Top 10 Linux Server Distros of 2023

Due to its various advantages, the Linux operating system is a popular choice among all types of servers. First, it is free (except for a few commercial distributions, such as RHEL and SLES) and open source. Its open source nature means that developers can view its source code and make modifications, and it can be redistributed under specified license terms. Second, Linux is generally considered stable, versatile, and more secure than Windows. Finally, Linux can be easily deployed on a variety of platforms, such as bare metal, virtual machines, and cloud environments.

In this article, we highlight the top ten Linux server distributions.

1. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)

Red Hat Enterprise Linux🔗 www.redhat.com (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) (RHEL) is a commercial Linux distribution specially developed for enterprise environments. It is a performance-driven, reliable and secure operating system that provides enhanced availability and seamless deployment, making it ideal for server environments.

RHEL supports a variety of workloads in bare metal, virtual machine and cloud environments. In fact, Red Hat is the world's leading provider of open source solutions, offering products including Red Hat OpenShift, Ansible Automation Platform, Open Hybrid Cloud, JBoss Enterprise Application Platform, SAP and more.

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2. Ubuntu Server

Developed and maintained by Canonical, Ubuntu is one of the most popular and widely used Linux distributions. Ubuntu is a Debian-based Linux distribution that is completely free and open source. It is famous for its desktop version, which is intuitive, user-friendly and considered ideal for academics and beginners. Ubuntu has 3 versions, namely: Desktop, Server and Core.

While the desktop version is heavily used around the world, the server version also provides a solid platform for server environments. First, it can be deployed in any environment, whether in a physical machine, virtual machine or cloud environment, with extensive scaling capabilities. This means resources can be added at any time to meet changing needs.

Because the server version is very streamlined and does not have any graphical user interface, it is relatively lightweight and has low resource overhead. This means CPU and memory usage will also be lower. The result is improved performance and enterprise-grade stability.

In addition to being installed on physical data centers and virtual servers, Ubuntu Server is also available in public clouds such as AWS and Azure. According to Canonical, 55% of OpenStack clouds run on Ubuntu. Additionally, you can pay to get your own managed Openstack cloud.

3、Debian

Debian is one of the oldest Linux distributions and is known for its stability. It has three versions: Stable, Unstable and Testing.

Debian Stable is the latest official Debian distribution and the most popular version for servers and desktops. All packages in this branch have been rigorously tested and debugged and are therefore considered ready to run production workloads.

Debian server is a fast and reliable operating system that emphasizes security and stability. It is for this reason that it is a perfect choice for server environments. Additionally, it offers extensive hardware support with over 59,000 packages, by far the largest number of packages of any operating system.

Just like Ubuntu Server, Debian is lightweight, versatile, and ideal for enterprise workloads. In fact, it's more stable and easier to manage than Ubuntu.

4. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server

In terms of providing excellent server platforms, another competitive opponent is SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SUSE Linux Enterprise Server) (SLES). This server operating system is created and maintained by SUSE, a company based in Germany.

SLES is a commercial distribution built to handle enterprise-class workloads. It can adapt to any environment and is optimized for stability, reliability and security. Its high scalability enables IT teams to efficiently deploy their applications and services to cope with growing business needs.

Latest SLES versions provide easy-to-manage interop. It also provides more support and compatibility for Docker containers, Kubernetes, and geo-clustering. The latter provides high-availability flexibility, allowing IT teams to configure replicated clusters across multiple data center regions.

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server supports not only on-premises workloads but also cloud services including Microsoft Azure, Google Compute Engine and Amazon Web Services.

5、OpenSUSE Leap

Developed by the OpenSUSE project, OpenSUSE is a non-commercial Linux distribution based on RPM, developed and maintained by SUSE Corporation. Also free and open source, OpenSUSE provides two versions:

◈ OpenSUSE Leap

◈ OpenSUSE Tumbleweed

OpenSUSE TumbleWeed is a rolling release version of OpenSUSE. It contains the latest stable applications including kernel, Git, Samba, desktop applications and more. Therefore, it is a perfect choice for developers or power users who need to leverage the latest software stack for their workloads. However, it is not ideal for servers due to frequent kernel updates, resulting in inconsistencies with other third-party driver modules.

OpenSUSE Leap is the first choice for using OpenSUSE with servers. It is an open source and community-driven distribution with a slower release cycle and, therefore, is a better fit than TumbleWeed. It's community driven, which means it goes through rigorous testing before being released.

Leap is relatively easier to use and offers high performance and stability, making it ideal for handling enterprise-level workloads. It is an excellent alternative to commercial server distributions such as SLES and RHEL and allows enterprises to deploy their workloads on bare metal and cloud deployments.

6、Rocky Linux

Rocky Linux is a Linux distribution developed as a replacement for CentOS Linux, which reached EOL (End of Life) on December 31, 2021. It is a free and open source Linux distribution that offers stability, reliability, regular updates, and is completely free for a 10-year support life.

Rocky Linux is an enterprise-grade operating system designed to be 100% compatible with RHEL and is currently being actively developed by the community.

Since the untimely and sudden discontinuation of CentOS Linux, the distribution has gained high popularity. It can be installed on servers and desktop computers, and also offers custom images on public cloud providers such as Amazon AWS and Google Compute Engine.

Rocky Linux developers have provided a migration script that allows users to migrate to Rocky Linux from other enterprise editions such as CentOS Linux and Oracle Linux.

7、AlmaLinux

Another option to fill the gap left by CentOS Linux is AlmaLinux. It is also a completely free and open source enterprise operating system.

AlmaLinux was originally created by CloudLinux but is currently community driven. It provides a production-grade enterprise operating system that is 1:1 binary compatible with RHEL. In short, it is a clone of RHEL. In short, it is a clone of RHEL and provides the solid stability and advantages that RHEL brings for free.

As an enterprise-class server operating system, AlmaLinux can easily run critical workloads. Additionally, it offers regular releases with long-term support.

8、Oracle Linux

Oracle Linux developed by Oracle Corporation is a secure and high-performance operating system compiled from RHEL source code. It is optimized for hybrid and multi-cloud deployments, and like Rocky and AlmaLinux, Oracle Linux is 100% binary compatible with RHEL.

For data centers, Oracle Linux is a viable option and of course a perfect replacement for CentOS for EOL. Due to its stability and performance, it is ideal for enterprise applications.

Unlike commercial Linux distributions such as RHEL and SUSE, Oracle Linux is completely free to download, use and redistribute. It is available under the GNU General Public License (GPLv2).

9. Fedora Server

Fedora is a free and open source Linux distribution developed and maintained by the Fedora Project, which is sponsored by Red Hat.

Fedora serves as an upstream community distribution for RHEL. All applications undergo rigorous testing before being pushed to RHEL. Therefore, it is called a "cutting edge" operating system, which means that it regularly gets the latest software applications and updates.

Fedora has long been popular for its workstation version, which is built for laptops and desktop computers. Over time, it has expanded to include other versions such as Fedora Server, Fedora IoT, and Fedora CoreOS.

Fedora Server is a powerful, reliable, flexible operating system with the best and latest data center technology. As a leading version, it offers the latest technologies from the open source community and is easy to install, set up, and manage using various tools, such as the Cockpit web console.

Fedora is also fast, stable, and quite secure, making it ideal for production and enterprise workloads, with new versions pushed out every 6 months.

10、Fedora CoreOS

The last one is Fedora CoreOS. It is a minimal operating system optimized specifically for running containerized applications and workloads. According to its homepage, it describes itself as “an automatically updating minimal operating system for running containerized workloads securely and at scale.”

Normally, it is released together with Podman and Docker, and has three versions, namely Stable, Testing and Next. You can get images for bare metal servers and virtualized environments, as well as cloud images hosted by major cloud providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud Platform (GCP).

in conclusion

This is the best summary of Linux server distributions. I hope you gain something after reading this guide. Have an idea for our guide? Your feedback is very welcome.

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