FreeBSD newbie general and SMP questions for i386]

Elijah Plunkett enerider at yahoo.co.nz
Wed Dec 17 23:38:51 PST 2003


Hi there Mark!

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Wolfskehl" <mark.wolfskehl at verizon.net>
To: <freebsd-questions at freebsd.org>
Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2003 2:42 PM
Subject: FreeBSD newbie general and SMP questions for i386]


> Hi,
>
> I'm a FreeBSD newbie.  I'm considering installing either FreeBSD i386 or
> Linux on a 2 AMD Athelon CPU machine.  The motherboard is an ASUS
> A7M266-D, and the machine has 2GB memory installed.  I'm working on
> trying to answer some key questions before making a final decision which
> OS to install (right now the other alternative is SuSe Linux), but
> perhaps if anyone has some quick answers that would be a help:
>
> 1. How stable is SMP support in 5.1, especially compared to the
> stability of single CPU FreeBSD and Linux in general?

As one newbie to another, I have found FreeBSD to be VERY stable when
compared to Mandrake Linux.

> 2. In general, how could I characterize the relative performance of
> FreeBSD and Linux under an SMP kernel and/.or single processors?

My suggestion would be a common benchmark program that both O/Ses can use
> 3. I'm looking into whether my motherboard conforms to the FreeBSD
> requirements.  I don't know if the 'Intel MP' means you have to have
> genuine Intel processors, in particular.  If anyone can get a quick
> answer to this, that would be critical, of course.  ASUS's website is
> www.asus.com, and you can just do a search for the motherboard model.
> They have all the specs and the users manual in pdf online.  Thanks in
> advance.

I'm using AMD stuff with FreeBSD with no hassels...

> 4. How compatible is FreeBSD with Linux in practice?  I understand there
> is a Linux compatibility module for the kernel?
>

There is a Linux compatibility module for the kernel which I have used for
VMWare, which sort of answers your next question :)

> 5. Will FreeBSD run VMWare Workstation virtual machine SW for Linux (in
> practice)?

Yes, it will as I have done so, just had a little problem with getting Win98
Installed under it...

> 6. Anything else I should know as a newbie?

Basically read the FreeBSD handbook under /usr/share/doc/handbook/ under the
FreeBSD installation, it gives good advice on how to get up and running
well.

Hope this helps!
Elijah
enerider at yahoo.co.nz

>
> Whew!  That's a lot, but thanks in advance!
>
> Mark Wolfskehl
> mark.wolfskehl at verizon.net
>
>
>
>
>
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