I am new to linux and doing linux administration

I came across various servers. But I want to know that which distribution is best for which server? e.g Should I install Apache on redhat, mandrake, suse or on which distribution. similarly for Samba , Squid, MySql, Dhcp,DNS, on which distribution/s these services shows good performance

I would be grateful if someone solve my confusion.

Thanks in advance.

I think what you are asking is "what distro is suitable for using as a server host"

Generally GNU/Linux is able to handle services fine in equal measures. Overall, say Apache is configured the same on any GNU/Linux system. Same with postfix, mysql and so forth.

So the question arises of what distro has good package support and such. I have found that Slackware does everything i want it to do, it updates well, and there is excellent support.

MDK doesn't update well, but has good package support.

FC is a pain in the arse

SuSE is very decent

debian is excellent and very reliable but sometimes has ... quirks.

Gentoo is very fast, but doesn't always emerge packages well, I've had issues with PHP ones in particular, but overall i am very happy with Gentoo for my laptop ... so there.

One final thing is: if you are new to GNU/Linux you might not want to administer servers ... But hey you have to learn somehow so read the documentation (admins should also do that so i'm not picking on you )

Good luck, let us know how you go

Thanks but Which distro is most stable as a server host (using dhcp, dns, squid, apache, sendmail etc)

Debian is in my opinion the most stable Linux distro. FreeBSD is also very stable but it's not Linux. Overall I think you should look into something that will also be easy to manage. With no disrespect to you, having the most stable server in the world is a mute point if you lack the knowledge to configure it in the first place. If you're very new to Linux and UNIX, perhaps CentOS or SuSE would be better options, they are quite stable also.

In my experience chakkerz is right on with everything said. Each distro is different, and most have good points and bad points. For a server I like a distro that has a longer release cycle, but for my desktop I want something just the opposite. That's why I like Debian, I can run stable on my servers, and testing/unstable/ubuntu on my desktop Luckily, I started using Linux before there were 500 gazillion distros, I can't imagine how confusing it must be for a new user to decide which one is the best for them.

Thanks. but if someone new and want to now the linux in depth which distro is suitable what about slack and suse livecd. Also I am doing some network administration i will post here my network servers configuration will you help me and guide for using right distro for each server because of some ressons i will posted with server configuration ?

I'd say Debian and Slackware are the best options for a server.

If you want to buy support you should consider Red Hat Enterprise.