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Current Stable Release for CentOS Dedicated Servers: 5.0 – April 12, 2007

Website: http://www.centos.org

Reference: CentOS Dedicated Server

CentOS (Community ENTerprise Operating System) was first released at the end of 2003. CentOS dedicated servers make use of a free Linux distribution that is based on Red Hat’s RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) software. The primary goal of CentOS is to maintain 100% binary compatibility with upstream products. Other goals include items such as easy maintenance, commercial support and long term use, which are all important for CentOS dedicated servers.

The CentOS development team uses Red Hat’s publicly available code to update CentOS on a regular basis. There are many other distributions that follow a similar approach; however CentOS dedicated servers are typically the most up-to-date with Red Hat’s latest changes.

OS versions for CentOS dedicated servers are made up of a minor and a major version. The major version relates to Red Hat Enterprise Linux’s version that was used. The minor version relates to the update set of major version referenced.
(ex. CentOS 3.1 was based on RHEL 3 update 1)

CentOS can be used for a workstation; however it is intended to be used primarily on servers such as a CentOS dedicated server. The reason for this is that it directly follows Red Hat Enterprise Linux, which directly targets the commercial market.

The website, http://www.centos.org, contains company information, links to download software for your CentOS dedicated server, release notes, product support and much more. In addition, the documentation for each release is accessible directly through their website.  This information is often very useful when configuring a CentOS dedicated server.

CentOS is a solid platform for those considering a CentOS dedicated server.