A Linux dedicated server gives you a whole physical machine with no hypervisor in the way, but which distribution should you run on it? Ubuntu, Debian, the CentOS successors, and RHEL each make different trade-offs around release cadence, support, and cost. This guide explains what a bare-metal Linux server actually is, when it beats a VPS or cloud instance, and how to pick a distribution by workload and support needs, with a side-by-side comparison and links to the right server for each.

Ubuntu is built from Debian, so this is a comparison between close relatives: same package format, same init system, largely the same administration. The real differences are cadence, support windows, kernel freshness, and who stands behind the updates: a fixed two-year LTS rhythm with optional paid coverage to 2036, versus a community release that's done when it's done and free forever. This guide lays out what the two actually share, where they genuinely differ, and which server workloads favour which, with current versions and support dates, not folklore.

Debian 12 "bookworm" quietly crossed a line in June 2026: regular security support ended, and it now runs on LTS. Debian 13 "trixie" has meanwhile matured through five point releases, which makes this the right moment to do the in-place upgrade. This guide covers the full procedure for a remote production server: the pre-flight checklist (including the interface-renaming trap that can cut a remote box off mid-upgrade), the three-command upgrade itself, and the trixie-specific changes to check afterwards: /tmp on tmpfs, the sysctl move, and OpenSSH 10.