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I want to choose distribution version of server on VDS\Cloud. I choosing between 32-bit and 64-bit.

From one side, server with 64-bit OS faster than same server with 32-bit OS (is it true?). From other side, each application on server with 64-bit OS require 2 times more RAM. And RAM is main property of server, because most of VDS\Cloud providers increase cost, when you increase RAM consumption.

I will use: MySQL, Ruby, Ruby on Rails, nginx

petRUShka
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1 Answers1

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From one side, server with 64-bit OS faster than same server with 32-bit OS (is it true?). From other side, each application on server with 64-bit OS require 2 times more RAM. And RAM is main property of server, because most of VDS\Cloud providers increase cost, when you increase RAM consumption.

The 64 bit version of an operating system is not necessarily any faster than the corresponding 32 bit version...nor will a 64 bit OS necessarily require additional memory. On the other hand, the 64 bit operating system will be able to address substantially more memory, as will the applications.

In general: if you're going to populate your server with more than 4GB of RAM, then you're probably best off with the 64 bit version of the operating system.

larsks
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    Nit-picking: 32-bit linux can handle more than 4GB of physical memory. The qualifier should be: "if you expect to run processes that individually require more than 3GB of RAM." (3GB because by default, 32-bit linux processes address 3GB as user memory and 1GB as stack.) – David Mackintosh Jan 25 '11 at 00:50
  • That is correct, but I didn't feel that level of detail was germaine to my answer. – larsks Jan 25 '11 at 01:25