What is ubuntu server

The dashboard contains a home button, followed by customization icons of your favorite programs. Many utilities come preinstalled on the Ubuntu Desktop. Moreover, plenty of other applications present in the online repositories may be downloaded using the Software Center. The Ubuntu Server provides a whole operating system to use. After installing the Ubuntu Server, you will see a blinking cursor when you first switch on your Server.

For someone who worked in desktop-like environments, this can be surprising to see. The Ubuntu Server has only the minimal necessities for use. Both Ubuntu Server and Desktop use the same app repositories.

Because the server operating system is designed to be used alone, none of the desktop utilities described above are preinstalled in the Ubuntu Server. When installing Ubuntu Server, you have the option of installing a software package according to your server type. After you have set up your Ubuntu Server, you can install software via the command line. The desktop environment is the fundamental distinction between Ubuntu Server and the Ubuntu Desktop. Unlike Ubuntu Desktop, Ubuntu Server lacks a graphical user interface.

Because most servers are headless to interact with the machine, these servers do not use display configuration, mouse, or a keyboard. Some Linux operating systems offer a Graphical User Interface, while many do not. The latest release includes important upgrades to the platform. Ubuntu Server now supports ZFS a file system with built-in snapshot capabilities and includes the first production release of Data Plane Development Kit DPDK , which is a set of libraries and drivers for fast packet processing.

SEE: Pro tips: Ubuntu If you run a small company and you're looking for an easy to deploy file server or web server, Ubuntu Server could handle that and so much more. If you're an enterprise-level company looking to scale out an OpenStack Cloud , a massive render farm, or a Hadoop cluster, Ubuntu has you covered.

Just because Ubuntu Server is open source and free to download , businesses need not worry about a lack of support; thanks to Canonical, you can purchase enterprise-grade support for the platform.

Available support plans include:. Over the last few years, the cloud has become a central point of focus for IT and users, and that shift has been a major boon to Canonical and Ubuntu. Ever since Infrastructure as a Service IaaS has taken off, Ubuntu has become one of the biggest players in running these services from the cloud.

Ubuntu has become the first choice for administrators and DevOps engineers looking to deploy OpenStack. And then there's Docker , one of the most popular container deployment platforms on the market. Ubuntu Server makes setting up Docker incredibly easy--so much so that nearly any level IT pro can make deploying containers a reality.

Containers can go a long way to helping you expand your company offerings to staff, clients, and customers. Another advantage Ubuntu Server has over many platforms in its class is the new ish snap package feature.

Snap packages are universal packages that contain all necessary dependencies and can be installed with a simple command such as sudo snap install nextcloud. So, Ubuntu Desktop assumes that your machine uses video outputs and installs a desktop environment. Ubuntu Server, meanwhile, lacks a GUI. Additionally, Ubuntu Desktop contains applications suited to general use: there's an office productivity suite, multimedia software, and web browser.

However, Ubuntu Server also includes different packages. These focus on server requirements. Accordingly, Ubuntu Server can run as an email server, file server, web server, and samba server. Specific packages include Bind9 and Apache2. Whereas Ubuntu desktop applications are focused for use on the host machine, Ubuntu Server packages concentrate on allowing connectivity with clients as well as security.

Installing Ubuntu Desktop is essentially like any other software install. But Ubuntu Server uses a process-driven menu instead. After all, there is no desktop environment to manage, so resources can be dedicated to server tasks. However, this doesn't always work out in practice. For example, you might install some particularly resource-intensive server software, thereby slowing the machine down.

Conversely, you might use Ubuntu Desktop purely for word processing. Installing Ubuntu Server and Ubuntu Desktop with the default options on two identical machines will invariably result in the Server delivering better performance than the desktop. But once software comes into the mix, things change.

Using Ubuntu Server rather than desktop should not be a completely new experience. At the very least if you have experience of the command line and SSH, Ubuntu Server should seem familiar. There are other key similarities: the kernel, and support. Since Ubuntu Because both Ubuntu Desktop and Ubuntu Server employ the same kernel, you can add any packages to either variant.

This means that while there is a difference between the default installations, you can customize your Ubuntu flavor accordingly. So, you might start with Ubuntu Server and install a desktop environment if you decide you can't run it headless.

Alternatively, you could begin with Ubuntu Desktop and add the necessary packages to create a server. The word "Ubuntu" comes from a South African term for togetherness and sharing. Some of the differences with Ubuntu Server include the replacement of a graphical user interface with a character-based interface for installation, as well as other changes to the interface.

These can be customized by the user. Ubuntu Server can be an easy and convenient way to set up a simple home network. One other feature of Ubuntu Server is the ability to assign "super user" tasks to make it easier to administer the network, where using the original edition can be more challenging or labor intensive. Share this Term. Related Terms Ubuntu Linux Server. Open Source Operating System.