From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Mar 11 09:24:28 2009 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3DB97106566B for ; Wed, 11 Mar 2009 09:24:28 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd-questions@m.gmane.org) Received: from ciao.gmane.org (main.gmane.org [80.91.229.2]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id EAA308FC16 for ; Wed, 11 Mar 2009 09:24:27 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd-questions@m.gmane.org) Received: from list by ciao.gmane.org with local (Exim 4.43) id 1LhKfp-0008DM-W0 for freebsd-questions@freebsd.org; Wed, 11 Mar 2009 09:24:25 +0000 Received: from pool-70-21-13-242.res.east.verizon.net ([70.21.13.242]) by main.gmane.org with esmtp (Gmexim 0.1 (Debian)) id 1AlnuQ-0007hv-00 for ; Wed, 11 Mar 2009 09:24:25 +0000 Received: from nightrecon by pool-70-21-13-242.res.east.verizon.net with local (Gmexim 0.1 (Debian)) id 1AlnuQ-0007hv-00 for ; Wed, 11 Mar 2009 09:24:25 +0000 X-Injected-Via-Gmane: http://gmane.org/ To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org From: Michael Powell Followup-To: gmane.os.freebsd.questions Date: Wed, 11 Mar 2009 05:25:09 -0400 Lines: 33 Message-ID: References: <200903040326.n243QHY1041181@banyan.cs.ait.ac.th> <991123400903032304p7409c4ecvb76a6c6946b82920@mail.gmail.com> <200903110831.n2B8V6WD056612@banyan.cs.ait.ac.th> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit X-Complaints-To: usenet@ger.gmane.org X-Gmane-NNTP-Posting-Host: pool-70-21-13-242.res.east.verizon.net User-Agent: KNode/0.99.01 Sender: news Subject: Re: PAE kernel problem on Dell PowerEdge 2950 X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list Reply-To: nightrecon@verizon.net List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 11 Mar 2009 09:24:28 -0000 Olivier Nicole wrote: [snip] > > And I stick to RELENG, not STABLE, because I want to patch security > bugs, but I most probably does not need all the new bells and whistles > of STABLE: this is a production server, I prefer to modify the machine > as least as possible, unless it is expressely needed by a secuity > issue (I won't apply security patches if they are not pertinent to a > specific server and the services running on that machine). > > Bests, > > Olivier I am of the same bent. For many security issues that do not mandate a reboot I just apply the patches following the instructions in the security advisory. 32 bit drivers such as NVidia on a desktop box mean you're stuck with i386. These same drivers usually have problems with PAE kernels as well. In the server world you are better off not running a PAE kernel. PAE is kludge and a true 64 bit implementation will give you better performance. The thing to watch out here would be a controller driver based on a binary blob. How it was originally built by the mfr can cause trouble in a mix-n- match environment. I believe most controller drivers these days are OK on 64 bit platforms, it is just a detail to keep an eye out on. But - PAE is something better done away with and relegated to history. Just my $.02 -Mike