Amazon.com: CentOS Linux 4.0 i386 Media Kit: Software

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Red Hat Enterprise Power at a Free Linux Price, May 14, 2005

By	W. Diamond "Grumpy Old Man" (Alexandria, VA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The CentOS Linux 4 operating system is built from the publicly provided sources developed by Red Hat Linux. That doesn't make this the same as Red Hat Enterprise Linux - but it's not too far from the mark.

CentOS Linux is an excellent dedicated server operating system that includes support Intel 32-bit and 64-bit processors. Installation is as nearly easy as any Red Hat distribution, which makes it easier than most Linux systems albeit not as easy as the incredibly user friendly Mandriva and Ubuntu distributions.

To build a new CentOS 4 server, I purchased an inexpensive eMachines T6212 desktop with 512 MB RAM and an AMD Athlon 64 3200+ processor. Unlike most Linux installations, this was an unbelievably slow installation. The installation took several hours. The installation does an excellent job of automatically identifying your hardware and then presents you with an astonishing list of optional software packages to install. This includes all manner of server tools including relational database servers, the ability to act as a Windows-compatible network server, electronic mail, web servers and full development tools. While not quite to the Windows standard of cheerful handholding, the CentOS installer is a bit more no nonsense and expects you've been down the Linux path before.

Security is a huge issue, and this version of CentOS supports the SELinux security engine developed in partnership with the National Security Agency. The result is a very secure Linux server that meets or exceeds even the most stringent security standards. CentOS includes the iptables firewall, which can be a bit tricky to setup and configure. Still, this can be an excellent way to build a simple and reliable home DMZ. Use the provided fetchmail and procmail services, and you can safely retrieve email from commercial mail accounts like Yahoo!, Gmail and ISP accounts, filter them for spam, trojans and viruses and have your in-house users connect to your CentOS server for their safely cleansed email.

Since I was most interested in setting up an email server, I used the installed Postfix electronic mail server with Dovecot to provide POP3 and IMAP services. Configuration was very easy, but not for the faint of heart. I added Squirrelmail - a web based email client that allows my users to review their email online without needing to use a separate email client, just their web browser. Kind of like Microsoft's Outlook Web Agent. You'll need more than provided documentation to do this.

Once I had the email server working, I downloaded and installed Spamassassin and Clam Antivirus. Within a few hours, I had a well-secure electronic mail server that automatically filters email against viruses, trojans, and spam. All for free.

I'd recommend CentOS to home users who want to get hands-on experience with enterprise-grade Linux servers and to small organizations that cannot afford the high prices charged by certain commercial software houses. A configuration like CentOS in the Windows world can easily cost an organization of 50 people well over $20,000. With CentOS, you can have an equal degree of power with far higher security for free.