BSD versus Slackware
 

I have been testing the various BSDs as an alternative to Slackware as a database server running PostgreSQL. So far I have tested and eliminated (provisionally) OpenBSD 4.6, NetBSD 5.0.1, and a minimal Slack13 with NetBSD's pkgsrc bootstrapped on top as a software manager.

So now it is time to test FreeBSD, but I am heartily tired of installing and testing at this point. I'm trying to decide whether to plunge ahead anyway, put the testing off for a bit, or just accept that Slack rules over all.

Is there any compelling reason to choose FreeBSD, 7.2 or 8.0, over Slackware for a database server that needs to be able to scale up?

P.S. I really like OpenBSD, it just is not my first choice for a database server.

As far as I know; no.

And what does "scale up" imply? Going from 1 query per minute to 1000 per second, or from 1 query per minute to 2 queries per minute?

I can though say, that I've been very impressed with Opensolaris (or plain Solaris for that matter). If somebody forced me to abandon Slackware, I would probably end up using Opensolaris.

In the end: Stick with what you know best, especially for a server. Servers are supposed to run 24/7, and getting that kind of uptime is best attained if you know what you're doing. If you know Slackware, use Slackware. If BSD is your game, use BSD.

Both systems will "scale" well, if handled correct. Both systems will suck, if handled poorly.

*NIX, *BSD*, and Linux are roughly equivalent for running server software imo, they all have their strong and weak points, but I've yet to use a *nix/alike that couldn't scale to handle almost any task provided there was adequate underlying hardware and the software was configured correctly. Often times a few simple tweaks to the network stack or to the daemons makes more performance difference than switching operating systems.

Thanks for your answers!

By "scale up", I mean going from a few inquiries per minute during initial testing and roll out, to potentially 100's per second. I also meant the ability to efficiently make use of multiple multi-core CPUs. I know that Slackware is does fine on this front, but I don't know about FreeBSD.

This setup is probably going to end up on a commercial shared virtual host in Canada, and I think it might be easier to find a shared host running FreeBSD than Slackware. Most such operations seem to be running CentOS or Redhat, and I don't particularly care for that option. Also, the application I want to run was developed on Debian, and would have to be tweaked to run on another distribution/OS. I'd rather tweak on Slackware that Redhat.

I have tried BSD 5x, 6x and 7x. I'm running slackware 13. ;)

The biggest struggle I have with the BSD is the UDMA problems I experience with it. The solution I keep seeing is to dumb down the hardware. Not an acceptable solution IMHO. The problem has never been replicable under various Linux distro's, Solaris, and Windows. I've encountered the problem across three different PC's. I've even encountered it in a VMware guest.

I've set up servers under CentOS and find it is a lot easier than doing so with FreeBSD. I would go with CentOS before I would look at a BSD solution.

[Flame Retardent] Please note, that I do not have anything against FreeBSD. I really liked it, until I started fighting the UDMA problems.[/Flame...]

Oh and slack rocks. :)

-JJ

I can't speak for all BSDs, but FreeBSD is slowly gaining ground on Linux for use as a desktop. I just installed FreeBSD 8 and it's nice. I've had little problem so far. I'm using GNOME 2.26.x. Granted, the more esoteric, e.g. TV and video, aspects of an operating system still place the BSDs back in the pack. I'll be looking into solutions. FreeBSD simply seems more stable than Linux to me, but much of the instability of Linux is due to those esoteric aspects, e.g. TV.

I hadn't used Gnash in awhile so I was pleasantly surprised to see the improvements as a substitute for Adobe's Flash plug-in. Yes, problems remain, but Gnash is basically usable even with YouTube.

FreeBSD 8 should be just fine for use as a SMP server.

I'm going to start using FreeBSD when they have an nvidia 64 bit driver.

Hi,
I am new here, and I do not have verry much experience with linux.
I have a small, but growing internet network, and a friend of mine make me the server who manage it. Operating system is FreeBSD, until now was no problems, but the part with IP trafic control is not a verry good one.
Other friend, tell's me that Slackware is the best Linux server for what I need.
I need your opinion,you have much more experience, and I need an advise, which version of Slackware is the best for what I need.
Now, I have 35 clients on this network, but soon wil be over 150 and even more, so please give me the best option.
Thank you!

I've been using FreeBSD since 5.x, but, I have completely switched to Slackware.
I no longer use FreeBSD. For me Slackware has everything I need. :)

Unless there is a specific reason to be running a non-current version of any *BSD or *NIX, you should be running the current release.

Thank you for your answers!
So, the best option is Slackware 13, or I sould try a previous version?

My Experience with Slackware..

Well, yes I'm not geek enough to judge, but I'll speak about a little experience that I had.

Few months ago and still, I had a database, which I used to run on a Home (P4 2.8Mh 480Mb Ram) Server, operated by Slackware.
Every thing was running just like a charm.
The Database, isn't a small one, It's one of those you can name them Huge (Yeah, there is much huger).
I'm speaking here about a 10 million records with complected quires that collect data from several tables and put them together.

Alright, when I switched to a real live server, operated by CentOS, with smaller than half the database I was running on Slack, things changed..!!
Some times, the page takes more than a minute to load. That same database on another same-as machine operated by Slack went like sugar..

Slack For Ever..!!
;)

In case you are interested, here are some benchmarking comparisons between Free BSD, linux (Fedora 12 and Ubuntu 9.10) and Open Solaris:
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?pag...nchmarks&num=1

In my opinion the best option is Slackware 13.0 unless you have some hardware issue that prevents you from running it. The newest version of Slackware has up to date software and the latest security patches.

Interesting to note that Linux (Ubuntu, Fedora) was faster on most tests compared to FreeBSD. I can only awesome then that Slackware would perform even better as it has less system overhead than Ubuntu or Fedora.
Slackware FTW! :cool: