FREEBSD for a newbie

hello, i got an old business server real cheap on the second hand market. its a dell (well it was cheap ) dual P4's, 2gig ram 2 120mb scuzzy disks.

thing is i wanted to try out FreeBsd on it. but i know nothing of FreeBsd or its versions or anything. have never even seen a freebsd system. wanted to know where i coudl get it. which version to try out. what apps on it to read up on and try out.

Since i'ma sys admin, i basically want to try out FreeBsd with the goal of being capable to admin a freeBsd based server.

I have pretty decent knowhow of managing linux servers. i run a fedora (core 3) serevr at work along with a windows server 2003 server on a 56 comp network.

lastly i would also really like to know the advantages of FreeBSD over linux if any..
thanks in advance
cheers

there's a guide at www.munk.nu from munkfish here. I can't remember where it is exactly but it might help you out

does no one use FreeBSD for a server ?

I used FreeBSD for a server, then as a workstation with KDE GUI. I plan on using it again as soon as I get another comp/server built. I found it rather easy to use and the handbook on freebsd.org had everything I needed in it. It took me a while to decide on FreeBSD. I installed a couple of versions of linux too (Red Hat being one of them), but I just didn't like them as much as FreeBSD. I have no specific reasons. I just got more comfortable in BSD quicker, probably b/c RH seemed to do everything for me and the whole point was to learn.

I do but I'm not the admin and am still learning it, mostly by experience, you'd be better off asking this question in the BSD Help forum (should link but am lazy )

Posting works again!


I used 4.X and 5.X on my workstation, but dropped it for linux due to the bad support for multimedia applications (actually a nvidia freebsd driver problem).

Used to run 4.X on my intranet server. Updated to 5.3, soon updating again to 5.4.

... make sure you read the handbook. Most questions can be answered with this. If you encounter other problems, post to the BSD section of the forums here. Although there is not much traffic, there is still some people reading it and nearly every question gets answered.

M.

thanks M.Hirsh and jharnois. i got hold of the handbook.
any comments on the freebsd v/s linux issue ?

"Windows vs. Linux", "Linux vs. Freebsd"... install all of them, you'll find the differences and common grounds very quickly.

There is hundreds of different Linuxes but only one FreeBSD. FreeBSD always works the same. One team, one distribution, central documentation. But a much smaller scene and thus it's harder to find help.

On a sidenote: I got my first Mac last week. OSX rocks!!!
(OSX is a nephew to FreeBSD, see the sticky thread in our BSD forums...)

[edit]
Make sure you check out Munk's site. Interesting read even if you are not using FreeBSD yet: http://freebsd.munk.nu

M.

My last job ran about 60 servers on FreeBSD 4.x and approximately the same # of Linux serverrs. They both have their strengths and weaknesses.

Yes there's a guide to installing a fully running multi user system for hosting here:

http://munk.nu/sysinstall/serverinstall.txt

though it was originally more just for my own personal reference than anything else. Feel free to check it out anyway!

The site in my sig of course has some info on FreeBSD too - my FreeBSD blog / diary

I started out using linux maybe 4-5 years ago and was pretty unsure about the whole affair. It was only when I installed FreeBSD about 3 years ago that I felt like I understood why anyone would want to keep or feel secure running a machine serving up files or hosting users 24/7. Hard to say exactly what it is but FreeBSD just seems to make more sense as a server platform, more professional and reliable.

Some of the nitty gritty details I find FreeBSD wins at over linux are:

• better filesystem layout, FreeBSD tends not to spam the filesystem as much as some linuces
• better rc system, fbsd has a more straightforward rc / startup system than linux (though this is just personal preference I guess)
• better security by default, whilst not as hardened as openbsd ,freebsd is harder to DoS by default than many linuces due to the default user limits set in place
• freebsd has a system called 'portaudit' which keeps the admin up to date daily about any installed ports that have security issues. Other linuces probably have similar - but I've not found one that's as good as portaudit as yet (in that portaudit uses a dedicated vulnerability db).
• freebsd can run most applications designed for linux using linux compatibility mode
• freebsd uses tcsh by default (heh sorry couldn't resist)

Of course there are lots of other things (and of course areas where linux wins out over FreeBSD), these are just a few off the top of my head. Note also that as I type this I'm using Gentoo linux which I much prefer over FreeBSD as a desktop system! I'm not down on linux at all, far from it - I just think FreeBSD is a better platform for a production server.

hey thanks a million munkfish. thats exactly what i needed. thanks again to all of you who replied. i really appreciate the comments..keep them coming if there are more..
now on to some serious exploration.
freeBSD here i come