Date: Wed, 31 Jan 96 16:15:24 MET From: Greg Lehey <lehey.pad@sni.de> To: pierce@diamondmm.com (John R Pierce) Cc: hackers@freebsd.org Subject: Converting from Linux to FreeBSD Message-ID: <199601311519.QAA02179@nixpbe.pdb.sni.de> In-Reply-To: <199601311052.CAA00860@rah.star-gate.com>; from "Amancio Hasty Jr." at Jan 31, 96 2:52 am
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> I'm managing a internet server thats currently running Linux. Its > just a DNS/SENDMAIL/INN server, it has 32MB ram, and is a Pentium 90. > The system has been SO flakey, I've been thinking of trying FreeBSD > instead. > > hardware: triton based PCI Pentium 90, 32MB ram. Adaptec 2940 with 2 > x 1GB and 1 x 3.8GB drives (/, /var, and /usr2/spool for news). 3C509 > e-net card. s3 vga, but don't need/want xwindows, its a server. > > This is a online server for 100's of users (our corporate internet > main server), so it can't be offline for very long... it handles > 1000's of mail messages a day (like maybe 10,000!)... Its the primary > domain name server... its handling a almost full newsfeed (that can > go down w/o a big problem). > > My questions... > > can linux be 'upgraded' in place to freeBSD? Probably not. Certainly, in view of the requirement that you don't go down for long, you'd be better off installing FreeBSD on separate disks. That way, if you *do* experience problems, you can fall back to Linux quickly and painlessly. > does freeBSD support the ext2 file system from linux w/o > reformatting? No, sorry. You'll have to convert everything to ufs. > What caveats and/or gotchas am I, a unix admin newbie, likely > to experience? I suppose that depends on the problems you're having now. Bear in mind that not all problems with Linux are Linux's fault. If you're suffering from flaky hardware, expect to swap the symptoms you now know and partially understand with a new set of symptoms you don't understand. I personally believe that FreeBSD handles flaky hardware better than Linux does, but your mileage may vary. In addition, you may find FreeBSD very similar to Linux, but it's not the same. At least the device names and a coupld of programs will be unfamiliar. The extent to which this will worry you depends on your experience--the transition is easier for a newbie than it would be for an experienced hacker. Thirdly, moving such a high-profile application from one operating system to another in a hurry is asking for trouble. I would suggest that you get hold of a smaller loaner machine and install FreeBSD on that, and then start to migrate the services to it--say, the name server first. That way you'll get a good feeling for FreeBSD before you burn your bridges behind you. Maybe the next application could be the news feed, followed somewhat later by mail. I suspect your Linux box will work better with less load, so the relief should start to be apparent before you complete the transition. Finally, I'd like to take this opportunity to plug my forthcoming book, "Installing FreeBSD". This is in the final review stage. Possibly you would like to review it--please contact me offline if you're interested. Greg ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Greg Lehey LEMIS grog@lemis.de Schellnhausen 2 Tel: +49-6637-919123 36325 Feldatal Fax: +49-6637-919122 Germany
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