FreeBSD 5.1 vs 4.8

Anyone use 5.1 yet?

[carfac]

Hi:

building a new server, and trying to decide which way to go. This will be production, and busy. Will run Apache, php, mod_perl and *possibly* mysql.

I am thinking towrd 5.1 because my new box is Xeon HTT, and 5.1 will support that. I do not do anything funky, so if the "main" parts work, i should be ok. I can also test for a week before committing, and fall back to 4.8 if i notice problems.

So, anyone got any ideas?

dave

[bcc1234]

Why not use 4.8 for a while and then upgrade to 5.2 or 5.3 or whichever one will be the 5.finallygotittogether?

[carfac]

because i am very unclear about how to upgrade- instruction VERY unclear in handbook, and i am still very new to freebsd.

[carfac]

Actually, that misses the point: is 5.1 pretty darn stable, or does it have a ways to go (as the os for a webserver) is really mu question... if it really is still fairly unstale, i WILL go 4.8 and upgrade later... but if it is pretty good now, why not do it?

dave

[bcc1234]

I don't think it's going to crash on you, but it might be a bit slower in certain situations. The threding and SMP have been improved, but a lot of things have changed, so some parts of the OS are not optimized yet.

[Kronos]

I've tried both, and would recommend keeping with 4.8 until they finally stabilize 5.x. I've found that there are problems in the 5.1 install that I didn't have before and a few other bugs. IMHO, keep to 4.8.

[carfac]

Thanks!

looks like 4.8!

dave

[bakedjake]

I wouldn't use mySQL on FreeBSD 5.1. :) I've seen multiple reports of compile errors and table corruptions. Stick with 4.8 on your server.

Be sure to upgrade from -RELEASE to -STABLE though. Check the handbook for instructions. On a server, you'll want to trim as much out of the kernel as you can.

Do that before you start installing ports.

[carfac]

thanks!

>>> Do that before you start installing ports.

Did not know that- thank you!

Dave

[drbrain]

4.8 supports HTT, its a hardware thing.

You'll have no real reason to move to 5.x right now, and with your newness to the OS, I would recommend against it, unless you have much experience with other UNIXes.

There's a reason why the 4.x branch is called '4-STABLE' and the 5.x branch is called '5-CURRENT', even if there have been releases of the CURRENT branch :)

(Even though it isn't called 'stable' its still just about as stable as any other BSD)

When -CURRENT becomes -STABLE, you'll find it very easy to upgrade, compiling a new FreeBSD is dead simple.

The one thing you should do is make sure your filesystems are UFS2, not UFS1. UFS2 adds support for really really big filesystems with really really big files, including ACL support and a few other goodies. If/when you upgrade to 5.x you won't be missing out on anything because you've still got a UFS1 fs.

You can recompile a kernel at any time, so you don't have to do it before or after compiling ports. It won't make any difference to the port.

I haven't heard of any problems with MySQL, but the best place to research that, and other questions would be in the mailing lists of www.freebsd.org.