[SOLVED] newbie 101: what OS to install...

[carboncow]

I knew that would get your attention! Looking at Zimbra for our small business and IT falls under my responsibility although my knowledge a limited, there is little I won't try to break.

I have been running windows servers for years and non-exchange mail solutions (such as hmailserver). I got OSX running on my Lenovo S10 laptop, so I figure if I can do that I can install Zimbra on a Linux Distro but...

I know Red Hat seems to be the most common install route, but is that the best route for a newbie to Linux...should I look toward Ubuntu which I have very minimal experience with.

I'm hoping not to have to become a mega-expert on the OS like many other projects. Just a install, easy config, install Zimbra, easy config and go.

I see several step by step install procedures for Zimbra on different platforms, but I'm wondering what is the best route for newbie 101!

Suggestions w/o being flamed?

Thanks.
Shawn
Ohio

[uxbod]

Welcome to the forums

Well, have a look at

FOSS :: Downloads
Network Edition :: Downloads

[carboncow]

Thanks for the quick response. I was just looking at those pages earlier before my post! I'll review them again, but I don't seem to recall recommendations (especially for ultra-newbies) on OS suggestions. I assumed most would state "it all depends", but there has to be a easier route for those who do not have command of the terminal window (yet)....

Of course I am going to start playing/testing with the Open Source solution but I can see us buying into to Zimbra get more advanced features we would want, I'm avoiding Exchange again for many reasons.

Is the Ubuntu tract Linux for dummies by change!?!??

Do you know what direction to point for opinions on OSs?

[quietas]

If you have a budget with actual money in it, I'd say Redhat. It's the OS the devs use and develop on. Suse would be a very close second and really is only preference.

The flip side of it is a $0 budget, I run Ubuntu 6.06 (8.04 upgrade this weekend) and have been for nearly a year now. If you are going to purchase the Network Edition, Ubuntu is a supported OS and works well. Ubuntu also has the benefit of a huge user base and massive community support or Canonical can provide commercial support as well.

If you want Redhat, but have the budget of Ubuntu, then CentOS is the way to go. It is currently not supported, but from what I read the Redhat rpm's install fine (CentOS is 99% ish compatible). Also it looks like the 6.0+ version will be supporting CentOS if the beta's are any indication.

[Jbrabander]

Well, you want to make sure to stick with something that's officially supported by Zimbra. Red Hat and Ubuntu seem to be the 2 big ones used. We're running Fedora with the Enterprise edition, but since that's an offshoot of Red Hat, we're OK.

[carboncow]

Thanks guys, great info. I'm taking from a newbie perspective they are six of one and half dozen of another on install, setup and admin (in regards to the OS) so must have more features then others.

I would have some money in the long run for sure but am worried about spending the who summer trying to get such a solution up and running. seems to me I'll be asking nothing of the OS other then to support the Zimbra platform so if those mentioned are supported and those OS support all functionality I'll take a good look at Ubuntu Server this week.

[ewilen]

I would be interested in hearing more about your experiences. So far I've been demoing Zimbra under Mac OS X, mainly because I'm very comfortable/familiar with the OS, how to secure it, etc. But if one of the supported Linux OSes is easy to set up/configure/maintain, then I would consider it for production.

[carboncow]

So can you run Zimbra under OSX well or does it require OSX Server? I'm new to the Mac word (about two months) and wondering if OSX is robust enough for server side needs, so i'm very disappointed in the speed of the webserver and remote access just for simple home needs (compared to my MS Win boxes).

I'll keep this post in mind as I procedure to work with Ubuntu 8.04. I have installed the server in Parallels to test and to load up a UI shell. Once I've done some learning on the virtual I'll move it over to my future production server and then figure out Zimbra since there is good documenation on that procedure for Ubuntu, more to come...

[ewilen]

I'm running my Zimbra demo on a Mac Mini, 2 GB RAM, 1.83 GHz Intel Core Duo, Mac OS 10.4.11 (not Server).

Currently I have a production setup, using similar hardware, running Communigate and Meeting Maker for about 100 accounts each, and performance has been very good. I believe that Zimbra's demands are somewhat higher than either of those, though. Nevertheless our needs are modest compared to a lot of folks on this forum.

For remote access there's VNC (either the built-in host or Vine Server), Apple Remote Desktop (similar but seems to use some improved graphics compression to speed things up) and Timbuktu ($ but might be faster, YMMV). And ssh, of course.

If we go with Zimbra, I'd like to stay with Mac Mini but add an external Firewire RAID such as LaCie 2big or Drobo. I would also like to take advantage of the newer Mini models which support 4 GB RAM. However, until Zimbra NE is supported on Mac OS 10.5+, I'd have to make sure that the these can run 10.4. See Bug 21441 – Requesting Apple-Server (10.5, leopard) support for ZCS and Bug 32613 – OSX 10.5 DNS and other issues after system failure. With speed improvements due in OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard), it would really be highly desirable for Zimbra to support it.

Another issue is Bug 7039 – System kernel panic when zimbra server is mac dual core intel. It seems a shame to disable the second processor (although it's easy enough, using a free Apple download called CHUD Tools), and I haven't personally come across the bug whether running in single- or dual-processor.

[carboncow]

I just bought the Mac Min with and upgraded to 4gig ram and 320gb HD at 7200RPM, loving it runnings Parellels for my Windows XP needs. Never thought to install Zimbra on it though! Glad to read it could be up the task for simple needs.

My VNC experience with my MAC is poor. I cannot connect and run my XP Pro running on my home network at twice the speed as connecting to my Mac Mini and I've tried the built in VNC and the VINE with same results, something is throttling it down or it could be the lack of mirror driver to speed up screen refreshes. I believe the Apple Remote is pricey for home use, but if it has graphics compressions that would be the way to go. Since there is no file transfer built into the VNC server (as does uVNC for Windows systems) I've resorted back to FTP for most of my solution needs.

Back on topic...Thank you for hte input on Zimbra with the Mac. I've got Ubuntu Server up and running with little pain and research. I've got the desktop loaded (I know some will ask why) and have the Webmin working too, now I need to spend a few nights getting familar with functionality and solutions before I load up Zimbra. I promise to stop back, feel free to send me a PM or email to carboncow@gmail.com if you want to follow up outside this board.