3

I have a server with Quad-Core Intel Xeon Processor 5300 Sequence. I would like to install the latest stable release of Debian on it.

But I'm confused by the number of installers available for download:

amd64
arm64
armel
armhf
i386
mips
mipsel
powerpc
ppc64el
s390x
source
multi-arch

I would like to install 64-bit system (there is enough RAM), so surely not i386, but which one? I know I should probably choose amd64 but this comes from what is more-heard-of, not from actual understanding.

I have found nothing in Intel's datasheet. On Xeon's wikipedia page it says that both IA-32 and x86-64 instruction sets are supported and names a number of microarchitectures like Haswell, Nehalem, etc. None of these names resemble anything from the list. I tried to google them individually but again no luck.

What is additionally confusing is the presence of "multi-arch" option which is said to cover both i386 and amd64. If so why are there are separate options in first place?

|improve this question
  • 2
    AMD and Intel 64bit go under amd64 - Source: Debian's Hardware Info. The others are usually either Supercomputers or mobile phone sized processors. – Fiximan Aug 26 '15 at 20:46
  • @Fiximan Thanks, I think this answers my question in full. Would you post it as a full Answer so that I could accept it? – xaxa Aug 26 '15 at 21:21
  • It's a shame that this link is not on the page with installers... – xaxa Aug 26 '15 at 21:22
  • A FAQ is linked from the CD page. It should answer your question. – Ferenc Wágner Aug 28 '15 at 6:41
4

You could use i386 (because your processor supports the IA-32 instructions) or amd64 (because of the x86-64 instruction set). If you want 64bit, you should use amd64.

There is a description of the different port on https://www.debian.org/ports/index.en.html:

amd64 - 64-bit PC (amd64)

First officially released with Debian 4.0. Port to the 64-bit AMD64 processors. The goal is to support both 32-bit and 64-bit userland on this architecture. This port supports AMD's 64-bit Opteron, Athlon and Sempron processors, and Intel's processors with Intel 64 support, including the Pentium D and various Xeon and Core2 series.

i386 - 32-bit PC (i386)

The first architecture, and not strictly a port. Linux was originally developed for the Intel 386 processors, hence the short name. Debian supports all IA-32 processors, made by Intel (including all Pentium series and recent Core Duo machines in 32-bit mode), AMD (K6, all Athlon series, Athlon64 series in 32-bit mode), Cyrix and other manufacturers.

The multi-arch installer is just an installer which supports the installation of both i386 and amd64 systems.

|improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.