Linux Tutorials on the topic “centos”

What is CentOS?

CentOS or Community Enterprise Operating System is a community driven enterprise-class GNU/Linux distribution that uses the upstream sources of Red Hat Enterprise Linux as it basis. This RHEL fork is fully compatible with Red Hat's system, but it is free of price, certification requirements and support services. This fact quickly raised the popularity of CentOS among server administrators and other demanding sectors of the corporate environment, so the project ended up being acquired by Red Hat in 2014, who also hired the head developers of the project. CentOS however remains independent as an entity, focused in the development of open source solutions and led by their own governing board.

Why use CentOS?

As CentOS is basically a RHEL fork, it boasts top notch security features that meet the increased needs of web servers in that sector. Red Hat employs a large team of experts that work on locating and filling security holes in a daily basis. These fixes are then circulated through critical updates that CentOS receives regularly. This procedure ensures the utmost level of security that CentOS users enjoy without spending a nickel.

Another factor that is critical for enterprise grade systems is their stability. Being a RHEL fork, CentOS features great operational rigidness and solid systems implementation that are reliable for any use case. CentOS is known for using older and more stable and tested versions of software packages that are performing more predictably and feature very low failure and bug rates. All packages are carefully selected and tested for their interoperability and proper functionality, so while CentOS may not feature the latest and greatest software, it will certainly allow you to work without any nasty surprises.

The third critical factor that makes CentOS unique among enterprise level operating systems is the wide spectrum of hardware architectures that it supports. CentOS can work seamlessly on 32 or 64-bit Intel and ARM systems, PowerPC (Apple Macintosh), IBM eServers, DEC Alpha and SPARC.

HowtoForge and CentOS

Harvesting the sheer power of systems like CentOS is never a simple case, but HowtoForge deep expertise can help you get there step by step, and through complete and easily understandable tutorials. Our guides concern the installation and configuration of open server solutions on CentOS, establishment of secure SSH connections, utilization and setting up of cloud services or Apache servers, implementation of project management solutions and other sophisticated office utilities, realization of rock solid website hosting, performance RAID arrays management and configuration, creation of SQL databases, Joomla and Drupal platforms installation and integration. HowtoForge offers over four hundred content rich tutorials that explain the various possible CentOS configurations and uses in great detail. Whether you are a new user that just installed CentOS for the first time, or an experienced professional that works with enterprise-class systems for years, exploring our tutorials database will surely expand your knowledge and enhance your web-mastering abilities.

This is of course only a fraction of the total volume of information that can be found in HowtoForge website. Learn more about CentOS and other GNU/Linux distributions by visiting our helpful community forums. An experienced user is always likely to answer to any of your questions/problems.