Gentoo on the server side
 

** The issue is, as you should already must have guessed, if its a good idea to deploy Gentoo in a server. For the first time, i have the opportunity to install Gentoo on a properly set (almost pimped out) server and i wanted to be sure i know what i am doing before getting on with it. Where i work at, the tradition is to go with FreeBSD (which is, without a doubt, very stable) but since our FreeBSD guru parted i've been juggling the idea of starting to use Gentoo on servers instead of using it only on desktops.

** I have always found very useful stuff in www.gentoo.org, however, i have not found a specific server side faq. Does anyone know where i could get such documentation?

Any pointers, opinions, faqs, insights, etc will be greatly appreciated


best wishes

Rafael

Gentoo on the server side
 

I run Gentoo on a server, but it's just a hobby, low-end one.* Athlon XP processor, 1.5 gigs of ram, raid 1 (hardware-controlled).* I have a few daemons/servers on it, such as Apache, snmp, and an MTA.* Runs fine.*


You might try talking to some of the web hosts who run dedicated Gentoo servers.* Links are on the main Gentoo website to some of these hosts.

On Nov 28, 2007 1:01 PM, Rafael Barrera Oro <
borafael@gmail.com> wrote:
** The issue is, as you should already must have guessed, if its a good idea to deploy Gentoo in a server. For the first time, i have the opportunity to install Gentoo on a properly set (almost pimped out) server and i wanted to be sure i know what i am doing before getting on with it. Where i work at, the tradition is to go with FreeBSD (which is, without a doubt, very stable) but since our FreeBSD guru parted i've been juggling the idea of starting to use Gentoo on servers instead of using it only on desktops.

** I have always found very useful stuff in www.gentoo.org, however, i have not found a specific server side faq. Does anyone know where i could get such documentation?


Any pointers, opinions, faqs, insights, etc will be greatly appreciated


best wishes

Rafael




--
- Mark Shields

Gentoo on the server side
 

Mark Shields wrote:
> I run Gentoo on a server, but it's just a hobby, low-end one. Athlon XP
> processor, 1.5 gigs of ram, raid 1 (hardware-controlled). I have a few
> daemons/servers on it, such as Apache, snmp, and an MTA. Runs fine.
>
> You might try talking to some of the web hosts who run dedicated Gentoo
> servers. Links are on the main Gentoo website to some of these hosts.
>
> On Nov 28, 2007 1:01 PM, Rafael Barrera Oro < borafael@gmail.com
> <mailto:borafael@gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> The issue is, as you should already must have guessed, if its a
> good idea to deploy Gentoo in a server. For the first time, i have
> the opportunity to install Gentoo on a properly set (almost pimped
> out) server and i wanted to be sure i know what i am doing before
> getting on with it. Where i work at, the tradition is to go with
> FreeBSD (which is, without a doubt, very stable) but since our
> FreeBSD guru parted i've been juggling the idea of starting to use
> Gentoo on servers instead of using it only on desktops.
> I have always found very useful stuff in www.gentoo.org
> <http://www.gentoo.org>, however, i have not found a specific server
> side faq. Does anyone know where i could get such documentation?
>
> Any pointers, opinions, faqs, insights, etc will be greatly appreciated
>
> best wishes
>
> Rafael
>
>
>
>
> --
> - Mark Shields


I run several gentoo servers for image processing which harvest selected
source material from the Internet, and then process that information
into an autmated piece of art that I call CRUFT, generating images 24
hours a day, 7 days a week.

I have been running these gentoo servers since 2003, with very few
problems. Although I am conservative in doing my updates.



--
Robert Spahr
http://www.robertspahr.com


"It would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition
and psychological understanding of the people concerned that
a square is in fact a circle. What after all are a square and a
circle? They are mere words and words can be moulded until they
clothe ideas in disquise." -- Joseph Goebbels
--
gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list

Gentoo on the server side
 

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Hash: SHA512

I run Gentoo on 5+ servers (the rest are Ubuntu Linux servers and OpenBSD). I have to admit that the
upgrading procedure and certain Java/libs issues are making it a little painful to maintain, but on
the other side, I LOVE webapp-config. It makes wordpress (for example) upgrading for 200+
installations a quick and painless task.

- --
Arturo "Buanzo" Busleiman - Consultor Independiente en Seguridad Informatica
Apoye la Musica Libre - Vote Futurabanda desde: (ver sgte. linea)
http://www.frecuenciazero.com.ar/realityrock/votar.htm
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--
gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list

Gentoo on the server side
 

I have been using Gentoo for my server for several years. Just a hobby but
I run the following services...

Apache, MySQL, Qmail, VSFTPD, SAMBA, BIND, Squid and Courier Imap.

Use Webmin for configuration and setting it up is easy as pie.

> The issue is, as you should already must have guessed, if its a good
> idea
> to deploy Gentoo in a server. For the first time, i have the opportunity
> to
> install Gentoo on a properly set (almost pimped out) server and i wanted
> to
> be sure i know what i am doing before getting on with it. Where i work at,
> the tradition is to go with FreeBSD (which is, without a doubt, very
> stable)
> but since our FreeBSD guru parted i've been juggling the idea of starting
> to
> use Gentoo on servers instead of using it only on desktops.
> I have always found very useful stuff in www.gentoo.org, however, i
> have
> not found a specific server side faq. Does anyone know where i could get
> such documentation?
>
> Any pointers, opinions, faqs, insights, etc will be greatly appreciated
>
> best wishes
>
> Rafael
>


--
gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list

Gentoo on the server side
 

Our main server, which hosts the Latin America Official Gentoo Mirror runs Gentoo. So does our Web-server. So does our Backup server. So does our datacenter. By "our" I mean the laboratory I work at (check signature). I see no major issue on running Gentoo on servers.


On 11/28/07, Jason Carson <jay@canuckster.org> wrote:
I have been using Gentoo for my server for several years. Just a hobby but
I run the following services...

Apache, MySQL, Qmail, VSFTPD, SAMBA, BIND, Squid and Courier Imap.

Use Webmin for configuration and setting it up is easy as pie.


>****The issue is, as you should already must have guessed, if its a good
> idea
> to deploy Gentoo in a server. For the first time, i have the opportunity
> to
> install Gentoo on a properly set (almost pimped out) server and i wanted

> to
> be sure i know what i am doing before getting on with it. Where i work at,
> the tradition is to go with FreeBSD (which is, without a doubt, very
> stable)
> but since our FreeBSD guru parted i've been juggling the idea of starting

> to
> use Gentoo on servers instead of using it only on desktops.
>****I have always found very useful stuff in www.gentoo.org, however, i
> have
> not found a specific server side faq. Does anyone know where i could get

> such documentation?
>
> Any pointers, opinions, faqs, insights, etc will be greatly appreciated
>
> best wishes
>
> Rafael
>


--

gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list



--
Ricardo Saffi Marques
Laboratório de Administração e Segurança de Sistemas (LAS/IC)
Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP)

Cell: +55 (19) 8128-0435
Skype: ricardo_saffi_marques
Website: http://www.rsaffi.com

Gentoo on the server side
 

Rafael Barrera Oro wrote:
The issue is, as you should already must have guessed, if its a
good idea to deploy Gentoo in a server. For the first time, i have the
opportunity to install Gentoo on a properly set (almost pimped out)
server and i wanted to be sure i know what i am doing before getting
on with it. Where i work at, the tradition is to go with FreeBSD
(which is, without a doubt, very stable) but since our FreeBSD guru
parted i've been juggling the idea of starting to use Gentoo on
servers instead of using it only on desktops.
I have always found very useful stuff in www.gentoo.org
<http://www.gentoo.org>, however, i have not found a specific server
side faq. Does anyone know where i could get such documentation?


Any pointers, opinions, faqs, insights, etc will be greatly appreciated


I use 2 Gentoo servers for my work activities (I need at least 2 Linux
deploy hosts for the database cluster product I participate in building).


Since using Gentoo early in 2006, I haven't had any stability issues,
and I'm fairly aggressive with updates - every month.


Cheers

Mark

P.s: Funny - I use FreeBSD as my workstation os...
--
gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list

Gentoo on the server side
 

I can't claim to have done anything as fancy as Ricardo, but in my
previous place of work I used Gentoo on three different servers to:

Apache, PHP, Perl, MySQL, Squid, SVN, and other bits and pieces...

Generally things ran smoothly... but upgrades did take some time...
and I only trusted a small subset of the team to upgrade the PCs...
Still... it meant that some areas got to move up from the technology
that was offered with Red Hat 7.1 to more current technologies /
versions...

Never saw a problem with it... most major upgrades were done out of
hours, and most of the customers were informed if there was going to
be any loss of service. Fortunately they weren't 24/7 systems...
mainly business hours 9-5...

...Ric

On 29/11/2007, Ricardo Saffi Marques <saffi@las.ic.unicamp.br> wrote:
> Our main server, which hosts the Latin America Official Gentoo Mirror runs
> Gentoo. So does our Web-server. So does our Backup server. So does our
> datacenter. By "our" I mean the laboratory I work at (check signature). I
> see no major issue on running Gentoo on servers.

--
Ric de France
Ph: +61412945554 (international) or 0412945554 (Australia)
==> Do you, uh... Gentoo? Gentoooo-hooo!! <==
==> http://www.gentoo.org/main/en/about.xml <==
--
gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list

Gentoo on the server side
 

Robert Spahr wrote:
> I have been running these gentoo servers since 2003, with very few
> problems. Although I am conservative in doing my updates.
>

I've run gentoo on several servers from dual intels running dns, squid,
routing, to web servers, to quad opterons running as terminal servers.

The secret to all of that is what Robert said.. update conservatively.

The update from apache 1.x to 2.x broke some things (good idea to follow
the update faqs, or as I did, rebuild the config files by hand), as did
when the gentoo apache package managers decided to change the config
file layout to better match other distros.

Also, beware of some of the library updates. They can break other things
that revdep-rebuild will have to fix.

It's a good idea to look up via google or whatever to figure out what's
being updated and why (read the changelog).

It will take a bit to get used to, but after awhile you'll just eyeball
it and know which packages are non-issues, and which should be looked
closely.

It's also a good idea to have a staging server where you can test the
updates and trash it if you need to (virtualization will help with this
a lot).

Also, some updates don't fully manifest themselves till you restart all
the processes or restart the machine. Processes that were running before
a library update still have an internal image of the previous version's
library.
--
gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list

Gentoo on the server side
 

** First of all, thanks to everybody for sharing your experiences, very helpful information indeed, specially now that i need some guidance.
** For now, the conclusion i can reach is that Gentoo is perfectly adequate to use on a server with the only downside of the need to have special care with updates.

** Ricardo, i find really encouraging the fact that your lab uses Gentoo for their servers. Nevertheless it would be great if you could tell us a little about your lab's experience with updates, which seems to be the only issue when using Gentoo on a server.

** Another thing i noticed is that some of you recommend to have a secondary server to perform tests, i totally agree with this. Unfortunately i do not think that having such thing will be possible since the server will be charged to a client and i do not think they will agree to buy a second server (even if its the right thing to do, which i believe so), in such case, would you still recommend Gentoo?.


Again, thanks to everybody for the information.

2007/11/29, Billy Holmes <billy@gonoph.net>:
Robert Spahr wrote:
> I have been running these gentoo servers since 2003, with very few
> problems. Although I am conservative in doing my updates.
>

I've run gentoo on several servers from dual intels running dns, squid,

routing, to web servers, to quad opterons running as terminal servers.

The secret to all of that is what Robert said.. update conservatively.

The update from apache 1.x to 2.x broke some things (good idea to follow

the update faqs, or as I did, rebuild the config files by hand), as did
when the gentoo apache package managers decided to change the config
file layout to better match other distros.

Also, beware of some of the library updates. They can break other things

that revdep-rebuild will have to fix.

It's a good idea to look up via google or whatever to figure out what's
being updated and why (read the changelog).

It will take a bit to get used to, but after awhile you'll just eyeball

it and know which packages are non-issues, and which should be looked
closely.

It's also a good idea to have a staging server where you can test the
updates and trash it if you need to (virtualization will help with this

a lot).

Also, some updates don't fully manifest themselves till you restart all
the processes or restart the machine. Processes that were running before
a library update still have an internal image of the previous version's

library.
--
gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list