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#! rnews 3206 sserve.cc.adfa.oz.au Xref: sserve comp.os.linux.networking:10422 comp.os.ms-windows.networking.tcp-ip:13109 comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:3796 Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.networking,comp.os.ms-windows.networking.tcp-ip,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc Path: sserve!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!simtel!zombie.ncsc.mil!news.mathworks.com!gatech!news.sprintlink.net!dorite!not-for-mail From: root@dyson.iquest.net (John S. Dyson) Subject: Re: Internet service providing-which OS? Message-ID: <3urt4d$70@dyson.iquest.net> Lines: 51 Sender: news@iquest.net (News Admin) Organization: John S. Dyson's Machine References: <3ue5qa$ain@panix.com> <3uk3b5$35a@legend.txdirect.net> <DC3sEM.1Jr@saturn.tlug.org> <tgmDC46x0.A4M@netcom.com> Date: Sat, 22 Jul 1995 22:12:29 GMT In article <tgmDC46x0.A4M@netcom.com>, Thomas G. McWilliams <tgm@netcom.com> wrote: >Mike Frisch (mfrisch@saturn.tlug.org) wrote: >: Let's not forget ftp.cdrom.com which is a very busy (probably one >: of the busies on the 'net) ftp/www server running FreeBSD on a very large >: Pentium system. > >FreeBSD ftp.cdrom.com crashed earlier this year and was down for over a FROM A HARDWARE PROBLEM DURING SCHEDULED DOWNTIME FOR AN UPGRADE!!!! DID YOU KNOW THAT??? >week. The fallout was catastrophic. Anyone who would be so foolish as >to use FreeBSD as a mission critical server should ask the OS/2 >community which was schwacked hard by the loss of a major FTP site. > >tgm@netcom.com My network personality is generally very mild, so this admonishment should not be taken lightly... GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT!!! There were two major problems. The first was a hardware (disk-drive) incompatibility that mangled the SCSI bus (The incompatibility was between OLD Adaptec 1742s and NEW Quantum GP drives -- I think.) This problem occured during scheduled downtime for an upgrade. The root filesystem was destroyed. (Any OS can manifest this --- as this isn't even an OS problem.) Since at the time an earlier version was running on the system, the FreeBSD (and WC) team decided (had) to upgrade to V2.X.X (for various reasons too complex to go into here) (still very experimental at the time). That code was not ready... And would never have been released by the FreeBSD team. There were some fits and starts, but it eventually settled down. A herculean effort by David Greenman (davidg@root.com), Jordan and others put the machine back together. (Many long nights for the people involved.) ftp.cdrom.com is NOT in WCs lab or in someones bedroom. It is involved for anyone to get to it as it is in a secure room at an internet hub. David does not live in the area where the machine is, and the problems took a while to resolve. ftp.cdrom.com is a testament to stability -- the FreeBSD or WC people don't even see it for months at a time!!!! Actually, I believe that this is an indicator of the quality of the FreeBSD team being able to accomodate a users' (Walnut Creek) needs and coming up to a challenge (even having to use code that would have never been given out to the public.) The facts are -- FreeBSD is one of the best OSes for ISPs out there. It isn't perfect, but most OSes are far less perfect for sure. John dyson@root.com