Anyone using FreeBSD for hosting? We are considering it in place of RH but would like your opinion. Going on Compaq DL360's 3 GB RAM. Thanks!

Why do you want to switch from RH to FreeBSD.
I don't think FreeBSD is developed like RedHat for hosting (cpanel, tools ,etc).

Putting control panels aside, FreeBSD is a great operating system for running a web server. It can be relatively secure, has kernel firewalling, and is quite stable even at high load.

The only problem I have with FreeBSD is that a lot of clients may be skeptical about whether certain features will be available, or whether they'll be familiar enough with the server.

Linux is more popular, and more people know how to do things on Linux. It's a lot more user-friendly than FreeBSD (at least out of the box; you can certainly use a 'bash' shell, and set up binary compatibility).

In the end, if you're targetting non-tech savy customers, they probably won't care what OS is running, as long as it's not Windows and as long as they can FTP, set up email, etc the same as they would elsewhere. If this is the case, and your admins are familiar with running a secure FreeBSD box, then by all means...

But if you're targetting developers, Linux would appeal to a larger percentage of the community (though FreeBSD, configured as a good dev box, would be a good niche market)...

It really depends on your goals, and what type of user you're wanting to attract, as well as what you (or your sysAdmin) are familiar/comfortable with.

I'm not sure how the OS would even affect developers, etc. When it comes to end-user use, FreeBSD and RedHat are very similair from what I've seen.

FreeBSD all the way. ;)

From the small amount of time that I have used FreeBSD I can tell you that I prefer RedHat Linux much more..

Cpanel is coming out for FreeBSd so maybe that will help.

Personally, the OS definately makes a difference. On the surface you see some similarities between the two; but Linux and FreeBSD are very different.

Recently I've been doing some work on Solaris (5.7 even, very old box). Again, on the surface it feels like Linux, until you start doing any real work.

I'm personally comfortable on any Unix or Unix-like system. However, there are quite a lot of users who know Linux, and would be much more comfortable on a system they have used (or may even have at home/work). Some people don't want to learn a new system. I know some webmasters/programmers who won't even work with a different Linux distribution, much less a different OS...

And the differences can potentially be fatal -- ask anyone who's ever typed "killall" on a Solaris box ;)

You can't compare Solaris with either FreeBSD or Linux.

I'm interested in what type of problems/differences one encounters on a FreeBSD box as opposed to a RedHat/Linux machine (from an end-user perspective, not server admin/owner).

Yes, my question was more for problems...Not that it isn't useful for others reading, but I don't care if cpanel is built for it or not - why add instability? I'm really interested in stability, scalability, and pitfalls

Using RH is easier at least to me. I have switched to freebsd, I like it a lot, but the small things at first are a killer. Like learning how to add ip addresses and some other things. But I am now getting use to it.

Originally posted by marksy
Yes, my question was more for problems...Not that it isn't useful for others reading, but I don't care if cpanel is built for it or not - why add instability? I'm really interested in stability, scalability, and pitfalls

Well I've never used it for hosting however from lots of reading and talking to others I've learned a few things. Plus i've played with freebsd on my desktop just for fun :)

basically... freebsd can be stable as heck and scales much better than linux. of course it's a bit more difficult to configure but in reality once you get use to it won't be any worse than dealing with linux.

Originally posted by marksy
Yes, my question was more for problems...Not that it isn't useful for others reading, but I don't care if cpanel is built for it or not - why add instability? I'm really interested in stability, scalability, and pitfalls

We have FreeBSD servers that are doing well over 5,000+GB/mo and have 100+ day uptimes.

The only pitfall I can truly think of is that it's less common than RedHat, hence sometimes finding support may be harder. But it hasn't been a problem for us in 3+ years of using it.

Find solutions is a bit hard, but the mailing lists they have for freebsd is really great. Most people have had the problems I have had and searching for 5 minutes and I usually find an answer. Also some say that it being used less makes it more secure :)

Through a recommendation....

We are running Plesk 2.0 on Free BSD in Dallas.

OVerall it looks very solid and things are working great.

Probably the best move.

Joe

I have to raise my hand for Freebsd on this one. I have months of uptime with this os. Many more then any linux server I had running. Granted to find that all important support isnt always easy, then again most things arent. For webhosting I happen to like it and the os handles many Mbits of traffic. As far as panels go....I havnt a clue, never used one in my life.