freebsd — LowEndSpirit https://lowendspirit.com/index.php?p=/ Sat, 06 Jun 2026 00:34:29 +0000 en freebsd — LowEndSpirit Why We Run FreeBSD-current At Netflix – Drew Gallatin https://lowendspirit.com/index.php?p=/discussion/7688/why-we-run-freebsd-current-at-netflix-drew-gallatin Sat, 20 Apr 2024 19:11:24 +0000 Technical Not_Oles 7688@/index.php?p=/discussions Why We Run FreeBSD-current At Netflix – Drew Gallatin

image
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40096774
https://people.freebsd.org/~gallatin/
https://papers.freebsd.org/author/drew-gallatin/
https://openfest.org/

From PDF slides at https://people.freebsd.org/~gallatin/talks/OpenFest2023.pdf :

Netflix formerly ran FreeBSD-stable

  • "Merge [Netflix'] FreeBSD from FreeBSD-stable every few weeks."
  • "Moved to a new -stable branch every few years"
    -- "This sometimes took months"
  • "Upstreaming patches required porting them to -current"

Now, Netflix runs FreeBSD-current

  • "Merge upstream from FreeBSD-current every 3 weeks"
    -- "We notice & resolve new upstream bugs that impact us immediately"
    -- "Much easier to upstream code and collaborate with upstream developers"

Netflix FreeBSD Performance Milestones

  • "2017 -- First 100 Gb/s CDN server"
  • "2020 -- First 200 Gb/s CDN server"
  • "2021 -- First 400 Gb/s CDN server"
  • "2022 -- First 800 Gb/s CDN server"
  • "2023 -- First 100 Gb/s CDN server consuming only 100W of power"

Watch the video to check out :) the story of the Magical Mystery Merge! :)

Thanks to abhinavk for suggesting this very fun video!

]]> Has anybody here run *BSD as a virtualization host? https://lowendspirit.com/index.php?p=/discussion/5261/has-anybody-here-run-bsd-as-a-virtualization-host Sun, 15 Jan 2023 04:21:45 +0000 Help Not_Oles 5261@/index.php?p=/discussions FreeBSD has bhyve as a virtualization host. I was just reading "23.6.3. Creating a Linux® Guest" at https://docs.freebsd.org/en/books/handbook/virtualization/ and I wonder, has anybody here tried a *BSD virtualization host? Thanks! :)

]]> A Couple of BSD VPS Questions (FreeBSD, OpenBSD) https://lowendspirit.com/index.php?p=/discussion/2276/a-couple-of-bsd-vps-questions-freebsd-openbsd Thu, 17 Dec 2020 23:15:06 +0000 Technical flips 2276@/index.php?p=/discussions

@AnthonySmith said in another thread:
As it is simple to find a good 512mb deal it kind of makes this thread redundant so I have span one up myself on IH infrastructure but because I hate things being easy I am doing it on FreeBSD instead.

Love this, "I hate things being easy" ... =) B)
Speaking of FreeBSD. I recently spun up both a FreeBSD and a OpenBSD node.

After my first purpose is accomplished, my curiosity will have me test other stuff as well. Wondering:

  1. What kinda benchmark script/tool would you guys run on BSD? (yabs.sh by @Mason looks kinda Linux specific)
  2. Of the many available httpd's available, which ones of these should I give a shot? OpenBSD's own/default (ob)httpd, (s)thttpd? Others?
]]> FreeBSD and bhyve https://lowendspirit.com/index.php?p=/discussion/1431/freebsd-and-bhyve Thu, 09 Jul 2020 16:25:17 +0000 General MaxKVM 1431@/index.php?p=/discussions Would there be any interest in a VPS/Cloud Provider that used the bhyve hypervisor on FreeBSD? The LXC offers here are fascinating to us and we know we cannot be the only devs who started out on *nix with FreeBSD 4 on a Pentium III. Does anyone have enough experience with bhyve to tell us about any drawbacks before we go deep into testing?

]]> Small Infrastructure Server https://lowendspirit.com/index.php?p=/discussion/854/small-infrastructure-server Thu, 02 Apr 2020 17:44:22 +0000 General FlamingSpaceJunk 854@/index.php?p=/discussions I'm in the market for a small infrastructure server. Something with in the home NAS form factor that I can install my own OS on.

Candidates:

Specs:

  • 4x+ real cores (preferably without SMT)
  • 8-16GB RAM (ECC preferred)

  • 6x disks

    • 2x boot
    • 4x storage (preferably in an external hotswap cage, which is what I really want)

  • 2x+ USB 3.1 or up (for backing up the backups)

  • IPMI/BMC/Remote management (this would be a plus)

Uses:

  • Backups (mostly)
  • Tertiary DNS
  • Internal monitoring
  • Admin tools (Ansible and such)
  • Jump server so I only have to log into one thing when remote

This is something I've been looking for a while, and I've never really been able to find something that checks all of the boxes. Everything ends up being in the mini-tower form factor.

I thought I would see if anyone had any ideas.

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