Setting up a RedHat Linux and Apache Web Server
- Linux Installation (continued from Needs):
-
- To Keep or Not To Keep (Microsoft Windows)
- Assuming that you have a computer for Linux, you have chosen RedHat Linux
for installation (5.2 or 6.0), and that you either have downloaded the
installation software or purchased it, your next major decision is whether or
not to keep Windows on your machine. If you have an existing machine, it
probably already has Windows. If you bought a new machine, most likely you
paid the "Microsoft Tax" and it came with Windows preinstalled. My general
recommendation: if you are going to use the machine as a dual boot
Linux/Windows platform, then keep Windows. If you are going to set the machine
up as a Web server, then keeping Windows just wastes disk space and
complicates the installation process. In the most recent Linux servers that I
have setup, I have not kept Windows, and I do not regret it.
The aspect of
Windows that can be helpful, if it is already loaded on the computer you are
going to use for Linux, is getting information about your hardware. The RedHat
installation manual describes what you need to know. Basically, Linux can
detect most parts of your hardware autmatically, the one area where I ran into
some problems was with identification of the monitor. Personally, I found all
the information I needed by consulting the printed documentation that came
with the monitor for the horizontal and vertical scan and resolutions
permitted.
- Disk Partitions
- If you've decided to keep Windows on your machine, then your task is
slightly more complicated because you will have to make room for Linux without
destroying the Windows partition. The RedHat 6.0 installation guide has an
excellent section on Disk Partitions (section 2.8), but does not cover the
details of how to make room for Linux on an existing Windows machine. If you
want to keep Windows on the same disk as Linux, I recommend that you get a
copy of "LINUX Network Toolkit", by Paul G. Sery. He explains in detail the
necessary steps.
If you are either blowing away Windows or installing
Linux on a fresh disk, you won't need to worry about programs such as FIPS,
ScanDisk, and the Windows DEFRAG program.
Home: http://www.sibbald.com/
Contact: kern at sibbald dot
com
Last Update: