they have a server solution and if it has any decent rep.  Knoppix was one of the first distros to try and push toward the user-friendly region to help n00bs into the linux world.  They basically invented the first most usable live CDs.  If they have a server package assembled, it's likely to be well-equipped with all sorts of needed and useful items.

[Freedom Kira]

My old fileserver/seedbox, which is still up and running on the side, uses Ubuntu 10.04 desktop edition.

If you are a beginner with Linux, I would recommend you go with the desktop edition and install server software. This way, you have a GUI to work with, instead of having to do everything by command line right from the get-go. Desktop and server editions are essentially the same OS anyway - they just have different stock software installed. You can install server software on the desktop edition and vice versa. This was what I did with my older fileserver, and still what I did with my new one last year (running 11.10 right now). By the way, 11.04 is already outdated, released one year ago.

Instead of the 10.04 though, which is two years old now, go for the 12.04. It's not completely stable yet, so give it a month or so if you're unsure (or install it right away and play with it before you actually put it to server use - break the installation and learn to fix it, that's the best way to learn Linux). 12.04 is their next LTS version, meaning it gets a few years worth of support instead of the usual few months (a new version is released every six months, in April and October). 10.04 was the previous LTS version, and the next LTS should be in April 2014 (14.04).

12.04 also uses a significantly different interface from 10.04. The new interface, Unity, took over the classic GNOME desktop in their 11.04 release, IIRC. So, if you use the old interface, you will have to learn a new interface all over again when you are forced to upgrade.

Some good software you'll be looking for:
1. OpenSSH - by default, Ubuntu desktop does not have an SSH server installed.
2. Samba - good network file sharing service. If you won't be accessing files over the local network, you can skip this. If you do install it, be sure to install something related to python, as the Samba configuration GUI won't start without it.
3. VNC - remote desktop software.
4. Some torrent client - I personally use KTorrent. You might prefer Deluge. Tranmission is installed by default.
5. Apache2/MySQL/PHP - if you intend to use HTTP server capabilities, this is a must. Otherwise, skip it. Search for LAMP tutorials to help you with this.

A note on your SSH server - to make it as secure as possible, you will want to use stored keys instead of password authentication. Look up some guides on how to do that - it's a somewhat tedious process to learn. Also, you can use SFTP capabilities once your SSH server is installed, but make sure whatever SFTP software you use is able to handle using stored keys. Password authentication makes everything a heck of a lot easier, but of course also makes your system a bit less secure.