Wells Fargo Linux Forum March 22, 2001

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Wells Fargo Linux ForumMarch 22, 2001
FreeBSD in Enterprise Environments Murray
Stokely ltmurray_at_freebsd.orggt
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Outline

• Key differences between FreeBSD and Linux
• Strengths of FreeBSD
• Reliability / Stability
• Performance
• Security
• Total Cost of Ownership
• Conclusions

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Key differences to Linux

• History
• Began at U.C. Berkeley over 20 years ago.
• Initial implementors of key Unix concepts such as
  sockets, virtual memory, and TCP/IP
• Licensing model
• Open source since day 1 but users who extend the
  system are not obligated to release their
  changes.
• Allows BSD in proprietary applications embedded
  products, satellites, etc.

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Key differences to Linux

• Development Organization
• Complete operating system in CVS repository. 260
  primary developers with write access.
• Complete OS
• Source code to the kernel, all of the libraries
  and user applications are kept in CVS.
• With one command, "make world" the entire
  operating system can be rebuilt and reinstalled.

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Key differences to Linux

• Packaging System
• Over 4,600 binary packages
• /usr/ports automatic package compilation system
• Configuration / Administration
• Administration of FreeBSD is consistent with over
  20 years of development.
• Different Linux distributions configured
  differently. Most lack consistency within a
  given distribution.

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Reliability

• Development infrastructure prevents poorly
  thought out subsystems from entering the system.
• Berkeley Fast Filesystem with Soft Updates
• Guarantees consistency
• Eliminates most synchronous writes
• Allows fsck-less booting
• Logical volume management and software RAID

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High Availability

• Clustering / High Availability Solutions
• http//www.polyserve.com/freebsd
• Customers using FreeBSD in mission-critical
  environments.
• Yahoo!, Juniper, Nokia, UUNet, Demon
• Bank of America / Nations Bank
• Xoom.com, Qwest, Easynet, Apache, Netcraft
• Etc..

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Performance

• Gartner Group study found FreeBSD 20-30 faster
  than Linux running on identical hardware.
• Fine grained SMP and fully preemptable kernel
  (5.0)
• Performance between Linux and FreeBSD is rapidly
  converging as new ideas are shared between the
  projects.

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Security

• Extensive code auditing
• Virtual Server Environments (Jails)
• POSIX.1e Support
• Mandatory Access Controls
• Access Control Lists
• Advanced firewall subsystem
• "Secure by default"

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Security

• BSD Unix systems are rarely affected by CERT
  advisories
• 7 CERT advisories affected Linux in 2000.

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Applications

• Linux Binary Compatibility
• Solaris/x86, SCO Binary Compatibility
• BSD/OS, NetBSD Binary Compatibility
• FreeBSD Ports Collection
• Most TCP/IP network applications were invented on
  BSD Unix.

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Support

• 24 x 7 Support from BSDi
• Per-incident or support contracts
• Highly qualified support technicians knowledgable
  about every major BSD subsystem.

13
Price and TCO

• Extreme price/performance advantage of PC
  hardware.
• Single processor 1U servers for lt 1000
• Dual processor 1U servers for lt 2000
• Extensive online support forums / community
• Reliability Consistency Easy Administration
• Professional Support available when needed

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Quote

• "Flexibility, in-house expertise,
  price/performance, and manageability," says Filo.
  "Those are just a few of the reasons why the
  Intel Architecture and FreeBSD appeal to us. By
  combining these platforms, we're able to deliver
  better, faster, and more innovative solutions
  than our competitors." -David Filo, Chief Yahoo!
• http//www.intel.com/ebusiness/casestudies/yahoo/b
  uscase.htm

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Conclusion

• FreeBSD has a very mature code base
• FreeBSD's development model enables a very stable
  platform.
• FreeBSD has been extensively reviewed by security
  experts, and has an excellent track record with
  its (lack-of) security exploits.
• FreeBSD's release engineering environment makes
  it very easy to administer.

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References

• BSDi (http//www.bsdi.com)
• The FreeBSD Project (http//www.FreeBSD.org)
• PolyServe Clustering (http//www.polyserve.com/fre
  ebsd)
• TrustedBSD Project (http//www.TrustedBSD.org)
• CERT (http//www.cert.org)